Start here.
El Dorado is the house rum of Guyana’s last distillery
El Dorado comes from Guyana. Demerara Distillers Ltd, known as DDL, makes it at its Diamond distillery on the east bank of the Demerara River. Diamond is the only rum distillery still working in the country.
El Dorado at a glance, from DDL, the EU Official Journal, and Wikipedia and Difford’s Guide (secondary sources)
Producer
- El Dorado
- Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL), formed in 1983
Launched
- El Dorado
- 1992, with the 15 Year Old
Location
- El Dorado
- Diamond distillery, east bank of the Demerara River, Guyana
Raw material
- El Dorado
- Molasses
Stills
- El Dorado
- Three wooden stills and metal column stills, including a four-column French Savalle
Casks
- El Dorado
- Filled at about 70% ABV and aged in Guyana
Protection
- El Dorado
- Demerara Rum GI: registered in the EU in 2021
Signature bottlings
- El Dorado
- 12, 15 and 21 Year Old
| Feature | El Dorado |
|---|---|
| Producer | Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL), formed in 1983 |
| Launched | 1992, with the 15 Year Old |
| Location | Diamond distillery, east bank of the Demerara River, Guyana |
| Raw material | Molasses |
| Stills | Three wooden stills and metal column stills, including a four-column French Savalle |
| Casks | Filled at about 70% ABV and aged in Guyana |
| Protection | Demerara Rum GI: registered in the EU in 2021 |
| Signature bottlings | 12, 15 and 21 Year Old |
Difford’s Guide dates El Dorado’s launch, with the 15 Year Old, to 1992, from stocks laid down from 1976. Wikipedia, a secondary source, puts about 40% of DDL’s rum into its own brands and the rest into partners’ brands or bulk sales, and records Pusser’s now making its rum entirely from DDL rums.
Guyana’s estate stills ended up under one roof
Wikipedia, a secondary source, records the number of distilleries in British Guiana falling from 180 in 1849 to forty-four in 1908 and eight in 1959, and Difford’s Guide dates the Diamond distillery to around 1670. As the sugar industry shrank, estates closed and their distilleries with them.
Wikipedia records DDL’s formation in 1983 by merging Guyana Distilleries and Diamond Liquors, and its partial privatisation from 1988. By the same account Enmore closed in 1993 and Uitvlugt in 1999, and their stills were moved to Diamond, the Savalle stills in 2000.
Diamond runs wooden stills beside metal columns
Diamond runs metal column stills and three wooden stills. Each still makes rum known by a marque, a code once used for the estate it came from.
The stills at Diamond, as DDL and Wikipedia (a secondary source) describe them
Port Mourant
- Type
- Double wooden pot still with retort
- Marque
- PM
- History
- From the Port Mourant estate, founded in 1732; at Diamond since 2000
Versailles
- Type
- Single wooden pot still with retort
- Marque
- VSG
- History
- Moved via Enmore and Uitvlugt to Diamond
Enmore
- Type
- Wooden Coffey still, two columns
- Marque
- EHP
- History
- Built around 1880
French Savalle
- Type
- Four-column metal still
- Marque
- Nine marques
- History
- From Uitvlugt
Diamond Coffey
- Type
- Two-column metal stills
- Marque
- SVW
- History
- Installed at Diamond in the 1950s
| Still | Type | Marque | History |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Mourant | Double wooden pot still with retort | PM | From the Port Mourant estate, founded in 1732; at Diamond since 2000 |
| Versailles | Single wooden pot still with retort | VSG | Moved via Enmore and Uitvlugt to Diamond |
| Enmore | Wooden Coffey still, two columns | EHP | Built around 1880 |
| French Savalle | Four-column metal still | Nine marques | From Uitvlugt |
| Diamond Coffey | Two-column metal stills | SVW | Installed at Diamond in the 1950s |
The wooden stills are built of greenheart
The wooden stills are built largely of greenheart, a dense Guyanese hardwood. DDL describes them as the last of their kind still working.
DDL says the Port Mourant still came from the estate founded in 1732, and Wikipedia, a secondary source, says it was first installed that year, though it contains newer parts, including a rectifier. By the same account it reached Diamond by way of Albion and Uitvlugt.
