Alcohol Percentage: 43%
El Dorado 21 Year Old is full-bodied golden rum that is one of the best in the market.
A sippling rum, El Dorado 21 Year Old is exquisite and sophisticated. When savoured slowly, fruity oak spice surfaces. Raisins, dates and prunes make the rum remarkably easy top drink. This is special recipe that blends specially selected rums, oak aged for at least 21 years, from the Enmore wooden Coffey still, the Versailles single wooden pot still and the Albion Savalle still.
Buttery, with chocolatey notes of Rolos behind it. Ripe banana and fruity Christmas cake. Hints of tobacco and sandalwood, leading into spent match smokiness. Sultanas, dates, blackcurrant and macadamia nuts. A touch of rosewater, too. The mid-palate brings dark chocolate and nutmeg too. It just keeps going! There's fried banana and handfuls of raisin notes right through to the end, with just a little hint of spicy cinnamon.
The story of rum in Guyana started in the 1640s with the introduction of sugar cane by the early European settlers. By 1670, the foundation of Demerara Rum production was laid down with the establishment of distilling into the new territories by the British. The county of Demerara once covered by the Atlantic Ocean, was recovered by the Dutch in the 1600s. Using their ingenious land reclamation methods, the Dutch successfully reclaimed the land resulting in soil that was high in minerality and nutrients paving the way for sugar cane cultivation in the 1650s.
By 1780, there were over 300 distilleries producing their own unique rums, each with its own marque identifying its origin (e.g. SWR, ICBU, PM, EHP, LBI, AN). The rum industry continued to thrive in Guyana until an unexpected drop in the price of sugar and the introduction of taxes in the 1900s resulted in the severe consolidation of the sugar industry, as it was not economical for all estates to remain in operation. By 1942, there were nine remaining distilleries.
In 1999, final merger of the remaining sugar estates and distilleries by transfer of the various stills, equipment and expertise by Demerara Distillers Limited at the only active distillery in Diamond, on the East Bank of the Demerara River. Diamond distillery contains 9 stills, each acquired from other distilleries as they closed down. These stills cover the full spectrum of rum from heavy pot distilled, to light column distilled, but the distillery is best known for its 3 wooden stills – a port Mourant double wooden pot still, a Versaille single wooden pot still, and an Enmore wooden coffey still. These wooden stills are the last of their kind anywhere in the world, and their unique character is a large part of the reason why the Diamond Distillery has built the stellar reputation it currently enjoys.