ALBION AN 1983 25 YEARS OLD 46,4% VELIER

Distilled in 1983 and aged 25 years in Tropical weather, this is part of the legendary collaboration between Velier and Demera Distillers Ltd.  

Bottled at full proof in January 2008, this is a real piece of history.

One of 313 bottles.

Albion is a small village in Guyana, the territory where the Albion Sugar Estate is located, currently owned by Guysuco. The distillery closed in 1968, but unlike others, its stills were never transferred. By the way the production of the "Albion style", continued at Uitvlugt distillery, that after assuming the rights for the distillation, chose the versatility of the Savalle still with four columns, able of producing nine different marks, including the AN that identifies the "Albion style". The acronyms used by Velier are AN (Albion 1983, Albion 1989, Albion 1994) and AW (Albion 1986), distilled respectively in wooden continuous still and coffee still.

Even though at Uitvlugt distillery there was also a wooden coffee still dating back to the 80s, due to missing information and altered translations occurred here and there over the years, there is little precise information arrived to the present day. The wooden continuous still associated with Uitvlugt, and last still of this kind in the world still living, is the one that was transferred at Enmore distillery when it closed in 1993, although almost all the vintages predate this.

The AW (coffee still) mark is still an enigma.

Uitvlugt closed in 2000 and its still operating stills transferred to the Diamond Distillery. There are many mysteries associated with this distillery and the fate of its alembics, and all we know is that they were able to produce legendary rum styles. Also the marks used by Gargano on the labels only serve to feed the myth, making Velier’s Albion, one of the most sought after and iconic bottles in rum history.

THE BRAND

Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL), founded in 1983 as result of the merger between Diamond Liquors (Diamond Distillery) and Guyana Distillers (Uitvlugt Distillery), and currently owned by the Government of Guyana, is the only distillery still operating in the country, and owner of the largest stock of old rums in the world, which currently produces the El Dorado rum line and other excellent selections. Located near the capital Georgetown, it can rely on the highest quality of molasses, thanks to a territory that represents one of the last still unspoiled paradises, almost entirely covered in virgin Amazonian forest. Before World War II, there were still 9 distilleries active within Guyana, but after the war, 8 of them were closed by government decision.

Thanks to the farsightedness of Yesu Persaud, legendary president of the DDL, their incredible historical heritage represented by centuries-old alembics, has come down to us. All the alembics were transferred to the DDL, and to date 13 of them are still operating including 3 double columns Coffey still ‘Tricanada', 2 modern multiple columns of Indian technology, 2 savalle still, 1 wooden double pot still (Port Mourant), 1 wooden single pot (Versailles), 1 wooden Coffey column (Enmore), 1 Wedderburn style copper still, 1 traditional copper still and 1 small gin still batch.

And the meeting between Yesu Persaud and Luca Gargano, patron of Velier, will lead in the collaboration that has marked a milestone in the history of rum.

The big turning point came when Yesu Persaud agreed to sell a part of the DDL stock to Luca Gargano, giving him the opportunity to be the only one in the world to date, to be able to select among thousands of barrels of the "Warehouse n.1", the warehouse with the most precious ones. And just that selection made arrive to present days, among the others, bottles from alembics that we thought we’d lost forever, giving life to what is melancholy defined as "The Age of Velier’s Demerara".

A short but intense collaboration, which gave birth to a legendary series of which this incredible rum is part of.

THE BOTTLER

Velier was founded by the Chaix family in Genova in 1947 as a small traditional company specialised in the importation and distribution of wines, champagnes and spirits. In 1983, a young Luca Gargano, former brand ambassador for Saint James at that time, acquired shares in Velier. Under his influence the company began spacialising in the importation of outstanding spirits exclusively destinated to the Italian market. By the early 90s Luca heard about a legendary stock of Saint James rum dating back probably to 1885 and bottled in 1952. After a complex negotiation, he finally managed to acquire the entire stock. This was only the first of a list of legendary selections to come in the following years.