Rum – Are We There Yet?

Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana – October 14, 2013

Today is Columbus Day, so I had the day off. Even amid this stupid U. S. Government shutdown, I am still working; at least for now.
Since it is an American holiday, all of the Guyanese businesses are open, including the Demerara Distillers Limited. They are much better known as the makers of El Dorado Rum.
A group of seven of us rode a bus that had been arranged by our Community Liaison Officer. We were picked up at about 09:20. About an hour later, we found ourselves at the DSL store near the distillery. That is where we bought our G$3,000 tickets, approximately US$15.
The bus dropped us off at the guard booth at the main entry point. We waited there for our tour guide. While we waited, the guards outfitted each member of the group with hairnets and hardhats.

The planter in the El Dorado parking lot.

Shortly after the issuance of hardhats, our tour guide, Amanda, arrived. She asked that we remove all jewelry. She also cautioned us against the use of matches, lighters, and firearms. Luckily I had nothing to worry about with these tourists!! Amanda followed that conversation with a safety briefing and the warning that we could not take photographs during the interior tour of the distillery.
Our first stop was at what is called the Services Building. I must admit that during the tour, it was difficult to hear what Amanda was saying because there was so much background noise. That is compounded by the fact that, in general, the Guyanese talk very softly. Often, even though I was standing right beside Amanda and leaning my good ear in toward her, I still could not make out what she was saying. Maybe I am getting old…

Services building at entry to the El Dorado Distillery.The Services Building is the “green” epicenter of DDL. It is where methane gases, for example, are captured and re-routed for use in other parts of the distilling process; including liquefied gas, gas cylinders and dry ice.

From the Services Building, a couple of flights of stairs took us to the yeast and fermentation areas. The making of rum begins in the sugar cane fields. A byproduct of sugar cane refining into sugar is molasses. The molasses from the refiners are mixed with yeast at the distillery to begin the fermentation process. That process takes a little more than a day. Read about the process of producing sugar from sugarcane in the entry, Pure Cane Sugar.

The “wash,” as it is called at this point, is pumped into huge, open-air vats. One could see the heat waves coming from the liquid. When queried, Amanda was unsure of the temperature of the liquid.

The wash almost appeared to be boiling. That was due to the bubbles caused by the yeast. There were several buckets around on the walkways we were using. The substance in the buckets helped to keep the yeast from bubbling over the top of the vats. At this point in the tour, it was rather malodorous.

Answering a question, Amanda confirmed that rain getting into the open vats does not negatively impact the distillation process.

From the vats, the wash goes to any of several available stills. The first one we saw is known as the EHP Wooden Coffey still. EHP stands for Edward Henry Porter. The still was originally from his estate. The term Coffey refers to the type of still. That particular still has been in continuous use since 1880. It is constructed with local greenheart wood. It is the only one of its kind in the world.

The EHP Wooden Coffey still consists of two towers of wood, the second of which is known as the rectifier. Each tower of timber is about 40 or 50 feet tall. Rum is made by introducing the wash to the top of the column and steam at the bottom. This combination wrings out the alcohol vapors, winding their way to the bottom of the still. The heavier rums are from the top of the rectifier, mediums from the middle and the lighter rums from the bottom.

Directly across from the EHP Wooden Coffey still sits the two Grand PM Pot stills. PM stands for Port Mourant, a town in Guyana. That is where the Grand PM Pot stills began their lives of making rum. These were also made of the local greenheart wood. Both stills have been in continuous use since 1732! Like the EHP Wooden Coffey still, these are the only of their kind in the world. The EHP Wooden Coffey still and the Grand PM Pot stills are credited for giving El Dorado rums their distinctive flavors. Amanda stated that the Master Distiller, Mr. George Robinson, will often mix from both stills to come up with one particular rum.

It was at this point in the tour that one could begin to detect the distinct odor of rum. The fragrances were nowhere near as noxious as at the fermentation and yeast areas.
In addition to these wooden “patriarchs,” there were several more modern metal stills in use. One, in particular, was easily the size of a ten-story building.
Departing the still area, we were led into the rum warehouse. It was a fantastic sight. The rum barrels were stacked in alternating rows of two, 12 barrels deep and five barrels high. Amanda said there are some 60,000 barrels in storage. Each barrel is specially marked to indicate the rum mixture and the date it was distilled. The rums that are ultimately bottled consist of several years duration; three, five, eight, 12, 15, 21, and 25.
The barrels are all made on-site using American white oak. Depending on the type of rum desired, some of the barrels are burned on the inside while others are not.
As noted above, DDL’s longest aged rum is the 25-year variety. That means that all rum that is used has been stored for a minimum of 25 years. There may be some used that have been saved a little longer. A 750ml bottle of the 25-year rum costs about G$70,000 which equates to about $350. They are only produced once each year in minimal quantity.

A US$350 bottle of rum…no tasting allowed 🙁

Over the years of storage, there is a loss of some of the rum through the wood. That is known as the angel’s share. In the case of the 25-year rum, the angel’s share amounts to one-half. In other words, when opened, the barrels are only about one-half full. Those barrels only get used once. “Younger” rum barrels may get used multiple times.
As we left the rum warehouse, we saw where the rum is emptied from the barrels to prepare for bottling. On the floor of that area were four or five stainless steel “sinks” built into the floor. They were about 18 inches square by about four inches deep. No emptying of barrels occurred while we were there; however, some had been emptied earlier in the day. Because of that, there were some of the bungs in the sinks along with some pieces of burlap. When setting the bungs in the barrels, a small square of burlap is placed over the hole first. That helps secure the bung. We were allowed to pick up and inspect the bungs and the burlap. They were still wet, having a definite odor of rum. Those that wished were able to take them as a souvenir.
Emerging from the emptying area we were at the cooperage. Unfortunately, that area was idle. At this point in the tour, we were allowed to begin taking photographs.

