Wooden Coffey Still (Photo Courtesy Demerara Distillers Limited)
Just before Christmas I received some really good news. I had been invited to join a Rum Expedition to Guyana to visit the Demerara Distillers (DDL) facilities on a four-day trip which would also include two days of touring this tropical country to learn about the history and culture of Guyana. The expedition was the idea of Mr. Sameroo, (Managing Director, DDL) who asked Woodman Wines and Spirits (of Toronto) to organize a Canadian delegation with the aim of building our knowledge with respect to both Demerara Distillers and the Country of Guyana.
I am, of course, extremely excited because Demerara Distillers is home to what I consider to be two of the Great Wonders of the Rum World, their one of a kind Wooden Continuous Coffey or EHP Wooden Still which is the last fully functional still of its kind in the world today, and DDL’s last two fully functional original Wooden Pot Stills (one single and one double) which are each over 250 years old. Finally, although it is not quite as famous, there is another unique column still at the facility which I would love to see, Demerara Distillers’ French Savalle Column Still.
These stills are at the very heart of DDL’s rum production, and being allowed to tour the facility and watch how the rum is made is almost too good to be true. The trip has been described to me as a working tour which means (hopefully) that I will be able to see these famous stills up close doing the work that brings the famous Demerara Rum to the bottle.
As excited as I am about visiting Demerara Distillers and learning about their rum, I am equally excited about touring the Country of Guyana and learning about the history and culture of this remarkable country. Guyana is home to the Kaieteur Falls, which is the world’s largest single drop waterfall, measuring about 225 meters. This impressive natural wonder is just one of the sites which I will be privileged to visit. The trip will include visits to historic Fort Island, and an overnight stay at the wonderful Baganara Resort. I bought a new camera just for the trip, and I hope to share as much of the tour as possible with everyone who reads my blog.
So I hope everyone wishes me safe travels, as I will be arriving in Guyana on April 12, and returning to Canada on April 16. Hopefully I will have a great story to tell when I return.
Cheers Everyone!
Ron Millonario XO Reserva Especial Rum is a new rum which has entered the Alberta marketplace from Peru. It was extremely hard to research this rum as not even the Ron Millonario Website has any information about it. The website does speak of three old Scottish column stills and a slow distillation process used to produce their rum from sugar cane molasses, although the exact distillery which produces the rum is not mentioned (only that it can be found in the North of Peru). It is implied that this distillery uses its own specially selected yeasts in the fermentation process, and mention is made of the distillery’s own coopers who construct their own aging barrels from American and Slavonian oak.
The Rum Howler Blog 