Diamond 1988 - Velier - 59%
A true Rum Legend on the stage of the Stuttgart Opera House
Welcome to another unicorn episode from Rainbowland and to the last tasting milestone of our Velier Demerara bucket list. So far 1993 was our favourite expression from the Diamond Coffey Still, which will already be quite hard to beat. But since we've heard only but (inter)stellar feedback from the few fellas that were fortunate to try that unicorn, we're so bloody bursting with curiosity! Just 3cl to get an impression.' Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, seize everything you ever wanted...can you also hear the electric guitar beat and Eminem's metallic voice now?
Nose
Rex tremendae majestatis! The first sniff literally explodes and manifests what's making these Velier Demeraras so special. It's the unbelievable fatness, richness and the exotic jungle associations, hence the pure uniqueness. Meaning the most addictive Patexx glues, pure coconut mark, Jasmine flowers from India and Ylang Ylang from China. A crazy load of strawberries and raspberries alright (what?!). Slightly reminiscent of the 1991 Caroni (Samba) at this point. First Velier Demerara delivering red fruits! Very very unusual. Fried manioc roots in coconut butter and some undefined jungle herbs. Fine cedar wood. On top: very pronounced notes of wood polish and new leather. Now it even feels a bit like Pibous 1996. After a while the sweetness develops into candyfloss and the leatherness into the smell of a freshly opened Montecristo Cigar Box. Rafinesse, elegance and a monstrous complexity, all in one distillate, ergo a to-die-for-bouquet.
Palate
Yes, almighty! Welcome to the jungle! Sweet fermented mangoes and plantains. Manioc roots in abundance. Bounty bar and all kinds of glues. Super sweet initial start and absolutely balanced. The distillate is fat and super heavy. Overripe Raspberries and Straweberries indicate a slight sourness. But paired with the gentle bitterness of dark chocolate it just adds to the complexity. These fruity and berried components are simply stunning. The alcohol is wonderfully integrated, almost non-existent. Have we mentioned an oily texture? Pure oil. Every little sip holds another surprise. In terms of column still rum it actually can't get any better.
Finish
1300 pages long, like The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, but way more lingering on the bright side of life. All on lovely raspberry and coconut mark, glues and rubber.
Rating
The perfect distillate, matured in a perfect cask (not too active) and bottled at the optimum age. Can we call this perfection? Now some could say, 'you're only affected by the insane rarity and name', and honestly they're not to blame when considering the almost frightening price tag at the moment. On the other hand, this could just as well be applied to all the Broras, Karuizawas and old Macallans of this wee world. In this case ultra rarity meets ultra quality (best column still rum for us so far), so everybody is free to do the math on how far that was affecting the secondary market. Is it better than Cadenheads 1964, our personal best rum in the world? Nope, but on this level we don't see the necessity to compare Column with Pot Still.
Since we don't get paid for our semi-professional stammer, we reserve the right to insist on our free speech at this point and are most grateful to our friend from Paris for the sample and the once in a lifetime opportunity! Let's give this gem some insane
