Rum Review: Berrys' Enmore 16 Year

Subtle, soft and medium bodied rums originating in Guyana and that define the fourth major standard style. To our sweethearts and wives, may they never meet!

How do you rate Berrys' Enmore Rum 16 Years (five is best)?

5
1
33%
4
2
67%
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

Nekkandor
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Post by Nekkandor »

I think DDL has proofen that they are resistent (against learning). They have not learned a blessed thing from Luca, but a damn awful lot from Plantation.

Anyone who is arguing that such sweet rums are helpful to convince beginners to rum should see the fail in their theory right now.

Some of this bottlings are limited to 750 or 600. This is "really" the continuation of Velier. I'm just failing to see a link. This has nothing to do with the old quality. This is the damn path Plantation Rum is following. I could vomit.
AK9
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Post by AK9 »

Bruichladdich used to do wine finishes when they did not had good aged stock.

Why would DDL need these when they have a really good product?
They just need to create an independent department that bottles 10-20 casks every year.
PuRe casks. No additives, finishes etc.

Does this mean they will stop selling rum to IBs?
Nekkandor
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Post by Nekkandor »

AK9 wrote:Does this mean they will stop selling rum to IBs?
That seems unlikely. Take a look at the Annual Report of 2011 on Page 13 in the following link.

http://demeraradistillers.com/pdf/DDL_A ... t_2011.pdf

They want to increase their share in the bulk-trade. But with the new Multi-Column still commenced in 2011 and not with their old stills. You remember our discussion of "Versailles" being cut off from the Bulk-Sale? Right.

The only question that remains is: Are the importers aware of this and are they insisting on the old stuff or do they buy regardless of the quality? I do mean the importers in Europe who are stocking the stuff for Cadenhead, BB&R etc. If the latter assumption is true, then you can expect a downfall in quality after the vintage of 2011 in IB's bottlings. Clean and pure BS from this still. In the long run Guyana will loose ground in the IB's bottling business. St. Lucia, Fiji, Jamaica and Barbados could fill the gap. Or any other clever person who knows the demands of this market.

Honestly after I have lost my faith regarding the successor bottlings of Velier, I do fear after 2011 Guyana will be as dead as fuck (sry for the language). Richard Seale must be laughing his arse off in the face of such idiotism of DDL. Maybe they are making money and enough monkeys are buying their stuff, but their reputation will not go up. Specially not amongst whisky-drinkers.

Just my humble 2 cent to all of this.

Edit: I get the impression the heavy alteration is needed because the main part of the El Dorado Blends are consisting of rums from this multi-column still. Clean and pure but cheap to produce. Make your own clues why the stuff is being added.

Of course I can't prove anything, but I get serious doubts about the El Dorado blends.
AK9
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Post by AK9 »

Yes thanks for this. Cost reduction+ brand development + muli column stills. Does not sound very good.

Think El Dor did not like the compeition from single casks.


Planning to drop by from cadenhead London in the next weeks. Want to ask them few questions about this. I do hope they have lots of stock ...
Blade Rummer
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Post by Blade Rummer »

AK9 wrote: Why would DDL need these when they have a really good product?
They just need to create an independent department that bottles 10-20 casks every year.
PuRe casks. No additives, finishes etc.
Couldn't agree more and for the life of me, I can't understand the reasoning behind DDL's refusal to release (even limited bottlings) pure, unaltered rum. The Single Casks they have released are a good start, but aren't actually single casks and are bottled at 40%.

To me, the worst crime in altered/sugared rums is not necessarily the fact that the rums are "enhanced", because let's be honest, there are a lot of very thin column distilled rums that would have no taste otherwise. Fair enough to understand the logic behind that. However, when you have Plantation and now DDL ruining perfectly good rum (that otherwise goes to IB and so we know are good stocks) it just boggles the mind.

I am tempted to start re-distilling my El Dorado rums (I do have access to a chemistry lab, after all...) at home as a way to get rid of the sugar!
:roll:
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

In short term, by closing business with Velier and Gargano, El Dorado stops the connoisseurs from getting any real Demerara rum - what we will get is the El Dorado liqueurs (which I personally at least would not waste my money on - no need to encourage the makers of liqueurs masked as rum in my opinion.

If it was not for Luca Gargano (Velier as a bottler), most of us would not have a clue of what kind of magical treasures Demerara Distillers Limited has been able to make, by the use of the various old stills.

What DDL can make in the future depends on how well they have looked after these stills, repairing them, using them. Much of their "legend" is built on these stills and the rum they can make - but then, I do suspect that as the old equipment cannot make large quantities of bulk rum, they are not considered worth much at DDL these days. Quantity is in big demand - flavours can always be "recreated" by use of essences etc, right?

For a company that has had all the potential to make available the kind of treasures that Gargano (and to some extent other small independent bottlers have brought out) gave the world by selecting and bottling the rums "as is", I think Demerara Distillers Limited must stand out as the biggest epic failure of all times in the world of Rum. What they have given us in all these years as their own line of products are a bunch of heavily altered liqueurs, with claims that they are rum. From the stock they have, I think this is absolutely preposterous.

I fear that Gargano's success may have been causing some envy and dislike in Guyana - after all, he opened our eyes to the fact that how BAD the El Dorado mass production really is. Also he is a European making money from Guyanese rum - a fact that I am sure not all in the country have liked.

The story reminds me of Caroni's late success. When the distillery was in full operation, and they had their own brands (plus sold vast majority of their rum in bulk sales, of course), they were not exactly a hit, not even in Trinidad where other rums from big Angostura were more popular. They blended, filtered and smoothened these magnificent rums until they were pale shadows of themselves - I have some of the old bottllings, and really can say that their content gives one no idea of how good Caroni rum really was.

But this is the way of the Caribbean - no faith in their own produce, no flippin' idea of what the world would respect and enjoy - just a vague attempt to "gee' dem what dey want". Which of course historically has been just cheap, bulk rum. "Sell us the rum, we will refine it into a fine brand product" was the motto of the American and British buying companies. Not much has been learned about brands and products in some of these distilleries, it seems. El Dorado leads in my books as one of the big disappointments.
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The Black Tot
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Post by The Black Tot »

I think I missed something recently - DDL is stopping their business relationship with Gargano? I thought he bought a significant portion of shares in the place.

I too worry about future supply of the great Guyanans. I had it figured that the partial ownership by Gargano was going to mean there would be no way to get an independent bottling save for through Velier.

It does sound like there is some serious obstruction somewhere in DDL management. I'm sure someone like Gargano would be happy to oversee artisinal batch distillations from the old stills destined for future batches of top-class rums. Instead he's in Haiti developing Clairins (nothing wrong with that!).

It is indeed sad to see the stills underused - one must wonder why they made such an effort to consolidate them if they were only going to discontinue their use? I suppose the fact that all these moves happened pre-2000 and the massive column came online in 2011? They needed them at first...
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

I'm sure you'll get more and better information from other than I, but surely an important factor was the massive, multi-billion dollar subsidies that put huge pressure on Caribbean rum.

You may recall that Bacardi, et al, used those subsidies to buy lots of bulk and to put pressure on the DDL, among others.
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