Samaroli DDL Demerara Dark Rum 2003

Samaroli released this Demerara Dark 2003 as a single cask of Demerara Distillers stock, nineteen years old and bottled at the house's customary 45 percent. Samaroli's reputation rests on elegant, unsweetened single casks aged in cooler Europe and reduced to a moderate strength that favours balance.

Matured in ex-bourbon wood, the rum is reserved on paper but fills out in the glass, with light wood, faint smoke, light caramel, spice, dried fruit and a hint of plum and chocolate over an oily, round palate. The medium-dark colour and gentle smoke point to the woodier Demerara stills behind the blend. As an unsweetened continental bottling, its character comes from spirit and barrel rather than dosage, a restrained, oak-and-dried-fruit Guyanese rum that rewards patience over immediate impact.