Spending my Saturday with That Boutique-y Rum Company’s 27yo Versailles wooden vat still rum, distilled at the Enmore distillery in 1990. It is of the MEV marque (VSG/SXG) from Main Rum Company (thanks @boutiqueypeter!) that was continentally aged, bottled at 51.2% abv with an outturn of 413 bottles.

(Image Source: @weixiang_liu)

The evolution on the nose of this rum is quite something, where its begins soft and delicate, almost floral jasmine-like, but immediately pulls you to the other end of the spectrum with olives and brine, savoury, with some underlying earthy notes. Hints of spice, cloves, vanilla, and even lightest touch of bananas, but all pretty muted.

On the palate, lots of sweet florals again, chrysanthemum, red apples, honey, but with those funky iodine notes which seems to be a trademark of continentally aged demeraras. The 27 years of aging really shows in the middle as it becomes a bit dry, that bit tannic, and bitter-ish. It extends into the finish, although there is a bit of a lift at the end with some minty notes, and some strawberry and vanilla swirls.

Tasting this Versailles rum is indeed quite a sensory experience, as the notes were pretty much on the extreme ends. But it also echoes the idea of DDL’s Master Distiller Shaun Caleb when he said that the premium demerara rums were intentionally distilled with a unique taste profile, to combine sweetness with savouriness, resulting in a complex sipping rum for the rum lovers out there.