Velier Albion AW 1986

This is Velier's Albion AW from 1986, a twenty-five year old single cask from one of Guyana's closed estates and exactly the kind of rum that built Luca Gargano's reputation. Albion survives only as a recreated marque, here run off a Coffey still and tropically matured, making it both finite and quietly mythologised among drinkers of old Demerara.

Molasses based and bottled at full cask strength, it layers deep liquorice and dried mango over toffee, vanilla, coffee, cappuccino and dark chocolate, with tropical fruit and leather threaded through elegant oak. Tropical ageing has driven the colour dark and the concentration high, and a few drops of water or ice coax out further facets. The finish runs on and on. At 60.6 percent it is a powerhouse, a slow and serious pour for anyone already deep into vintage Guyanese rum.