Demerara Rum Kingsbury Laphroaig Cask Lot No.19/001

Kingsbury are Japan's most sought after independent bottler. They were founded in 1989 by Eaglesome, the high-end deli in Campbeltown that was purchased by J & A Mitchell & Co of Springbank distillery, and turned into one of the region's finest whisky merchants. They initially bottled Kingsbury's exclusively for the Japanese market, before the label was acquired by native firm, the Japanese Import System. They have released a number of some of the most collectible whiskies, including some classic vintages from Bowmore, and two dark sherry casked Ardbeg.

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.