Overview
Brand: El Dorado
Origin: Diamond Distillery, Diamond, Guyana
Still: Pot & Column Blend
Age: 15 years
Finish: ex-Bourbon
ABV: 40%
El Dorado is a brand many likely are familiar with, as it is the flagship export brand of Guyana's only distilling firm: Demerara Distillers, Ltd., or DDL. Both the distilling company and the alternative name for Guyanese rum– Demerara rum– reference the river to which DDL's Plantation Diamond distillery is adjacent.
DDL produces a lot of rum, and is known as something of a "living museum" of rum distillation: it has a number of modern and historic stills of various configurations and materials that have been collected from previously operational distilleries.
El Dorado 15 year utilizes four of these stills– the EHP Wooden Coffey (column), metal Coffey, Port Mourant wooden double pot, and Versailles wooden single pot– for its molasses-based blend. After each constituent rum is distilled, they are aged in ex-Bourbon casks for a minimum of 15 years, before being blended and bottled at 40% ABV.
Appearance
Dark mahogany, low viscosity
Nose
Molasses, caramel, baked banana, prunes, vanilla, cookie dough, freshly-stained wood
Palate
Vanilla, brown sugar, orange jelly candies, molasses, lemon Pledge
Finish
Medium-short, sweet, dark; prunes, vanilla, caramel, hint of rotten banana peel
Rating: 5/10
Summary
I'm generally a fan of Demerara rums, and have enjoyed some of the other core El Dorado rums for making cocktails. That said, El Dorado 15 year misses the mark for me. It's got some good structure, but is clearly sweetened (something that is allegedly being phased out) and runs a little harsh.
Lots of vanilla, molasses, brown sugar, and prunes throughout, with a more expressive nose than I'd expect for 40% ABV; this part of the experience is quite nice. Tasting the rum, it's clearly part of a sweetened batch, and has a fairly astringent Lemon Pledge flavor on the back palate/early finish.
I'm certainly not turned off of El Dorado, but hope the current and future 15 year releases stear clear of added sweeteners, and perhaps get bumped up to 43% ABV, which I think will help the constituent rum marques shine that much more.