Empty rum barrels stored outside.

Warehouse No. 1 contains approximately 60,000 barrels of aging rum.

Barrels stored in front of the cooperage.

The final stop of the tour was the Heritage Center. It is a combination museum and tasting room. Several scale models (see earlier photographs) of the stills help one understand what one saw on tour.
In the tasting room, one sees there are some 19 different types of rum produced at DDL. The 15-year rum has won awards for many years in a row. This year, the eight-year rum won.
I initially asked to taste the 25-year rum. Amanda said no because of the expense. Bottles of the 25-year rum can sell for US$400! I ended up trying the 15, eight, and six-year rums. My favorite, by far, was the 15-year rum. I could see it as a “sipping” rum. The eight-year smelled sweet, but I thought it had a real alcohol smell and taste. The six-year was even worse. I likened it to rocket fuel (by the way, all of DDL’s rum have a 40% alcohol content). If I were to buy rum, it would be the 15-year variety.
I would highly recommend the tour to anyone that visits Georgetown.

Our tour guide imparting information in the heritage center.

Pouring a taste test of the 15-year old rum.

Our tour guide, Amanda, explained the various varieties of rum available from El Dorado.

On the left is eight-year-old rum. On the right is 15-year old rum. For me, the 15-year tastes light years better.

Charlotte Amalie, U. S. Virgin Islands – January 7, 2013

***NEWSFLASH*** The U.S. Virgin Islands are officially beautiful!
I asked Leslie if she would like to retire there. She did not say no, but she did not say yes, either. Maybe there is a chance!
Sitting on the ship before we got off for the day’s adventure, we saw numerous yachts in the marina; they were mega yachts. We saw the Phoenix2, a 286-foot yacht built-in 2010; the Nirvana, a 290-foot yacht built-in 2012; and the US$103 million Vibrant Curiosity, a 280-foot yacht built-in 2009. They were all fantastic vessels. Photographs of them on-line confirm they are amazing inside too. The only yacht in these photos I might be able to afford is the rubber zodiac in the lower right corner of the panoramic photo…

The very large Vibrant Curiosity yacht.

A panoramic view of the port at Charlotte Amalie. Note the rubber zodiac in the lower right corner.

Our first destination was Blackbeard’s Castle. It is not a castle; in fact, the brochure even indicates “…it’s unlikely that Blackbeard himself…” was there. Regardless, it was a fun spot.
After we purchased our tickets, we listened to a brief presentation about Blackbeard and some of his antics. Then we were led into their small rum distillery. We listened to another short presentation on their rum-making methods. When that finished, we moved into the gift shop. We each sampled three different types of rum. We tried Blackbeard’s Castle Aged Rum, Bones Rum (complete with a skull and crossbones), and Virgin Islands Blend with peach flavoring. I suspect the last time I had rum at 09:00 I was probably in college!

A pirate sculpture at Blackbeard’s Castle.

A pirate sculpture at Blackbeard’s Castle II.

A statue of Blackbeard in front of the tower.

A view of Charlotte Amalie from Blackbeard’s Castle tower.

Some of the varieties of rum made and sold at Blackbeard’s Castle.

On this tour, once again, we were lucky. We had gotten out of the taxi at the front door, which was at the top of the hill. There are three other entry points; however, they were all at the bottom of the hill. That meant our self-guided tour was all downhill.
Shortly after exiting the rum distillery and museum we met a live “pirate” near one of the swimming pools. We took some fun photos with him.

Tyler dealing with a pirate at Blackbeard’s Castle.

Hillary dealing with a pirate at Blackbeard’s Castle.

Leslie dealing with a pirate at Blackbeard’s Castle.

The seaside of the tower at Blackbeard’s Castle, complete with a swimming pool.

A statue on the grounds of Blackbeard’s Castle.

Britannia House is on the grounds of Blackbeard’s Castle. It is open for tours. The admission is part of the price we originally paid. It is a beautiful house with spectacular ceilings. The views from the terrace are amazing.

A view of Britannia House including the unique ceiling.

Charlotte Amalie as seen from the terrace of Britannia House. The flag on the left is from Denmark. The flag on the right is for the U. S. Virgin Islands.

The view of the port from the terrace of Britannia House. Our cruise ship is the one on the left.

We continued to the World Caribbean Amber Museum. They have hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of amber on display. I found it unusual how lightweight even the most substantial pieces are. The other very unique item was the two-story-high amber waterfall.

A waterfall at the museum made entirely of amber.

Continuing downhill we next found ourselves at the Hotel 1829. The old kitchen is now the hotel bar. We took a break from our walking about and had a beer or two. Our two choices of local beer were the Blackbeard Ale and the Virgin Islands Summer Ale. They were both tasty, although I liked the Blackbeard Ale the best. The Island Summer Ale was a little too sweet for my taste.

During our beer tasting, Tyler and I discovered a backgammon table inside. He and I played a game while we drank our beer.

After all of the walking in the heat, it was time to sample some local lagers.

Tyler and I took the opportunity to play a game of backgammon.

Next on our list were the “99 Steps”. There are 103 by my count. It seems the U.S. added a few after purchasing the islands from the Dutch in the early 1900s. I am not sure exactly why; regardless, the stairs are still an attraction.

The famous 99 Steps of Charlotte Amalie.

Once we made it down the stairs, we hailed a taxi to take us back to the cruise ship area. When we were dropped off, we made our way to the Butterfly Farm. It is at the south end of the port. It was a little pricey at US$12 per head, but it was a unique experience. By the time we left, I had adjusted my thinking. The experience was well worth the price!
Tomorrow, sea day and a behind the scenes tour of our cruise ship.