Crowdsourcing Guyana Rum Marks


Most of you might know this chart. I got this one from singlecaskrum.com. It goes back to a blog article by cocktailoldfashioned.com and was created with the help of Stefanie Holt - back then she was a brand ambassador of El Dorado.

This table has many empty cells and many of the Marks connected to Guyana rum are still hard to figure out. Some might be marks from brokers others from the distillers others might come just out of Luca Gargano’s mind.

I’d be very happy if it is possible for us together possible to bring some structure to this mess and help everyone to understand Guyana rum marks better. I’m really no expert, all I did was collecting information from different sites (see sources below).

There are a lot of marks with only one vintage: PDW 1972, XPD 1971, MEV 1990, or REV 1994, or only one release UPM 1997.

What might be the aim of this exercise? Fill the empty cells. Find out who created which mark. Find different Marks for the same rums respective group similar marks together. Adding more vintages, perhaps creating a list of vintages for each mark, to make it possible to identify a rums mark by its vintage, color, and still.

So let me do an example: DDL’s Master Distiller Lennox Shaun Caleb says there are only two Versailles Still Marks: VSG and REV, with the latter being the colored version of the former. The only REV which is known is the 1994 Vintage - but is the MDXC from 2004 perhaps such a REV? And there are recent bottlings from That-Boutique-Rum Company with the Mark KFM and SXG.

Here we go:

Mark Original Sugar Estate Original Distillery Type of Still then Type of Still now Still Name Colored Dechiffre Style Mark Type First Known Vintage Last Known Vintages
DHE Uitvlugt Diamond Double Retort Pot Still Diamond High Ester (John Dore Still) Diamond High Ester 2014 2014
SVW Diamond Diamond Coffey Still Metal Coffey Still Diamond Still Colored? 1973 1999
SSN Diamond Metal Coffey Still Diamond Still
VNL Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Single Wooden Pot Still Enmore Still 1962 1962
EHP Lusignan Enmore Wooden Coffey Still Wooden Coffey Still Enmore Still Edward Henry Porter Medium Emore 1994 2012
ELCR Enmore Wooden Coffey Still Wooden Coffey Still Enmore Still Colored Enmore Light Column-Still Rum? Light Enmore 1995 1995
EHE Wooden Coffey Still Enmore Still 1997 1997
MD Enmore Enmore Wooden Coffey Still Wooden Coffey Still Enmore Still
DLR Diamond Metal Multicolumn MPRS (Multi-pressure Rectification Still) 1998 1998
GS20 Diamond Metal Multicolumn MPRS (Multi-pressure Rectification Still)
LSR Diamond Metal Multicolumn MPRS (Multi-pressure Rectification Still)
UN Diamond Metal Multicolumn MPRS (Multi-pressure Rectification Still)
PDW Uitvlught Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still 1972 1972
AW Port Mourant Albion Double Wooden Pot Still Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still 1986 2012
UPM Uitvlught Double Wooden Pot Still Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still Colored? Uitvlugt Port Mourant 1997 1997
MPM Uitvlught Double Wooden Pot Still Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still Uncolored? Modified/Main Port Mourant Light Port Mourant Broker? 1990 2010
DW Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still
PM (UP) Port Mourant Albion Double Wooden Pot Still Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still 2010 2010
AN (GV /) Wales Albion Coffey Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Albion and Nigg 1983 2004
ICBU Uitvlught Uitvlught Blair Coninuous Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Uncolored Ignatius Charles Border and Ursillya 1988 2008/2007
B Blairmont Blairmont Continious Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still 1991 1991
ULR Uitvlught Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Uitvlugt Light Rum 1997 1997
LBI La Bonne Intention Ogle Coffey Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still 1998 2012
GS Uitvlught Uitvlught Four-Column Savalle Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still
MGS Uitvlught Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still
SVL Diamond Four-Column Savalle Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Colored Savalle Still? Marketing 05/2003 05/2003
SWR (SMCG) Rose Hall (orginally Cane Grove) Skeldon Blair Coninuous Still Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Colored Sir William Ross 1973 2001
XPD Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still 1971 1971
AWM Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Light Versailles Style 1988 1988
MEC Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Colored 1988 1992
MEV Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored? Main Enmore Versailles ? Broker? 1990 1990
VSG Versailles Versailles Single Wooden Pot Still Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Versailles, Schoon Ord, Goed Fortuin 1990 2012
KFM Lusignan Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Kenneth Francis McKenzie 1991 2003/2004
REV Versailles Enmore Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Colored 1994 2006
SXG Versailles Versailles Single Wooden Pot Still Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Schoon Ord & Goed Fortuin? 2003 2005/2006
MDX Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Broker? 2004 2004
MDXC Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Colored Broker? 2004 2004
MEK Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Main Enmore KFM Broker 1991 1991
MER Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Uncolored Main Enmore KEV Broker 1994 1994
EDG Enmore Uncolored 1983 1983
MEEA Column Still (Metal Coffey or Wooden Coffey) Uncolored Main Enmore EHP Armagnac? Broker? 1998 1998
MPMM Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still Uncolored Main Port Mourant Malt Whisky Broker? 1997 1997
MPMC Double Wooden Pot Still Port Mourant Still Uncolored Main Port Mourant Cognac Broker? 1998 1998
FP Albion
MDK Diamond Mix of Single Wooden Pot Still and Wooden Coffey Still? Versailles Still or Enmore Still Uncolored 2003 2003
MDV Diamond Single Wooden Pot Still Versailles Still Main Diamond VSG?
MDE Diamond Wooden Coffey Still Enmore Still Main Diamond EHP?
MDLB Diamond Four-Column Savalle Still Savalle Still Main Diamond LBI
S Diamond Coffey Still Diamond Still 1999 1999
W Diamond Coffey Still Diamond Still 1993 1999
SV Diamond Coffey Still Diamond Still 1988 1995
MDSL Diamond Four-Column Savalle Still Four-Column Savalle Still Colored Broker? 12/2003 12/2003
MDS Diamond? Four-Column Savalle Still? Four-Column Savalle Still 1996 2008
UDS Uitvlugt? Four-Column Savalle Still? Four-Column Savalle Still 1993 2002

