We are heading back to Guyana for a cross-tasting of several 'young' and old Demerara, with centuries-old stills as the star; from Versailles to Port Mourant via Enmore, it is above all an opportunity to bring out old samples and not follow any logic; a pleasure tasting generously sponsored (for the most part) by our friend Pietro.

Samaroli Port Mourant 1990 / 45°

Distilled in 1990 and bottled 17 years later in 2007 from cask #95
(which will yield 366 bottles) after spending most of its time in Europe. We like to recycle at Samaroli and the label used here will be reused for other series (including a Caribbean 2005).

The color is very clear, more in the spirit of a light Enmore than a generally more sustained PM, but let's remember that the cask plays a big role and that the result can be random in terms of color (and that it must also have arrived very young in our latitudes without counting the settings of the different stills which will give, in the end, quite different rums). Here is a straw yellow color with the appearance of white wine, oily and gourmet in appearance.

On the nose, it actually has more of an Enmore than a Port Mourant feel: exotic fruits in syrup, pear, fresh wood (sawdust) and anise. A nice nose, far from the damp woodiness of PM and more on pineapple, apple and pear. All melted into molasses and vanilla. Exotic and dry with a present and conquering woodiness. Green and fruity but well balanced.

On the palate, the attack is oily and brings out the exoticism, nuts and fresh wood: sawdust, pencil and fresh anise, lovers of Enmore 'light' will appreciate, others much less. It is simple and effective but it lacks personality in the middle of the over-vitaminized Demerara. The finish is dry, woody and slightly bitter, on molasses and vanilla tannins. We have known better Demerara and better Enmore. The empty glass is chocolatey.

If you are looking for the PM paw and its inimitable woodiness, move on; we are more here on a profile that resembles Enmore (in light version). Note: 79

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samaroli Versailles 1990 / 45°

Here is a rum whose label has also been used on more than one occasion: there is a 1994 version released in 2005 and even a 1974 vintage, but both without any indication of origin. This bottling will have produced a total of 1,346 bottles.

The color is pale yellow, still close to a white wine, bright and oily with rather fat legs.

The nose is very soft and suave, delicate, on molasses and exoticism in addition to an opulent vegetal (grass) and mineral notes. A rum here still quite light, natural and with just what it takes to make its little effect. The rest brings notes of green olives for a more briny profile but quickly annihilated by the exoticism and juicy fruits (peach, apricot). This rum is also both very fresh, drawing on fresh anise and lemongrass. Simple, but just right. The whole is very well balanced and concentrated enough to give a nice interest to the tasting. Very good control.

On the palate, the attack is very soft, smooth and caresses the palate, like the nose; with once again this impression of having in the mouth a melted mixture and more or less contradictory flavors: the briny notes mix with fruits full of sugar (peach) and acidulous (apple) with a sharp sweet/salty effect but in the end very well balanced. We do not necessarily imagine these notes coexisting but the balance makes the task easier and even very pleasant. The iodized and salty, acidulous and sweet side makes the taste buds work in a medium-long finish, rather dry and always salty, but interesting.

A very well-balanced rum that shines with its simplicity. The mixture of genres gives a beautiful result, better than the previous rum which seems much less controlled (with more tannins and bitterness in the mouth). Note: 85

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadenhead PDW 1972 28 years / 63.2°

From their famous 'Cask Strength' series which allowed them to offer rums in cask strength version well before anyone else, here is the 'Cask Strength from Caribbean Distillers PDW' aged 28 years and distilled in 1972 (1972 – 2001), bottled at 63.2% vol. Where exactly does it come from? Mystery.

The dress is a seductive amber tending towards a very bright old gold and offers excessively heavy legs.

On the nose, it is concentrated and even if the alcohol is quite well integrated for 63 degrees past, you should not insist too closely. It is exotic (mango, opulent papaya), on a dry and vanilla woodiness, powdery and rough, a slightly smoked and caramelized molasses, honey. Seductive, with also citrus fruits for a little fresh moment.

Rest makes it even more charming, with a caramelized and vanilla exotic scent, whose lightness is reversed by hints of lively and fairly frank/dry wood and tobacco. The charm of the best Enmores with a woody and incisive restraint, and a mouth that promises to be scathing. With even more rest, aromas of grenadine, small red fruits.

