I just received my Guyana tasting kit from RomdeLuxe and saw that 2 of the 3 rums have had color added. I have to say that I’m not too happy about that as they should have disclosed this on their website.
So what about you? Do you mind about added color or not?
In general, I do mind about added color because I don’t see the point apart from suggesting to potential buyers that it is “older and better”. But Guyana is an exception because as far as I know adding color is somehow part of Guyanese rum. Black Tot told the story that they bought unaged rum from Guyana and were surprised that it was dark until they were asked and were told that that was normal for them. I’ve heard similar stories from other people as well but am not that much into Guyanese rum so I guess someone else in this forum will have more information on that.
@lukasdrinkinghabits maybe?
Question is if this stuff thats added to the rum while in the cask qualifies as “added color” as per regulation? 
Maybe yes, maybe no and RDL just want to play safe and declare it as such anyway. I don’t think they added anything inbetween cask → bottle.
Yes, it was added to the cask.
That is a common practice for certain Guyana rums. The SWR/Skeldon “recipe” has this for example. Not sure if that’s something that’s usually/explicitly mentioned by the bottlers.
Edit: See this excellent thread:
As far as I recognize, I’ve never seen a bottle in which the “in cask coloring” done in Guyana was explicitly stated as “color added” on an IB Bottling. I remember most of the bottlings state “no color added” although it was colored in Guyana. I’m unsure which practice I appreciate more. Perhaps “colored in Guyana before bottling” would be a transparent solution to not produce any misunderstandings about the coloring.
This practice of coloring in Guyana isn’t a secret anymore although there have been many myths like the “molasses coated casks” which never exists. Joshua Singh from 1423 told us in an online meeting, that they create a very thick and bitter caramel, which has more taste than E150, which is added to the casks after distilling.
Absolutely, I also remember to have heard that the guyaneese rums have been traditionally colored for centuries.
Never seen this before. Dirk knows what he’s doing.
Thank you for posting the link! I just started to dive into Guyana rums so this makes for a very interesting read. 