Sources:
https://barrel-aged-mind.blogspot.com/p/the-demerara-distilleries-20-german.html

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VSG was the official mark practiced at Versailles and then Enmore when they took over the still. The REV (Rum Enmore Versailles) mark supposedly comes from the broker Cadenhead. The Versailles distillery stopped its activities in 1968 and that’s when Enmore took over the VSG mark. You basically posted sources for this above, but this article also sums it up.

Generally I believe you can say that many marks are somehow connected in terms of being from the same still at a different distillery or directly from the distillery vs. from a broker who eventually stored or finished the rum somewhere else. Especially for the latter I think no records exist which estate the sugar cane was supplied from, thus the empty cells in the table above.

As for the REV mark which has an empty cell for the original sugar estate above, the distillery probably got their sugar cane from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) founded in 1976 and still in existance today. You can even find an annual report from 1994 from the company, however you’ll not find any mention of distilleries as customers. They produced 116,803 tons of molasses in 1994 as by product to sugar production and the sugar cane came from many individual farms without any detailed information on the origin available. I think it’s simply impossible to name a single sugar estate for a mark like REV as it’s no single estate rum. You could eventually say “multiple” since the molasses was produced in a factory as sugar production by product and that sugar was produced from sugar cane from multiple farms all over Guyana. I think this is a general rule applicable for most non-single estate rums and also a reason why not every vintage “tastes the same or even similar” (ok REV being a bad example here, since there is only one vintage I know of … 1994).

Edit:
As for the PDW mark the oldest rum I can find is the Cadenhead’s Caribbean Distillers “PDW” 30YO (1972-2003), 53,1%. Since we know it’s from the PM still, we need to find out where that still was located in 1972 (not yet at Diamond where it was moved to in 2000). The Port Mourant Distillery was supposedly closed in 1955 (Wikipedia says so too). The PM still was then moved to its original home Albion which closed between 1967-1969. Then the still was located at Uitvlugt until its final destination at Diamond.
Result: PDW mark should be from Uitvlugt.

Edit:
As for the SVL mark I can only find the S.B.S Guyana 2003 SVL in the RumX database. Is there really no other rum with that mark? If that is so the original distillery is Diamond, since however the Savalle still used here is originally from Uitvlugt, in 2003 this still was located at Diamond already.

Edit:
As for the UPM mark the original distillery should be Uitvlugt, since it was produced in 1997 (there’s a Velier bottling) and in 1997 the still was located at Uitvlugt before its closure in 2000. The MPM mark has its first bottling from 1990 (Velier again) so it should also be from Uitvlugt originally, however there are also bottlings after 2000 which must have been produced at Diamond.

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Maybe @JohannesEisner or @Noge85 could add something?

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I guess there are heritage marks which are still used, while others aren’t. Regarding the REV-mark. If DDLs Master Blender didn’t tell nonsense to Matt Pietrek the REV is still used and the colored version of the VSG. But we don’t have other REV vintages than 1994. This gap is hard to bridge. If REV actually is the colored VSG those colored 2004 MDXC might be REVs. At lear there should be others. Like there is this batch of 2001 SWRs.

