Velier Diamond S<W>

 Quite present bitter note, which is not surprising in view of 31 years of tropical maturation (per se already extremely extreme). Besides but concentrated Diamond power - top rum.

 I have to say that for this rum I was expecting an absolute level... instead I appreciate the Diamond ones with less aging more!The level is still high though!

 A stunning rum that is a privilege to taste in today's age! In fact this is the oldest vintage demerara I have tried to date. You can smell its tropical old age, musty, tobacco and wood which i enjoy! On the palate it's very complex and balanced, I'm getting more leather, but with some dark chocolate, a lot wood, and is a bit bitter which is slightly jarring. If you like old demeraras you will be in your happy place with this! I must say though, as much as I enjoy this, I still rate the younger diamonds better, I really appreciated the 1999 diamond <S> and I think it's better than this one. High praise though, this is still a ripping rum.

 Un Dieu parmi les rhums de l’Olympe. Malgré le vieillissement, ce Diamond a conservé beaucoup d’arômes et a dû clairement se bonnifier au fur et à mesure. On retrouve au nez des arômes très gourmands, tournés sur le sucre Demerara, les épices, un boisé noble qui n’est pas envahissant, des fruits exotiques et du tabac. La noisette, la colle, le café moka, le chocolat et les notes de toffee nous plongent vers un univers très équilibré, complexe et séduisant. L’attaque en bouche est d’une souplesse remarquable. Très épicée (piment, réglisse, anis, cannelle, vanille, herbes aromatiques), sombre (chocolat noir, noisette grillée, café, tabac, cuir et notes rôties) et à la fois fruitée (fruits exotiques et secs) et gourmande (crème au caramel), la bouche offre un festival gustatif impressionnant qui éveille les sens. L’alcool est très bien intégré, les saveurs très agréables, la profondeur et la complexité sont présentes. Le bois n’a pas pris le dessus sur les saveurs. On a clairement affaire à un grand rhum. La finale, très longue, présente une certaine amertume avec le chocolat noir, des notes chaudes d’épices, le café, le cuir, la noisette et le tabac. Les fruits tropicaux (ananas, noix de coco) sont plus en retrait. Un rhum extraordinaire qui mérite une place au panthéon, aussi bien pour sa qualité que sa malheureuse spéculation.

 We had a wonderful pure Diamond tasting yesterday and what a tasting. This one was the piece de resistance and we all found the it needed a bit of water to call hither all the flavours. Without water it came on like something was missing. A very rare and extremely expensive bottle.

 A perfect round rum in my opinion. Some yellow fruits like pineapple, mango or citrus add more depth, balance and complexity to the profile compared to other round Demeraras like Uitvlugt, Blairmont or some 1996 Caroni like #5542. A genuine masterclass 🥰

 I’m very happy to have sampled one of my many unicorns. There are a lot of flavors present in this rum, the nose and mouth are excellent. But there is a bitterness that is a little deranging. This is a very high end rum that isn’t worth what one would have to pay for a bottle today though.

 Wahnsinns Rum. Geht Richtung Albion-Profil.

 So sweet mouth feel and many claim to woody I absolutely not agree I love the balance and palate that keeps flowing with herbs and sweet fruits in the back mouth

 Så mange lag at for hver nip til glasset kommer der nye smage frem, fremragende!

 C’est très gourmand tout ça belle concentration Final interminable très boisé (Quand même l’impression au bout d’une heure d’avoir mangé une planche de bois mais j’imagine que ça fait parti de l’expérience) un rhum de compétition

 Fantastic rum for sure, tried diamond 1996 SSN and diamond svw 1999 before this, this adds a bit more complexities from the woody influence in a nice way, and that’s the difference to earn one more point from me

 Bevuto da un sample riempito a metà quasi 4 anni fa. Faccio questa premessa solo per sottolineare la possibilità che questo campione sia evoluto perdendo le note più sgradevoli che altri vi hanno trovato. Assaggiato solo in purezza, senza diluizione, l'ho trovato molto equilibrato. Piuttosto gentile sia al naso che al palato, finale lungo ma non lunghissimo. Non molto complesso, ma sempre gradevole. Dopo oltre un'ora nel bicchiere, ha avuto una evoluzione piuttosto contenuta. E tuttavia, gli aromi sono piacevoli in tutta la degustazione, nessuna nota eccessivamente amara. Il legno è percepibile, e tuttavia mai sgradevole.