The rum ages in Guyana at about 70%
Wikipedia, a secondary source, says DDL casks its rum at 70% ABV, in ex-bourbon American oak, and ages it in warehouses at Diamond and Uitvlugt.
Demerara Rum is a geographical indication with five grades
Demerara Rum is a geographical indication: Guyana applied for EU registration on 28 June 2018, and Regulation (EU) 2021/1291 of 28 July 2021 registered it. Difford’s Guide calls Diamond the only distillery making Demerara Rum.
The five Demerara Rum grades, from the main specifications published in the EU Official Journal
Demerara Rum
- Minimum age
- None
Old Demerara Rum
- Minimum age
- Two years
Cask Aged Demerara Rum
- Minimum age
- Three years
Special Reserve Demerara Rum
- Minimum age
- Twelve years
Grand Special Reserve Demerara Rum
- Minimum age
- Twenty-five years
| Grade | Minimum age |
|---|---|
| Demerara Rum | None |
| Old Demerara Rum | Two years |
| Cask Aged Demerara Rum | Three years |
| Special Reserve Demerara Rum | Twelve years |
| Grand Special Reserve Demerara Rum | Twenty-five years |
The rules require the rum to be fermented and distilled on the coastal plain of the Demerara region, between the Boeraserie River and Abary Creek, from molasses or another cane product. It must be bottled at 40% ABV or more. Up to 20 grams of sweetening per litre may be added when blending, and colour may come only from the wood or from caramel.
The pot-still marques give the weight
DDL describes Port Mourant rum as deeply aromatic and Enmore rum as medium-bodied with a mild, fruity aroma. Blending the heavy pot-still marques with lighter column rum sets the weight of each bottling.
A dark colour is not proof of age. The GI allows caramel for colour, as UK law allows it in all rum. The age statement on the label is the guide.
The aged range runs to 25 years
The El Dorado range, from Difford’s Guide (a secondary source) and DDL
5 Year Old
- What it is
- The youngest of the aged blends
- How to drink it
- Mixed
12 Year Old
- What it is
- An aged blend
- How to drink it
- Mixed, or over ice
15 Year Old
- What it is
- The first El Dorado, launched in 1992
- How to drink it
- Neat
21 Year Old
- What it is
- An older blend
- How to drink it
- Neat
25 Year Old
- What it is
- A 25-year-old blend
- How to drink it
- Neat
Single Still
- What it is
- Rum from one heritage still, such as Port Mourant or Enmore
- How to drink it
- Neat
| Bottling | What it is | How to drink it |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Year Old | The youngest of the aged blends | Mixed |
| 12 Year Old | An aged blend | Mixed, or over ice |
| 15 Year Old | The first El Dorado, launched in 1992 | Neat |
| 21 Year Old | An older blend | Neat |
| 25 Year Old | A 25-year-old blend | Neat |
| Single Still | Rum from one heritage still, such as Port Mourant or Enmore | Neat |
Single Still bottlings put one wooden still’s rum in the glass on its own, among them Port Mourant and Enmore, and DDL has released single-marque rums at cask strength, such as LBI and DHE.
Drinks that name Demerara rum take El Dorado
The Zombie calls for Demerara rum by name, 30ml beside Jamaican and Puerto Rican rum, and El Dorado fills it.
The 12 Year Old suits drinks written for aged or dark rum, such as the Rum Punch, the Jungle Bird and the Queen’s Park Swizzle. Wikipedia records Demerara rum as a core part of the Royal Navy’s ration blend until 1970; Black Tot Day tells how the ration ended.
Keep the 21, the 25 and the Single Still bottlings for a glass on their own.
The facts come from the producer, the regulation and the trade press
The history, stills, marques and casks are from DDL’s own page on its stills and the Demerara Distillers entry on Wikipedia. The launch of El Dorado and the range are from Difford’s Guide.
The EU registration is Regulation (EU) 2021/1291, and its rules are in the main specifications published in April 2021, as DDL’s own statement records.
Jerry Can Spirits is an independent company: we are not affiliated with Demerara Distillers or El Dorado, and we do not act for or on behalf of them. This page is our own account, drawn from the sources it lists.