El Dorado wine casks

JaRiMi · Post by **JaRiMi** » Sun Sep 06, 2015 12:34 pm

It seems that El Dorado has then broken the link between themselves and the wonderful Italian independent bottler, Velier. This is really sad news to any and all friends of real rums, since through Velier we got to see what Demerara is really capable of being - instead of the overly sweetened, filtered-to-hell concoctions that DDL pushes out as "best of Guyana". Velier six, El Dorado nill. Maybe this is why they ended the business partnership?

So, instead of Velier's magnificent releases of Demerara rums with marks like Skeldon, Uitvlugt, Port Morant, Diamond, Enmore, Albion and Blairmont, DDL offers to us six expressions finished in two different types of Port wine, two different types of Madeira wine, and a Sauterne and Red wine cask versions.

Dunno about you all, but I am not jumping for joy here. All at 43%, and most likely still sweetened/with additives. And due to their "exclusivity" this stuff will be sold at a very high price.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:52 pm

This is mega-business at work. Buy or freeze out your competition, then you own the market, in this case for so-called "premium" Demeraran category. It won't work. I couldn't agree more with JaRiMi's reading of this; namely that by killing off Velier, the real standard of comparison will be smothered and finally simply die away.

Thank the godz for the sugar tests, as DDL has taken the Plantation route of premiumization by marketing what will be a quick dunk in tired (and perhaps soaked) old wood. And the beating, er beat, goes on...

The Black Tot · Post by **The Black Tot** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:10 am

Isn't the leadership of ED, Yesu IIRC, rather elderly?

Perhaps the DDL guard may soon change. Of course, that could just as well be for the worse.

The real shame is that they don't need to choose one or the other - they really could have it both ways. They don't need to cut out silly escapades like this finishing nonsense. Go right ahead, just release the good stuff in parallel.

Someone really needs to blueprint those precious old stills!

JaRiMi · Post by **JaRiMi** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:03 am

The true face of Demerara Rum? Need not look any further...Italian company Velier, with their "Selezione Gargano" has released previously undiscovered beauties by selecting casks from the vast aging Rum stocks DDL has.

These magnificent Rums have amazed all who have tasted them - and left Rum connoisseurs all around the world wondering what is wrong with DDL as they have led us to believe that their El Dorado series, with all its sugaring, filtering and blending - read "blanding" - (and possible other additives used) is the best that Guyana can make.

Here's some examples of Real Demerara:

AK9 · Post by **AK9** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:36 am

The Black Tot wrote:Isn't the leadership of ED, Yesu IIRC, rather elderly?

Perhaps the DDL guard may soon change. Of course, that could just as well be for the worse.
!

I think someone in the forum had mentioned that the guard in DDL has changed and the "new" guy was suprised to see many IB bottles of Demerara.

For DDL: If I wanted to drink a Madeira wine, I would buy one. Can we have a regular normal rum please? Can you continue on the work by Velier and expose the miracles you have in your storeroom instead of blending them into a sugary ED?

The Black Tot · Post by **The Black Tot** » Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:33 am

I'm always amazed at how someone can be at the head of a major world rum company and yet understand so little about their own product as not to realize, as has been suggested above:

A) they've got gold in their store room that people would pay for and treasure if they just left it alone and didn't f it up.
B) They could have left Velier to do this for them, since V obviously knew how to do it right.
C) Velier wasn't competing with them - ED doesn't release anything like the single barrel delights Velier does.
D) The success and legendary status of the Velier bottlings helped connoisseurs gain respect for the distillery's history and place in the world of rum. It was actually GOOD for the ED brand.

I mean, ED can't even ape what Velier was doing successfully, despite owning it all - major face palm. When they release single barrel product, they kill them with water and chill filtration. And in every other case, they mix sugar into them.

Why save the antique stills if nobody is ever going to get another chance to learn what they can really do? Without Velier, Cadenhead's, and Bristol, how much would we really know about the stills at DDL? Would that great article by Barrel Aged Thoughts have even been written? It has taken the independent bottlings to really spice up the rum lovers' interest in DDL. And now they'll do what with it? Chuck some sugared rum into old wine barrels? It hurts to think about.

That Luca doesn't seem to be continuing with DDL is a big blow to us, ESPECIALLY those new Demerara freaks like me who showed up late to the party and only managed to get the last few and realize at the end of the era how awesome these were.

I'm still hoping for my big break buying a cask with a partner or two of a real Demeraran pot still gem someday, somehow.