Avast! It’s the Brittish Navy! Well, sort of.

This is the style mostly attributed to “Navy” style or “Overproof” rum. These rums come from Guyana and are often dark, sweet, intense and heavy. There were once many distilleries in Guyana, but only one remains; Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). They have acquired many of the old stills from other distilleries and produce an incredible amount of rum each year, most of which likely goes into mixing “dark” rum blends.

There are no rules on additives, and unfortunately one of the more well known Guyanan rums (El Dorado) is quite heavily packed with added sugar and E150a (maybe even other flavourings, I don’t know). It’s a real shame as the range of stills and therefore styles of rum that can be produced in amazing, from double column stills right through to a wood pot still. Getting independently bottled Demerara rums is a real must as you can taste the unadulterated rums from specific still types.

Examples of Demerara rums are;

El Dorado, OVD, Pussers , Lambs, Woods 100’s (overproof). Both Pussers and Lambs are Guyana heavy on the blend but also have rum from other countries, such as Trinidad.

If you are able to get them, more specific Demeraras are;

Port Morant, Diamond, Enmore and Uitvlugt.