Demerara rum is Guyana's deep, dark, wooden-still rum — and the best place to explore it is the El Dorado ladder, from the 12 Year Old at $47.99 up to a 25 Year Old Grand Special Reserve at $649.99, plus Hamilton's unsweetened cocktail workhorse at $27.99. Every bottle in this guide is in hand and available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, our family-owned store in San Diego, California. If you have only had molasses rum from column stills, Demerara is the richer, smokier, more leathery end of the rum shelf — and it all comes from one distillery on the banks of the Demerara River.
What Makes Demerara Rum Different
Guyana once had hundreds of sugar estates, each with its own still. Demerara Distillers consolidated the survivors at the Diamond Distillery — today the last remaining distillery in Guyana — and, crucially, kept the old wooden stills running. The Port Mourant double wooden pot still dates to 1732, the Enmore wooden Coffey still to 1880, and the Versailles single wooden pot still to 1890, built from greenheart wood. Those ancient stills give Demerara rum its signature smoky, leathery depth, and the equatorial heat ages every cask far faster than a temperate-climate warehouse would. The full El Dorado collection is essentially a tour of those stills at different ages.
The Bottles, From Workhorse to Quarter-Century
- Hamilton 86 Demerara Regular Rum — $27.99: 86 proof (43% ABV), a blend of pot-still and column-still rums aged up to five years at Diamond Distillery, bottled in the USA by Ed Hamilton with no added sugar and no coloring. This is Demerara unmasked — the bottle tiki bars reach for. See the rest of the Hamilton range for its overproof sibling.
- El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum — $47.99: 40% ABV, blended from rums aged a minimum of 12 years in ex-bourbon American oak. The classic entry point to the house style — deep, estery and dark-fruited.
- El Dorado 15 Year Old Special Reserve Rum — $69.99: 40% ABV, a minimum of 15 years in old bourbon oak, with some components as old as 25 years, marrying distillates from all four heritage stills. For many drinkers this is the sweet spot of the range.
- El Dorado Versailles Single Still Rum 2009 — $99.99: 40% ABV, distilled in 2009 on the Versailles wooden single pot still — the only operational still of its kind — and aged 12 years in ex-bourbon casks. A single-still bottling for drinkers who want to taste one historic still on its own.
- El Dorado 21 Year Old Special Reserve Rum — $149.99: 40% ABV, and the "21" is a minimum — every drop is 21 to 25 years old. The flagship of Demerara Distillers: mocha, toffee, tobacco and dark spice, super mellow and dry.
- El Dorado Grand Special Reserve 25 Year Old Rum — $649.99: 43% ABV (86 proof), a minimum of 25 years in ex-bourbon casks in the tropical heat, with each bottle's vintage year stamped in red wax on the box. The pinnacle of the aging program — a serious bottle for the gift shelf or a milestone pour.
How to Drink Them
Start where your palate is. The Hamilton 86 is built for cocktails — a daiquiri, a Queen's Park Swizzle or any tiki build that wants real Demerara weight without added sugar. The 12 and 15 Year Olds split the difference: rich enough to sip neat or over one big cube, structured enough for an old fashioned-style serve. The Versailles Single Still and the 21 Year Old are neat-pour bottles — pour them after dinner and give them time in the glass. The 25 Year Old is an occasion bottle, full stop. Comparing islands? Our Barbados rum guide covers the drier, pot-and-column style of Mount Gay and Foursquare, and the Jamaican rum guide takes you to the high-ester funk end of the spectrum. Shipping details are on our shipping and return policy page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Demerara rum?
Demerara rum is rum distilled in Guyana's Demerara region from local sugar, today made entirely at Demerara Distillers' Diamond Distillery. It is known for deep, dark, smoky and leathery flavors that come in large part from the distillery's historic wooden stills, including the Port Mourant double wooden pot still from 1732.
What is the difference between El Dorado 12 and El Dorado 15?
Both are 40% ABV blends aged in bourbon oak at the Diamond Distillery. The 12 Year Old ($47.99) is aged a minimum of 12 years; the 15 Year Old Special Reserve ($69.99) is aged a minimum of 15 years with components up to 25 years old, drawn from all four heritage stills, and pours darker, drier and more complex. Both are available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
Is Hamilton 86 a real Demerara rum?
Yes. Hamilton 86 ($27.99) is distilled and aged at Demerara Distillers in Guyana from pot-still and column-still rums aged up to five years, then bottled in the USA by Ed Hamilton at 86 proof with no added sugar and no coloring — which is why bartenders treat it as the honest cocktail Demerara.
Where can I buy Demerara rum online?
Del Mesa Liquor, a family-owned store in San Diego, California, stocks the El Dorado ladder — 12, 15, 21 and 25 Year Old, plus the Versailles Single Still 2009 — and Hamilton 86, all available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor with prices from $27.99 to $649.99.