Is it possible to identity similar marks tastewise? E.g. the TBRC Savalle 12 years is an ICBU. It has a very similar flavor like the 2001 SWR - without that burnt caramel. But I know only one ICBU and 2 two 2001 SWRs - so my experience is very limited. In this case both seem to be distiller marks.

Regarding the sugar estate I’m not very much into this detail. This is something I kept from the original table and which might be relevant for some of the historic marks if I read Marcos article correctly. So I don’t focus to much on that.

Edit: I hate writing on the phone

Since even Dirk Becker says he fails at blind tastings I wouldn’t dare to pretend a person who can identify “similar marks” tastewise exists :rofl:

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Perhaps not a single person - perhaps many can.

I’ll add your remarks to the list, when I’m back at my computer tomorrow

Sehr gute Übersicht zum Thema Demeraras direkt von Velier: Selezioni Demerara

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Mega gut. Vielen Dank, das kannte ich noch nicht! Werde das mal einarbeiten.

This is awesome! For the last several months, I have also been compiling a list of vintages/stills/marques from IB releases (though mostly between 1988-2008). I have been looking for someone else who has been doing the same thing so that we could compare notes.

I’ll send you a DM to see how we can combine our notes.
EDIT Okay maybe there is not actually a way direct message on the Rum-x platform?

Hello mr-crisp,
I am glad to hear that. Welcome to the RumX community!

We can evolve the table collectively in two ways:
a) Public discussion here in the thread. The thread creator will then transfer the new findings into the table.
b) Direct communication with specific users (e.g. lukasdrinkinghabits) to talk (in advance) about details. For this you can simply click on the corresponding user and then select “message”.

:slight_smile::tumbler_glass:

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At Demerara Selections it is suggested that DHE was originally made at Uitvlugt, this is corroborated by DDL Part 2 which says the DHE still is from the 1950s.

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Thanks @Oliver I finally found the message option.

For now I can share some notes:

Diamond Coffey Still marques “S” and “W” were released in various forms by Velier and I do not see them on the table yet.

Missing from the table is MDS. I have previously assumed it was a broker marque for “Main Diamond ‘S’” which is seen in 1996 and 2008 IB batches. Rom De Luxe recently threw a curveball in my assumption by stating that their recent 1996 Diamond MDS was distilled on an Savalle Column still. That being said, they still call the rum “Diamond” and as we know the Savalle still was not at Diamond in 1996. So I am not sure which detail in their marketing is incorrect.

MDSL is another missing broker mark for the December 2003 dark column still batch. My assumption is that it stands for “Main Diamond SL.” SL is not a marque I have seen previously. But it could be a code for a different mark. Marco think s that it is a Diamond Metal Coffey still rum based on his tastes (and possibly inside information?). I wont be able to try one from this batch until next month.

The current table shows that VSG is “colored” which I have not found to be the case yet. And as mentioned in other comments, REV might be the code for colored VSG.

In my searches, the latest AW I am aware of is 2007. Boutique-y PM Batch 2 is an example of this.

@Chris I have asked Joshua Singh about the SVL marque from the SBS 2003 SVL. If I understood him correctly, SVL was just used for still identification for marketing and it is NOT a production or broker marque.

Some new broker marques from the 2010s:
2012 MDV (I assumed Main Diamond VSG?)
2012 MDE (I assume Main Diamond EHP?)
2014 MDLB (I assume Main Diamond LBI from Savalle Still?)

Finally a question: can you please share an example of 2001 AWM? I only know of confirmed examples of PM and SWR from 2001 so far. There is one different 2001 batch, the “unconfirmed still” example from Boutique-y. I have heard Peter Holland think it is Versailles. Is this the AWM you are referring to? For my palate, that one is nothing like other Versailles I have tasted thus far and I pegged as an Enmore (but I also have exceedingly little experience with confirmed Enmore still rums).

Thanks and I hope we can continue to help each other!

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thank you very much for your input! I’m currently on vacation I’ll integrate your input, when I’m back home.

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Sorry @mr-crisp it took me a while to get working on this again. Thank you so much for your input again! That’s fantastic!

I’m updating the table with your information right now.

I can’t find any releases with those marks. Do you have an example?

I haven’t tried to many of those but as the colored batches are rather rare, I guess that this MDSL is the same thing like the new SVL from S.B.S. which would make the Mark a Main Diamond SavaLle. The SVL on the other hand as quite unique taste as well. So I’ll add the MDSL with a reference to the SVL.

