Dear all,
I heard rumour on the street that DDL stopped adding sugar to their standard 12 / 15 / 21 Years expressions. It’s just “a drop of water on the hot stone” compared to what magnificent rums they could do. But better this than nothing.
So I’m asking how to recognize an unmessed bottle without cracking it open? Thanks for your help!
Regards, Joachim
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I would assume the color to be a bit different if the amount of sugar changes significantly. But if I am not mistaken their standard bottles don’t have clear glass?
I think Artur is the expert here. He has also written an interesting article about it in his blog: El Dorado 12 & 15 Jahre – 2009 vs. 2021 – The Dunder Hut
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There is a production date on the neck of the bottle.
New 15y design and 2020 (mine was 06.2020) is without sugar.
New design and 2019 is with reduced sugar → 20g or so.
Old design is with sugar → 30g or so.
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Many thanks to all! Now I know where to look. Regards, Joachim
Pretty much this. At the end of the day I would not bet on a clear distinction. But so far the 2020 release seems to be entirely non sweetened with several bottles tested both in europe as in north america. In Germany some Dealers have already started to write the version you’ll receive in their online shops.
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The reduction from 30g to <= 20g probably also has to do with marketing reasons and new EU rules which prohibit a spirit to be called r(h)um in the future if it contains too much sugar. My personal opinion is (even though I don’t like sweetened rums myself), that this is over-regulation. Let the people who like sweetened rum, drink sweetened rum. Heck even I have Don Papa at home for some guests who like that. I would have rather preferred some transparency law which would have “forced” distributors to state the sugar amount on their bottles or at least product description so the customer can decide what he wants and doesn’t want.
But this would not explain the drastical change from 2019 batch to 2020. And imho it just shows that they improve with less sugar added. And why would you not be happy with your product being called a spirit drink? Nobody wants you not to enjoy it. It should simply be a mandatory statement on the bottle…
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I’ve read this post yesterday so… I’ve bought today a 15y bottle (with new design) 
I didn’t buy El Dorado standard because of the sugar.
I 've taste the new 15y with a friend and our opinion is that it has no sugar added, or so little that we couldn’t taste it.
Now it’s just a formidable rum for its price!
Thank you for the information! Nice.
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If anybody has a link to a shop that sells explicitly the 2020/sugarless version of the el dorado 15 and ships to switzerland, please tell me.
Have been to a local store but they only got the old bottle design.
May be here. It’s my spirits merchant (when I don’t buy them on internet).I don’t know if he ships to switzerland.
Are there any rumours on a new iteration of the Rare Collection? It’s long ago since the Albion and the Skeldon came on the market.
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