The Diamond estate was founded in 1670 on the banks of the Demerara River. The distillery, Guyana’‘s last, is now owned by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), a business created by the government when it nationalized the country’‘s distilleries in 1974. These distilleries closed one after the other and Diamond recovered their famous wooden stills, with a double still from Port Mourant, a four-column Savalle still from Uitvlugt, a single still from Versailles and a Coffey still from Enmore. Diamond itself is produced in a two-column metal Coffey still installed in the 1950s. After selling to brokers, merchants and blenders for many years, DDL finally launched its own brand, El Dorado, in 1992, featuring bottlings that blend or highlight the rums produced by the distillery’‘s different stills.

A single cask of Guyana rum (#112) distilled at Diamond in 2005 and bottled at cask strength in 2016. It is not known which distillery the rum is from, nor which still was used to produce it. Rum Nation is an Italian independent bottler created in 1999 by Fabio Rossi, who had worked in the family wine and spirits import business founded by his father in 1956. During his trips to Scotland, he was impressed by various casks of rum from Jamaica and Guyana and wanted to offer them to the public. With the valuable advice of Silvano Samaroli, he launched Rum Nation and began travelling the Caribbean. After initial maturation at the production site, the rums selected then continue maturation in Europe, in a more temperate climate, sometimes in sherry or Spanish brandy casks. Rum Nation tries to keep the spirit of the country of origin, reflected in the presence of a stamp from the country on the label, which Fabio has collected since he was a child. Rossi is also behind the independent bottler Wilson & Morgan, which specializes in whisky. A limited edition of 252 bottles released to mark La Maison du Whisky’’s 60th anniversary.