Holmes Cay has brought us another remarkable single cask, single still rum from Guyana’s Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), this time a twenty-one-year-old Demerara rum distilled in DDL’s four-column French Savalle still. This still—consisting of two two-column Savalle stills reconfigured as a single four-column still—was originally installed at the Uitvlugt [OWT•flut] Distillery around 1921 and was relocated to Diamond Distillery in 2000 where it now produces rum for nearly every El Dorado cask-aged rum. As the most versatile of all DDL’s stills it can replicate nine different legacy marques, but because these marques are used as blending components, one rarely has the opportunity to experience any individual rum from this still.

Aged 21 years; aged in an ex-bourbon cask for 2 years in Guyana, re-barreled in the UK and aged 16 years in an ex–bourbon cask previously used to mature rum, followed by an additional 3 years aging in New York State. Limited to only 138 bottles. Notes of golden honey and a whiff of brine on the nose precede a palate of overripe tropical fruit, almond, herbs, and a touch of cocoa with light tobacco on the finish. Bottled at 51% abv.