That Boutique-y Rum Company Diamond Distillery (Savalle Still) Guyana. This is the latest Guyanese rum offering from That Boutique-y Rum Company. Unlike their last release “Unconfirmed Still” (yes a review is in the pipeline) we have some really solid information on this particular rum.

The Independent Bottling of rum from Guyana is probably up there with Caroni in terms of popularity and longevity. However, with so many bottlers around and so many different ways of describing these rums. With some using some quite “inventive” names it can sometimes be time consuming getting to the bottom of which still the rum hails from. The movement of the stills from distillery to distillery also doesn’t help.

So I’m pleased that the labelling on this That Boutique-y Rum Company bottling gives me all the information I require. So I might as well cut to the chase and fill you all in with what I have in front of me for review today.

Now most of the information is available in the title. So we have a rum which was distilled at Diamond (Demerara Distillers Limited) Distillery on their Savalle Still. Usually that would be quite enough information but we also have the marque ICBU.

When I saw this I immediately recognised this from an old El Dorado bottling. El Dorado released to the US market (I’m pretty sure Europe only ever obtained imported stock from the US) 3 “Single Barrel” releases. One of which was an ICBU marque. You can read a review of this rum over at https://rumshopboy.com/2016/12/02/el-dorado-icbu-single-barrel/Rum Shop Boy.

Rums from this particular still – The French Savalle Still are frequently noted as being Uitvlugt by Independent bottlers. The still was originally housed at the Uitvlugt Distillery which has long been closed. ICBU was an identifier used to show the rum came from Uitvlugt. In 2000 the French Savalle Still was moved to Diamond Distillery.

So as this rum is 12 years old this was as the label correctly notes distilled at Diamond albeit on a Uitvlugt “heritage” still. The only thing I am not totally sure about is how useful the ICBU marque is. It is noted that the French Savalle Still can produce 9 different marques of rum – however this marque seems to cover all rum from what was Uitvlugt? I’m not aware of any other Rum Marques being attributed to Uitvlugt rums other than some of the experimental Velier bottlings. If you have more information then please let me know.

Other than that I’m pretty happy with the information on this bottling. As with all (except their Signature Blends) That Boutique-y Rum Company offerings this rum comes in a 50cl bottle. It retails at Master of Malt at £48.95. That Boutique-y Rum Company Diamond Distillery (Savalle Still) Guyana has been bottled at Cask Strength 57.8% ABV and there are only 406 bottles available of this single cask rum. It has been aged in ex-bourbon barrels.

Once again artwork for this bottling has been provided by Jim’ll Paint It. I’d be careful clicking on the link though as some of the stuff is maybe NSFW! The presentation on this bottling is fairly innocent thought just a ship sailing down what I assume is the Demerara River which has either had an oil slick or it is depicting molasses. I suspect its the latter.

So lets move on to the fun part.

In the glass we are presented with a very light spirit. A shade darker than straw/white wine perhaps. This suggests a couple things. One is that DDL have not used one of their “molassses coated” barrels or added caramel colouring to the rum. Two is that it has likely had some Continental Ageing here in Europe. I’d be very surprised if this has been aged for 12 Years in the Tropics and come out this light.

The nose is familiar. I’m reminded a little of El Dorado 15 Year Old and some of the “Navy” style rums that are so popular here in the UK. Sweet notes of sugar cane sweetness, raisins and sultanas. There is a syrupy note of molasses and sweeter Golden Syrup. There is a touch of oak spice and a little smokiness but the sweetness definitely leads the nose.

On the sip I am getting a slight aniseed like note some astringency that wasn’t apparent from the nose. This is kept in line by a very nice array of spicy bourbon like notes and a sweet caramel flavour.

It is more complex than the nose suggested and not as sweet. It’s very flavourful though with a fair amount of fruitiness in the form of raisins, sultananas and a hint of banana and pineapple. It is stopped from getting too sweet though by t

he array of spices from the barrel ageing. Ginger, white pepper and some vanilla really give the rum a great complexity. There is a touch of smokiness in this rum which runs into the mid palate which becomes oakier but never becomes too dry.

It’s a really nicely balanced rum with good complex flavours and a really pleasant warming finish which lingers for just long enough. It’s quite more-ish as well.

This is probably a very good rum to introduce to someone who is looking to move from more bog standard Demerara or the El Dorado style. Even at 57% ABV it is still very approachable. There is still the option to add some water as well – which does not destroy this rum in anyway. It can easily be brought down at around 50% ABV without losing much of its character.

With this being a column distillate it is perhaps a little sweeter and easier going than some of the pot still Demerara. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this might lack complexity. It has a really good definition of flavour and it is complex enough to keep you busy.

In terms of rating this overall as a rum, I will stick with 4 stars. Though I did waiver towards 4.5. More so for this rums potential to introduce more casual Demerara imbibers over to some Cask Strength or “clean” (in terms of colouring and additives) Demerara rum.

I also think that this rum would work very well in a few premium cocktails. It could definitely add some complexity and some sweetness at the same time.

A really good bottling for any one curious about this type of Demerara rum. Also well worth a purchase for any Independent Demerara enthusiast.