With a few drops of water, the pastry side clearly comes out (caramel and milk chocolate); with a slightly stronger dilution, it is the freshness (citrus) and a senile exoticism (papaya) which dominate the nose.

The mouth is concentrated and powerful, even stripping because it seems alive enough to whip your palate with a wooden board, without failing to leave a little fruit behind to cushion the shock. Tobacco, molasses, smoke, warm spices and liquorice, the alcohol warms the mouth, for a lingering finish on drier notes (liquorice, tobacco). With water, the rum loses nothing and becomes easier by force of circumstances.

A rum that caresses your nose and whips your palate. Rating: 87

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadenhead XPD 1971 29 years / 64.7°

In the Cask Strength series from Cadenhead, I ask for Enmore and more precisely the 29 year old XPD rum distilled in 1971 (and bottled in 2000). Note that there is also a 28 year old version (1971/1999 and 67.1°) and another 32 year old (71/2003 at 61.8°). All 1971 vintages of the same brand (XPD) and therefore logically the same rum but released at a different time (hence the strength which drops slightly with the bottling date).
> photo by Pietro Caputo

The dress is amber, old gold and of a very beautiful shine. The dress is very oily and reveals a profusion of legs and weightless droplets.

On the nose, past the wall of alcohol, it is very concentrated: on the nut, the roasted molasses and wood varnish in addition to the classic sawdust (wood pencil sharpening); it brings back flashbacks of early childhood, reminiscences of wooden tables and worn pencils (bitten to the lead), old waxed furniture. For 64.7° it goes wonderfully well, and even if the nose remains powerful, the aromatic palette is increased tenfold and the rum works very well on the length.

The more time passes (the more memories fade) and the more the rum takes on a fruitier and resolutely candied profile: grape, fig, in a compote, resinous and intoxicating whole, before becoming exotic. Rarely will an Enmore have seemed so interesting.

The rum lends itself wonderfully to a few drops of water: notes of leather and tobacco box arrive in a smoky/tanned atmosphere. The school desk has given way to the old worn leather armchair. Without a false note, the balance is not broken and the rum becomes almost chocolatey, with a gourmet exoticism (extra ripe papaya).

On the palate, it is very concentrated and resinous, powerful and medicinal? a mixture of varnish, grass (fresh) and fresh wood that grabs your palate but not as much as expected given the nose and especially the degree. We say to ourselves at this moment that it is going to go in all directions and in fact no: a certain osmosis even takes place and the rum appears quite balanced in the end, and even becomes very refreshing (fresh mint) and pleasant. The dried fruits bring the necessary 'sweetness' but the woody varnish aspect remains conquering, just like the clove, and let's say it clearly, the alcohol. The finish is long and powerful, dry, on the varnish and a dried woodiness, and will remain in place for the next half hour, at least.

With a little water, it goes down very well again (and even better?), always with an extreme concentration and a balance that is not broken by the addition. Leather, tobacco, wood, resin, varnish, wax, dried fruits, peppermint. And an equally long finish.

An Enmore in a light version that will have nothing to envy to some bottlings from Velier. We find this resinous/sticky aspect that makes a nice difference, both on the nose and in the mouth, where only the alcohol will seem a little too present (and even then). To be reserved for the initiated who will undoubtedly appreciate finding an Enmore to their taste. And with or without water it is a success. Note: 89

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now let's take a look at another Italian bottler with Siver Seal; we have already had the extreme pleasure of tasting monstrous 37 year old 1975 vintages stamped Port Mourant. Let's now see what can be given by slightly 'younger' rums (28 years old) distilled this time in 1974.

Silver Seal Demerara 1974 28 years / 60°

Bottled in 2003 after 28 years of aging by the Italian Silver Seal. Below we will see the same vintage of the same age but at a different degree of bottling. This one is the first released, at 650 copies .
> photo by Pietro Caputo

The color is coffee, like coke, fat with oversized legs.
On the nose, it is definitely a Demerara, no doubt about it: molasses galore, toasted, burnt sugar, caramelized oak, reminiscent of the Demerara Dark series from Samaroli. It is probably not a very complex rum given its great age, but it has everything of a classic of the genre. It is dark and toasted, with tobacco and coffee, very black liquorice. Beyond that, there is not much else, apart from warm and toasted aromas. The alcohol is well integrated and the 60° does not bother at any time and we are clearly in the atmosphere of old Demerara (Cadenhead Green Label 1975, etc.) with a very accessible profile, and with, let's admit it, a crazy charm...

