Many have written about this rum, mainly 7-9 years ago. What can I say? I’m much earlier along in my rum journey. My tastes may have rapidly evolved in the last couple of years but such is the legacy of El Dorado in influencing many rum lovers that I can still remember when I was introduced to it – September 2011, I was travelling down the East Coast of Australia with my girlfriend (now Mrs RumLondon) and we stopped overnight in a town called Airlie Beach. We got directed to Fish D’vine & the RumBar where for the first time, someone took the time to talk us through their FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY different rums. Up until that point my range had recently extended from the Punjabi wedding staple of Bacardi to the exotic Bundaberg (sidebar; not exotic, pretty rough). The bartender started expounding the marvels of a new demerara rum they’d got in from Guyana called El Dorado and who very kindly gave us some 21yr old to try along with the 8yr old we could actually afford.
That was it – after that point I started taking more than a passing interest in rums – dabbling with the usual entry-level South American products for many a long while until a trip to Cuba and Cayman in 2017 got me thinking more about the range of distillery offerings and geographic variations (Seleccion des Maestros and Ron Mulata 12 year Reserva in particular). RumLondon was born a few months later and I’ve been carrying on in fits and starts since.
Back to the point – I’m sure many of us remember the moment we discovered there was more to rum than the regular supermarket fare. For me, it was discovering El Dorado as a skint backpacker travelling with the woman I loved. It’s those memories that we reflect on and which make us smile years later.
Shit – this was supposed to be a post about El Dorado rum. Oh well. Next time! (Sorry)