Demerara Dark Rum 2005 Samaroli Single Cask #110
This rum was distilled at Diamond by Demerara Distillers Ltd, the company formed by the government in Guyana in 1983 after it consolidated all of its nationalised rum distillers as a single entity, using a single distillery. Established around 1670, the Diamond Estate is the only remaining rum distiller in Guyana. Diamond blends its own El Dorado brand using various combinations of marques from its rum-producing stills, which include the pair of two-column English coffey stills, installed there in the 1950s and a rarely used high-ester John Dore pot still. These operate alongside the “Heritage Stills” acquired from Uitvlugt in 1999, which are Uitvlugt’s own historic four-column French Savalle stills, the Versailles and Port Mourant wooden pot stills, and the Enmore wooden coffey still, the oldest and last of its kind in the world. El Dorado was launched in 1992, but the distillery has continued its historic practice of providing barrels to independent bottlers, resulting is a wealth of impressive releases like this.
A 2005 vintage, this was bottled in 2017 and is one of 204 bottles from cask #110.
Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports on the pantheon of whisky greats, and their rum output under the tenure of Antonio Bleve is increasingly revered as well.