On the palate, it is fat, sweet and without any big surprises on the molasses; Nice balance between sweet/roasted and tannic notes, always in a dark and sticky atmosphere, carried on the liquorice. The 60° allows to go beyond the molasses and the sweetness by bringing hold, in a very concentrated and lively rum which coats the palate. The finish is moderately long, but very persistent on the molasses which will remain again and again. We have a good time and it is easy to drink, but despite the charm we expect more from a 28 year old Demerara with 60 watts on the meter.

Overall a pleasant and charming rum, but rather (too) monolithic: mainly on molasses, it still lacks interest. It is especially very easy to access for a 60° rum (thanks molasses/sugar). A pleasure rum, without headache (but luxury). Note: 85

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silver Seal Demerara 1974 28 years / 68.6°

Still 28 years old, this 'Pure Demerara' is offered in a cask strength version released in 470 copies; the label is illustrated by Sarah Adams (here “Galah Cockatoos '98”) for the series "Wildlife Serie 1" of Silver Seal. Distilled in 74 then bottled in 2003. We saw above the version at 60, now let's see what 8.6° more brings.
> photo by Pietro Caputo

The dress is just as dark, coca-colored, oily and will require 2 or 3 washes after tasting.
On the nose, we are on a molasses resin and the 68° is barely 40° (barely exaggerated); it goes wonderfully well and we are clearly in an old-fashioned Demerara surely aged with a good dose of molasses (measured at 66.5° there would be a few grams of sugar per liter in this rum). It is quite close to the 'Dark' ranges from Samaroli, or even the latest Diamond released by Whisky & Rhum and its l'Esprit range to compare with a more recent rum; with this hyper-gourmet side and where the alcohol is almost non-existent.

Compared to the 60° version, it is much more complex and evolving, with less toasted molasses and more candied fruits (or stewed in molasses): prunes, cherries, a black forest atmosphere from Guayana. A rum that is once again gourmet and pure pleasure, but where is the alcohol?? In any case, it makes you want to take a good sip without waiting, and it takes us back in time, very far away.

In the mouth, it is very resinous and concentrated, powerful with the return of 68°: tobacco and leather mix with molasses with the impression of biting into the leather jacket of an old backpacker, dusty with an aftertaste of dried blood. Smoke everywhere in the mouth, all in thickness. It is excessively well balanced and more complex than its 'little' brother, it smells of pheromones, it stirs in the mouth and explodes on all sides, with this inimitable smoky/ashy taste that will stick to every crack in your interior, until it goes up to the brain and knocks you out. A rum with an assumed and seductive animality, a taste uppercut with Demerara sauce. The KO is long and tasty (yes yes), and will plunge you into long minutes of dreaming, until you wake up early in the morning and without aftereffects. Grandiose and masterful..

You liked the Cadenhead Demerara 75 and its dark and smoky notes (tobacco, but also leather); well it's the brut de fût version, animal and dark that will end up converting you (and finishing you off). And as much as the 60° version could be sickening with its overly toasted side, this rum has everything of a Grand: more balanced, more complex, it explodes in your mouth and reminds you of its origin with every second that passes. A monster that gives you an uppercut for a trip to 7th heaven, with no return or glamour. Rating: 93

To help you (and me) find your way around, regarding the notes:

90 and + : exceptional and unique rum, it is the best of the best
between 85 and 89 : highly recommended rum, with that little something that makes the difference
between 80 and 84 : recommendable rum
75-79 POINTS : above average
70-74 POINTS : in the low average
less than 70 : not very good

Review courtesy of DuRhum.com.

From the folks behind DuRhum, Velier, and more, comes a premium online marketplace for rum enthusiasts by rum enthusiasts! Do check out www.rowspirits.fr for more great content and iconic rums!