Versailles VSG 1998 Full Proof 9 Year Old 8010571

Versailles VSG 1998 Velier 9 Year Old

Velier was founded by Casimir Chaix in Genoa in 1947 as a wine and spirits importer and distributor. By the 1980s they were still a small family-company with less than ten staff. This all changed in 1986 when it was purchased by Luca Gargano, a former brand ambassador for Saint James who was at the time still in his twenties. Under his direction, they selected their first single cask whiskies in 1992, and their first rum in 1996. In the decades that followed, Velier have gone on to become one of the most collectible brands in the industry, and Gargano has positioned them as the one of the foremost authorities and bottlers of rum anywhere in the world.

Velier's earliest Demerara releases were bottled in 1996, laying the groundwork for what would later become affectionately known as the \"Age of Velier's Demerara.\" This began in earnest in 2004, after Gargano was invited to the Demerara Distillers Ltd warehouses in Guyana to select tropically aged barrels to be bottled by Velier for the first time. The \"age\" only lasted until 2014, but has an enduring legacy of having indelibly raised the profile of the historic rum stills and marque's of Guyana, which have become some of the most sought after in the world, these Velier releases in particular.

A VSG marque, this was distilled in 1998 on the Versailles single wooden pot still in its brief years at Uitvlugt. It was bottled in 2007.

Uitvlugt, pronounced [eye-flut] was located on the west bank of the Demerara river near the Dutch-established town of the same name. The distillery was established at the end of the 18th century and remained Dutch-owned until the government in Guyana began to nationalise and consolidate the country’s rum production in 1974. Thereafter it became part of the portfolio of Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL), who closed it down at the end of 1999. Uitvlugt originally operated double wooden pot stills, however these were replaced by a four column French Savalle still in the early 1920s. A double wooden pot still was reinstalled in the 1950s however, moved there from the closed Port Mourant distillery. This however was distilled on the Versailles single wooden pot still, moved to Uitvlugt from Enmore after its closure in 1993. It is constructed from Greenheart wood, which is native to Guyana and is mostly used in boat-building due to its ability to remain strong while constantly wet. The wood is also well suited to distilling, stripping spirit of sulphites in the same manner that copper does. The Versailles still remains in operation today as one of the “Heritage Stills” at Diamond, the last remaining rum producer in the country.

This is one of 278 bottles.