El Dorado 12 Year Old Demerara Rum

Demerara molasses, dark chocolate, raisin, long oak. The Caribbean's benchmark sipping rum.

A Guyanese blend aged twelve tropical years, from wooden stills older than most countries: the Port Mourant double pot, running since 1732, and the Enmore Coffey, the last greenheart still in the world. One year in a Guyanese barrel burns off what three would in Europe. Twelve here is a long time.

Neat, a heavy glass, no ice, five minutes to warm. The way it is drunk in Guyana.

The pour for serious occasions. The bottle the older Kittitian who has done well brings out at the end of dinner, with dark chocolate and a small strong coffee. A christening, a graduation, a child home from abroad.