I have absolutely no idea how I came to this date. I’m sorry. I really like your idea of the unconfirmed still, but that’s to vague for the moment

I added all your other suggestions and am finally working on integrating the velier site

I’ll add my discussion about the MDK (2003) to this thread:

The MDK Mark is rather unknown. One of the new Main Diamond?? (But what?)

There is one bottling for old brother

And one for Mezan:

The Text of the mezan says:

Mezan Guyana Diamond MDK 2003 wurde in der Diamond Distillery in einer alten, hölzernen Kombination aus Pot Still und Column Still aus der jetzt geschlossenen Versailles Distillery destilliert.

A combination of wooden Pot and Column? Sounds strange

It maybe a MD which is an Enmore Coffey Still Mark, but the label says Pot Still (on the other hand the label of the TCRL 2002 KFM says Coffey Still, so maybe they made mistake and swichted labels)

It also maybe an MDX like some of the 2004 Versailles. Or a Combination like a blend in Barrel: MD x K(FM)

Welcome back! The fun continues:

From the Velier Demerara Site:
S:

  • Velier Diamond S 1999

W:

  • As a part of the blend of Velier Diamond and Port Mourant 1999 W-PM
  • Velier Diamond W 1993

In addition it looks like Diamond Still marque “SV” is also missing from the table.
SV:

  • Velier Diamond SV 1988
  • As a part the blend of Velier Diamond and Port Mourant 1995 SV-PM

There is a chance that the 12/2003 MDSL batch is also from the Savalle still. Tasting that batch is still on my Guyana to do list.
I also try to track batches of marques by distillation month and year. I did ask Joshua Singh about which month the SVL was distilled and he said 05/2003. So while the SBS is not a confirmed MDSL, there’s still a chance MDSL is a Savalle rum. Blogs SingleCaskRum and Barrel Aged Mind have historically attributed the 12/2003 to the Diamond still. I think the strongest case we have that MDSL is Diamond Still rum is this quote from Marco:

Addendum 28.02.2016: This is really a “Diamond”. After two independent sources I was able to get the specific mark for this bottling. The Mark for the dark Diaomnd batch of 2003 is “MDSL” (Main Diamond SL). It could be a Version of the Mark S bottled under the supervision of Velier. Maybe a Light version? Who knows.

Barrel-Aged Mind Rum Swedes Diamond 2003

After spending more time with this bottle, it is starting to taste more like Versailles. Nothing actionable, just sharing my thoughts. I wish I could get another bottle of this.

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I am inclined to believe that 2003 MDK is Main Diamond KFM = Versailles Still KFM. But I have no concrete evidence. It kind of seems like the marketing for that Mezan 2003 is freestyled to make a story. And for what its worth, TCRL 2003 Guyana 16yr MDK back label says pot still produced. But I know they also get information wrong every now and then. I do trust TCRL a bit more than Mezan though.

Have you been able to find any examples of “MD” Enmore rums? I know its on that spread sheet photo on the original post but I have not been able to find any examples. I have a hunch that many rums are mistaken for Enmore is because of the Main code “MD__” for “Main Diamond____”.

Can you please link me to the TCRL 2002 KFM?
I know there’s a barrel heading to USA. They initially had it labeled as “Enmore” until it was pointed out that KFM is a Versailles marque. I think they’re now going to label it as Enmore distillery pot still rum (even though it was made at DDL).

EDIT: I found the TCRL 2002 KFM through your post about splitting the bottle!
So TCRL made a mistake on this one. It is KFM and it is pot still. There is one coming to USA and I pointed out to someone on the import team that KFM is a Versailles marque. They did their research and found it to be true. They are fixing the label for the USA bound bottle.

Thanks!

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Thanks a lot again! I added your Information to the table.

What you say about the MDSL and the SVL sounds likely. I guess I should add the month of the batch to the vintages I know.

And we might should start a list of Vintages with corresponding marks

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This has been my pet project and something I hope to share with the rum community soon. I’m being miserly with the information for now as I figure out the best way to delivery the information, but honestly, it will probably be better as a community project.

My goal is that when a drinker faced with an un-marqued or questionably marqued demerara rum, a person can go to the chart and get closer to knowing what they have in the bottle. I’m not sure how useful it will be because they can probably just use google to look up their specific bottle and find more information than available on the chart.

Here is a snippet:

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This is exactly my intention and what I wanted to provide! Your list already looks pretty good and much more systematic then my orientation on the original table.

You can copy&paste an excel table in here and it will look like the table above. With a google sheet as a primary source it should be easy to maintain.

If you want to split some research work, write me a DM.