Demerara Distillers Ltd. is a Guyanese distillery known for the El Dorado Rum brand. It was at one time the world's second largest producer of

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

Organization

Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL) is a publicly owned company headquartered in Georgetown. DLL owns Demerara Fire and General Insurance Company Inc., Solutions 2000, Demerara Contractors Limited, Topco, and other subsidiary companies include Distribution Services Limited and European Breitenstein Holdings BV. They were one of the first five companies to become certified by ISO 9001 international Standard System, enabling export quality goods. Under government management, DDL became the world's second largest producer of rum. DDL was one of the first state-owned manufacturers to be semi-privatized under the Economic Recovery Program in 1988. 12 million new shares were issued, reducing government ownership to roughly 47%, although another attempt to issue shares in 1990 was blocked by the government. In 2006, DDL obtained one-third of the shares of National Rums of Jamaica, which is a subsidiary of Jamaica's National Sugar Company Limited. Yesu Persaud was chairman of DDL until 2013. Through his contributions to Guyanese industry, 1983 he was awarded the Cacique Crown of Honour. Komal Samaroo became the new CEO in 2014. In 2021, Samaroo addressed the threat that the Venezuelan border issue has on "Guyana's supply chain for agriculture and other food products to the region, and even further afield". In 2016,

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyana, Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 19 ...

claimed that billions of dollars were lost tax settlement between DDL and the Guyana Revenue Authority. In 2002, a dispute arose regarding a consumption tax of about GY$5.3 billion.

Production

DDL credits the flavours of their rums to the

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

barrels used in the distilling process and Guyana's tropical climate. The aging process in Guyana is supplemented by the high humidity and steady temperature. Rums are blended from different

vintages In winemaking, vintage is the process of picking grapes to create wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine ...

produced in different stills, then aged in oak barrels.

Promotion

Despite international familiarity, El Dorado and other rums have fallen behind other liquors, such as vodka, in successful marketing or an effective classification system. DDL sponsors countless local events, such as chess tournaments, Guyana Fashion Week, Soca Monarch competitions, and

Mashramani Mashramani, often abbreviated to "''Mash''", is an annual festival that celebrates Guyana becoming a Republic in 1970. The festival, usually held on 23 February – Guyanese Republic Day – includes a parade, music, games and cookin ...

events. They were an official partner of the inaugural tournament of the 2013

Caribbean Premier League The Caribbean Premier League (abbreviated to CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean. It was founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013 to replace the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in ...

, sponsoring the tournament's Catch of the Match award, which went to one player in each of the 24 matches who makes a catch. A 'rum route' was launched by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) in collaboration with the Caribbean Tourism Organization. The tour includes visits to

Uitvlugt Uitvlugt (pronounced "owt-flut") is a village in the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region of Guyana. On the coastal public road on the west bank of the Demerara River, it lies immediately to the west of Stewartville, Guyana, Stewartville and to t ...

Estate and Blairmont Estate and commercial ventures like rum shops, distilleries, and production, as well as the historical connection to

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and

indentured servants Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or ser ...

.{{Cite web, date=2020-02-17, title=Guyana Just Launched Its First "Rum Route" Caribbean Journal, url=https://www.caribjournal.com/2020/02/17/guyana-rum-route-new/, access-date=2021-01-20, website=Caribbean Journal, language=en

References

External links

Demerara Distillers - Official SiteGuide to Guyana's Demerara Rum
Rums Guyanese brands Food and drink in Guyana Distilleries Sugar industry of Guyana