GUYANA IS the southernmost country in the Caribbean Community, and just one of two CARICOM Member States that are not actually islands.

But its Demerara region long produced the best sugar in the Caribbean, and Guyana has one of the region’s oldest rum traditions.

While Guyana has far fewer distilleries than it did during its heyday in the colonial period (according to tradition, there were more than 300 sugar estates in Guyana at that time), their spirit remains in the South American country today.

Leading the country’s rum sector is Demerara Distillers, which debuted the El Dorado series in 1992 from its estate on Guyana’s Demerara River and produces four varieties in that range, from 12 years to 25 years of aging, along with three other categories of rum.

The best known of all its brands, however, is El Dorado’s 15 Year Old Special Reserve, which is matured for at least 15 years in oak casks, and blends a group of rums, some of which are 25 years old, from among the distillery’s plethora of unique pot stills.

And that’s the one Rum Journal tasted.

El Dorado 15 has a reddish brown colour, with an aroma of caramel and brown sugar.

The flavour profile is marked by notes of brown sugar, coffee, oak and dried apricot.

The finish is smooth, and evocative of a rhum agricole, with just a hint of spice.

The verdict? A complete, robust rum, worthy of the proud heritage of Guyana.

We recommend it neat.

— CJ