DEMERARA (VERSAILLES) 1985 11 YEARS OLD 40% VELIER

An 11 years old rum from Versailles distillery, selected by Velier and bottled on March 1996 by Thomson and Company.

This is one of 1200 bottles.

THE BRAND

Versailles, originally established as a coffee estate on the west bank of the Demerara River, next to the capital Georgetown, appeared for the first time on a map of 1776, as property of Pierre L’Amirault.

Gradually turned into sugar plantation between 1829 and 1845, the Versailles estate merged in 1831 with the adjacent Schoon Ord & Meezorg plantation, before absorbing in the following years other neighboring plantations and changing different properties, until the acquisition by Booker Bros.

It was probably around the second half of the nineteenth century that the first mill for the processing of sugarcane was built, and with it, as typical of the time, also the still for the molasses process. 

There are no reliable sources about the origins of the Versailles Distillery and the marks we know nowadays, could simply originate from the combination of different names.

VSG: Versailles, Schoon Ord & Merzog, Goed Fortuin.

SXG:  Schoon Ord & Merzog, Goed Fortuin.

Versailles closed in 1978 and the still transferred to Enmore, where it remained until its closure of 1994, when it was brought to Uitvlugt. The latter closed in 1999 and its still definitively transferred to Diamond, last distillery still active in the country.

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.