Old school New England 92 - Scanorama

In Guyana, on the tropical North Coast of South-America, Demerara Distillers
has been processing sugar cane since 1670. In the mid 17th century colonist
planted sugar, cotton, and tobacco in Guyana’s fertile land but sugar proved
best suited to the climate and the fi rst shipment soon left for The Netherlands.
A truly unique rum
Rum started to be produced by a few of the sugar factories
and by 1670 every Guyanan sugar factory boasted its own
small rum still to use the molasses produced as a by-product
of sugar processing. At one time there where over 300
sugar plantations in Guyana and during this era the terms
Demerara Sugar and Demerara Rum where established.
Because of price fl uctuations in the price of sugar, over the
years, more and more sugar estates where closed. The consolidation
continued in the 20th century and by 1970 there
were just eleven sugar factories and four distilleries left in
Guyana. By the year 2000 the consolidation process was
completed and the heritage stills from the different estates
are since that time all located at the Diamond Distillery
owned by Demerara Distillers Ltd. The heritage stills are
of a tremendous signifi cance as with these stills Demerara
Distillers is the only distillery that has the distinction and
capacity to produce some truly unique rums under various
historic marques.
The El Dorado Brand
In 1976 Demerara Distillers decided to start also laying
Demerara Distillers nowadays operates 9
Rum stills, acquired during the consolidation
process. These stills all give different
characteristics allowing all types of rum,
from heavy pot stilled to very light rums, to
be produced.
The Diamond Distillery is however best
known for its three Wooden Stills :
� Enmore - Wooden Continuous Coffey Still
� Port Mourant - Wooden Double Pot Still
� Versailles - Wooden Single Pot Still
All of these stills were made using a native
Guyanese hardwood called Greenheart.
The Enmore Wooden Still is the world’s only
surviving wooden column still and also the
oldest operating Continuous Coffey still.
The Enmore Sugar Estate and the attached
distillery were founded by Mr. Edward Henry
Porter and this all nearly 200 years ago.
The rum mark made on the wooden Coffey
continuous still is referred to as “Enmore”
or “EHP” this after Mr. Edward Henry Porter.
Rum from this still is used in the El Dorado
5,8,12,15,21 and 25 Year Old Rum.
The Port Mourant Pot Still is the only operational
wooden double pot still in the world.
Founded in 1732 the Port Mourant Estate is
reckoned as one of the oldest estates in the
world. The Port Mourant or PM rum was a
very popular basis for the rums consumed
by the British Royal Navy. Rum from this
still is used in the El Dorado 8,12,15 and 25
Year Old Rum.
The Versailles Single Pot still is the only
operational wooden single pot still in the
world. Rum from this still is used in the El
Dorado 15 and 21 Year Old Rum
Because of the special distillation
process using Wooden Stills the
El Dorado – Demerara Rums are
truly unique and recognized by connoisseurs
worldwide as being
a separate unique rum style.
down ageing rum stock for their own, to be released brand:
‘El Dorado’. Given that date it is no coincidence that the
El Dorado brand with its fl agship - 15 Year Old Special
Reserve - was not launched until 1992. The name El Dorado
comes from tales of explorers who travelled to Guyana in
search of a golden city, Manoa, ruled by a gilded King, his
body dusted with gold. This city of Manoa, was referred to by
the Spaniards as “El Dorado”. From launch the El Dorado
range has become the benchmark for aged rums and the
age statement specifi cally indicates the youngest rum in the
blend, even though the oldest may be many years older.
The Stills Guyana
Guyana is the only country in South-America
having English as the offi cial language.
It is bordered by Venezuela on the West,
Suriname on the East, Brazil on
the South and the Atlantic Ocean to the
North. Although being located in the main
land of South-America Guyana is offi cially
part of the Caribbean. The name Guyana is
an Amerindian word meaning
Land Of Many Waters. 8,5% of Guyana is
water, hence
the nickname.
Guyana has an
area of 214,969
sq km, about
the size of Great
Britain and has
approximately
775.000 inhabitants.