El Dorado 12 yr Rum 750ml

El Dorado is produced by Demerara Distillers Limited at the Diamond Distillery, the last operating rum distillery in Guyana, a country whose rum making traditions stretch back to the 1600s and once supplied the British Royal Navy for more than two centuries. Consolidation across the region's plantations over the years left Demerara Distillers as the custodian of a remarkable collection of historic stills, several of them built in the 18th and 19th centuries and still in daily use, which now define the character of the entire El Dorado range.

The 12 Year Old blends rum from several of these heritage stills, including the Enmore wooden Coffey still, the metal Diamond Coffey still, and the Port Mourant double wooden pot still, the last dating to 1732 and originally used to make navy strength rum for the British Admiralty. Sugarcane is hand harvested and fermented with a proprietary yeast strain before distillation, and the resulting spirits mature separately in hand coopered American oak casks for a minimum of twelve years, with some components in the blend considerably older. Guyana's heat and humidity accelerate the aging inside custom built warehouses, and the finished rum is bottled at 40% ABV.

The rum offers a fruity, estery nose of dates, toffee, and dark sugar, opening onto a mellow, full bodied palate of dark chocolate, baked apple, and warm spice, with a dry, lingering finish of espresso and oak.