Rum Nation Demerara Solera No 14 Rum 40%

The Demerara river runs heavy and brown through Guyana, and its name has been attached to rum for longer than anyone can properly account for. At Plantation Diamond stands the country's last surviving distillery. Everything else has closed, been dismantled, forgotten — but the stills and the recipes made it through. This is where Rum Nation sources the molasses distillate for their solera.

The expert's description

Rum Nation Demerara Solera No 14 is a Demerara Rum from Guyana, matured in ex-Bourbon casks with a 12 month finish in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks, bottled at 40%.

The rum is distilled from sugar cane molasses at Demerara Distillers' Diamond Distillery, today the only remaining distillery in Guyana. Rum Nation blends pot still distillate, which brings weight and estery depth, with column still distillate that keeps the rum easy to drink. The blend is built in a solera system where casks of differing ages are continually topped up, so each bottling tastes consistent with the last rather than carrying an age statement.

Main maturation happens in used American oak casks from Bourbon, laying down vanilla and a creamy sweetness underneath everything else. Then follow 12 months in fresh Sherry casks that previously held Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez, and this is where the spice, the raisins and the dark chocolate arrive. Finally a small proportion of very old Enmore rum is added to the blend, pulling the whole thing in a deeper, more estery direction. Colouring has been added.

Demerara Solera No 14 belongs to Rum Nation's permanent core range and has been on the market long enough to serve as a reference point for what medium-sweet Demerara rum tastes like at the softer end of the scale.

Tasting notes

Nose

Dark and faintly musty in the good sense. Concentrated molasses first, then mocha, cola and white chocolate, with bergamot and a clear waft of barbecue smoke behind it.

Palate

Syrup-heavy and velvet-smooth. Molasses, dark chocolate, coffee and raisins, spiced up with cinnamon, clove, orange peel and black pepper. It dries out towards the end and shows oak.

Finish

Long and sweet, almost vermouth-like, with liquorice, aniseed and leather. A bitter herbal note sits beneath the sweetness and hangs around well after the last sip.

Specifications

Name: Rum Nation Demerara Solera No 14
Distillery: Demerara Distillers Diamond Distillery
Bottler: Rum Nation
Region/Country: Demerara, Guyana
Type: Demerara Rum
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon casks, finished for 12 months in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks
Natural colour: No
Distillation method: Blend of pot still and column still
EAN no.: 8033749400178
Serving suggestion: Neat in a tulip glass at room temperature, or as the base of an Old Fashioned

Flavour profile

Sweet · Spicy · Sherry-finished · Molasses · Dark chocolate

Did you know?

Rum Nation is Danish-owned. Mac Y bought the brand in 2018, and Fabio Rossi, who founded it in Italy in 1999, stayed on as blender. An Italian bottling of Guyanese rum carrying a Danish passport.

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Frequently asked questions about Rum Nation Demerara Solera No 14

What does Solera mean in the name?

Solera is a maturation method where casks of differing ages sit in a system and are continually topped up, rather than a rum being drained from a single cask. You always draw off only a portion, and the rest is refilled from younger casks. The result blends young and older rum into something that tastes the same from bottling to bottling, which is also why it carries no age statement.

What makes Demerara rum different from other rum?

Demerara rum comes from the area around the Demerara river in Guyana and has a deep, estery, almost smoky character you won't find anywhere else. That owes as much to the molasses as it does to the old stills at Diamond Distillery, including wooden stills relocated there from distilleries that have since closed. If you want to compare styles, browse our full rum selection.

How sweet is it?

It sits at the medium-sweet end. Molasses and Sherry casks give a clear, syrupy sweetness held in check by spice, oak and that bitter herbal note in the finish. If you're used to dry, unvarnished rums this one will read as soft. Coming from sweeter styles, it will feel balanced.

Should it be drunk neat or used in cocktails?

Both work. Neat at room temperature you get the full arc from molasses to liquorice, and that's where it shows the most. In cocktails it holds up wherever the rum's sweetness is an asset — Old Fashioned, Dark & Stormy, or simply rum with ginger beer. For long drinks with a lot of mixer there are better and cheaper options.

Which glass should I use?

A tulip-shaped glass gathers the aromas best and brings out the molasses and spice. A plain tumbler is fine if you're drinking it over an ice cube. See our rum glasses.

How long does an opened bottle keep?

At 40% it holds up well for one to two years after opening, stored dark and cool with the stopper in. The flavour gradually flattens once the bottle is below half full, because the air inside oxidises the rum. Store it upright — laid down, the contents will eat the cork.

Is it a good gift?

Yes, particularly for someone curious about rum who isn't a nerd about it yet. It's soft enough to be easy to like, but carries enough dark spice that you can sit and take it apart. The Demerara name and the Guyana story also give you something to talk about over the glass.

Who is behind Rum Nation?

Rum Nation was founded in Italy in 1999 by Fabio Rossi of the family firm Rossi & Rossi, who are also behind the whisky bottler Wilson & Morgan. Rum Nation does not distil, but selects and blends already matured rum from distilleries across the Caribbean and South America. Since 2018 the brand has been owned by Denmark's Mac Y, with Rossi still involved in the blending.