Perola Diamond Bellamy‘s Reserve MDR 2012

This Bellamy's Reserve is a 2012 Diamond rum from Guyana, bottled by Perola from a single wooden pot still, the Versailles-style vessel of greenheart timber that gives the most robust and tannic of the Demerara profiles. All Guyanese rum now comes from the Diamond distillery, where these irreplaceable heritage stills converged, and a single still bottling like this shows that character raw rather than blended away.

Matured in ex-bourbon oak and bottled at 50% with nothing added, it leans dry and roasted rather than sweet. The nose carries dark sugar, raisin, caramel and a malty, toasty depth, while the palate turns to dark chocolate, burnt sugar, coffee and tobacco with a bitter, woody finish and a thread of liquorice. This is the drier, unsweetened face of Guyana, with the roasted Diamond signature intact and none of the rounded softness of the sweeter El Dorado bottlings. One for drinkers who like dark, heavy Demerara at a fair price and take it neat or in a cocktail.