Overview
Brand: Rumcast Reserve
Origin: Diamond Distillery, Diamond, Guyana (picked by The Rumcast)
Still: Wooden Pot (Versailles)
Age: 9 years, 11 months
Finish: ex-Rum
ABV: 50.9%
When John Gulla and Will Hoekenega started the Rumcast, they were focused on highlighting the spirit and the worldwide community surrounding it; to reference their tagline: "talking rum with the people who love and shape it". No one– not even the hosts themselves– thought they would ever have a rum of their very own. Until now.
I won't recount the entire saga– I'll let the hosts tell you themselves– but the gist is that in early 2025, John and Will visited the Main Rum Company in Liverpool, England, to taste a number of single cask rum samples. They left having selected two standout rums they later released under the Rumcast Reserve brand, imported by the fine folks at Raising Glasses.
The first release I'll review is the Rumcast Reserve Guyana VSG 9 year. As the short marque-like designation suggests, this was produced in December 2014 using the Versailles wooden pot still at DDL's Diamond Distillery in Guyana. This unaged rum was shipped to the UK where it spent 9 years and 11 months aging in a heavily-charred ex-rum cask, before being bottled at 50.9% ABV.
Appearance
Amber, low viscosity
Nose
Fresh dough, peaches, vanilla extract, dried dates, brandied cherries, cardboard, fresh pear
Palate
Grilled peaches, brown sugar, milk chocolate, dried apricot, dates, molasses
Finish
Medium-long, fruity, dark; peach, dates, vanilla, cardboard, pound cake
Rating: 8/10
Summary
Guyanese rum can sometimes be a little boring, even at cask strength; the Rumcast Reserve VSG pick, however, is not one such case. This blends dark, juicy fruits with traditional Demerara elements like vanilla, brown sugar and molasses to deliver a special rum.
Fresh dough– maybe even Play-Doh– jumps out at me when smelling the glass, followed effortlessly by peaches; other fruits like dates, cherries, and pear pop up as well. Drinking this, I get a heap of those peaches, fresh off the grill, before a spoonful of brown sugar, milk chocolate, and more fruit. The finish is OK: fruity and dark with peaches and dates joined by vanilla and a stale cardboard that gives a slight bitterness as the flavors trail off.
Guyana VSG is a great start to what I hope will be a large Rumcast Reserve catalog of special picks. It stands out among other Demerara rums and may be my favorite of their two initial releases.