Overview
Brand: Valinch & Mallet
Origin: Diamond Distillery, Diamond, Guyana
Still: Column
Age: 20 years
Finish: ex-Bourbon
ABV: 50.7%
For those rum enthusiasts of a certain age– and/or tax bracket– you'll be familiar with the "Skeldon" name, thanks to some legendary bottlings by (who else?) Luca Gargano of Velier. These were released using the now-famous "Velier bottles", using stark labels featuring a bold color and serif font, emblazoned with "SKELDON" and a year that I've only ever read about in history books.
I have not had much exposure to this line of bottles, and therefore I've gathered what I know from secondary sources like The Lone Caner, the fat rum pirate, and other rum blogs or Rum Auctioneer listings.
From these readings I've learned that the Skeldon distillery was founded in the 1800s in Guyana, in the eponymous town on the Western banks of the Courantyne River, across from Suriname. It was attached to a sugar factory, which was very often the case in the rum world, even up until the late 20th century. In 1960, the Skeldon distillery was shuttered, leading to the production stills being either abandoned or dismantled; this is unlike the fate of other closed Guyanese distilleries' stills, many of which found their way to DDL's Diamond Distillery.
This Skeldon sample is from a bottle of Valinch & Mallet SWR 2001 20 year. It bears the "SWR" marque, which stands for Sir William Ross, and corresponds to molasses-based rum produced using a Savalle column still.
While some other, older Skeldon rum releases were produced at the Utivlugt distillery, this marque and its production likely survived via DDL and Diamond Distillery, considering it was distilled one year after Utivlugt's own shuttering in 2000. This rum was aged for 20 years– according to one sale page, this was done entirely in Scotland. It was bottled at 50.7% ABV.
Special thanks to Andrew for providing this sample to me.
Appearance
Dark orange-brown, high viscosity
Nose
Fresh prunes, demerara sugar, grape cough syrup, dried black cherries, hint of caramel
Palate
Candied prunes, dried dates, demerara sugar, caramel, overripe black cherries, toffee
Finish
Medium-long, dark, fruity; black cherry syrup, caramel, molasses, fresh dates
Rating: 9/10
Summary
This rum is as Guyana as Guyana gets! The palate hits all the dark, fruity, confectionary notes I expect from blended Demerara rum, but turns them up several notches.
Immediately I get dried cherries and grape cough syrup on the nose, followed by prunes and heaps of demerara sugar. The deep, dark, fruity notes continue onto the palate, which is just sublime. 50.7% ABV presents this beautifully, displaying plenty of complexity without overloading the experience with raw power. The cherries, dates, and confections continue into the palate, in which they fade gracefully into each passing second.
These Skeldon bottlings are something special, and I'm thankful I had a chance to try them. Guyana and DDL are well-known as merchants of bulk rum nowadays, but this rum is a glimpse into a marque that would have been lost to time, if not for the careful preservation of Guyana's rich rum heritage.