Part of the reason I want to write about the column is to put a little spotlight on how versatile it is. The Savalle column doesn't really fall into the same category as the old wooden appliances, Enmore, Versailes and Port Mourant, which are often more legendary than, for example, the Diamond and Savalle columns. In some ways this makes sense, the Savalle column is not as unique in the same way, nor is it as old as the others, but it is still somewhat broader in what it can do, which I will discuss further below. In addition, there is also a lot of interesting history in the general origin of the Savalle column, and in the same way that I like the complexity of Guyana's marques and the history of the distillation apparatus, I also really like the challenge of trying to find out a little more info about D. Savalle Fils et Cie. Savalle Fils et Cie. This is something I'm aiming to write more about in a, perhaps partially follow-up post that will come later, when I think I've been able to dig up enough information. I will thus start at the very beginning and origin of the Savalle column, maybe a bit nerdy info but I think it's quite interesting anyway.
Cellier Blumenthal and Armand SavalleWe have to go back in time, to the beginning of the 1800s, and follow a bit of history that starts with a man named Jean Baptiste Cellier Blumenthal. Blumenthal was a man who had a vision of distilling on a continuous apparatus, a vision that originated from beet sugar production in Belgium around 1808, where patents were taken out for various methods of refining sugar with alcohol, where a continuous apparatus would really increase the efficiency of the process. Blumenthal has been involved from the very beginning when it comes to making a continuous column and is generally credited with being the man who invented the continuous column apparatus. Blumenthal took out a patent for a continuous design in 1813, and that's when things really started to speed up in this area, where it must be said that Blumenthal was at the forefront of innovation along with Pierre Désiré Armand Savalle, among others. Blumenthal and Savalle were good friends and Savalle had a keen interest in achieving Blumenthal's vision in distilling, as Savalle had three sugar factories and distilleries in Belgium, then part of the Netherlands. The two joined forces shortly after the first patent in 1813 and began experimenting with improvements to Blumenthal's original design, twice nearly dying in industrial accidents due to exploding devices as they tried out all the experimental devices in practice. Blumenthal and Savalle made progress on the design, which Blumenthal then intended to sell the patent to a man named Louis-Charles Derosne. The meetings and further agreements around this sale took place between 1816 and 1818, with the patent being taken in 1818 and sold on to Derosne, with a finalization of the transfer of rights in 1819. Blumenthal, however, stayed in Paris by Derosne's side for a year to make sure everything was in order. Blumenthal then traveled to Brussels and settled there, where he continued to work on perfecting the design until a few days before his death in 1840 at the age of 72. As a side note, Derosne teams up with Jean-François Cail to produce their version of Blumenthal's device, which was also reasonably successful, but it didn't last as Derosne and Cail struggled to improve on the early patent Derosne bought, and Derosne's device was technologically overtaken during the first half of the 19th century. When Blumenthal sold the patent to Derosne, he and Savalle went their separate ways, but Savalle didn't sit still and continued to work on the design and principle that he had been involved with from a young age, since 1813. Savalle had a clear understanding of the principles of Blumenthal's design, which was a pretty important thing, as there were some pretty specific tolerances involved in order for the device to deliver what it was actually capable of.
The company D.Savalle
fils et Cie, and Savalle's innovations Savalle really started to make progress with his apparatus based on Blumenthal's, in collaboration with his son François Désiré Savalle, when he took out a patent for a steam regulator in ~1857, the idea for which dates back to 1846, after an explosion on one of Savalle's experimental columns. This regulator was a major advance and made Savalle famous within these circles of inventors and developers of distilling apparatus. Pierre Armand Désiré Savalle died in 1864, where his son François took over and continued the company with great success, further developing the design by including a tube condenser, originally designed and patented by William Grimble in 1825. The column apparatus became known for being really well-constructed devices that could be adjusted very precisely according to the desired distillation strengths and so on. Likewise, a good solid construction that is relatively easy to erect without too much trouble or too much worry about damaging the apparatus and thus its functionality, a problem Derosne's apparatus had a reputation for, as an example. The Savalle column begins to resemble the one we know in a slightly more "modern" sense from around 1870. At that time, the column apparatus has a throughput seven to eight times greater than what Cellier Blumenthal achieved. The company produced columns for various forms of alcohol production, based on wine, fruit juice, molasses, sugar cane juice and more, there were variations in the interior of the column stills in terms of the type of plates fitted.
Savalle #1 and #2 in GuyanaNow to where my passion lies within my Guyana geekery, namely the quadruple Savalle column at the Diamond distillery, inherited from the old Uitvlugt distillery. In my opinion, it is in many ways the most interesting distilling apparatus at Diamond today, partly because of Savalle's history and involvement in the very early stages of continuous distilling, but also because of the column's enormously wide range of marques it normally produces. Savalle #1 is the "original" part of the column that stands today, which was built at Uitvlugt in 1921, and it is highly likely that it was built by Lepage, Urbain et Cie. Later, Savalle #2 was installed at Uitvlugt, allegedly around 1980, who made it is a little confusing at first glance, and it's something I'd love to get into more detail in the follow-up post, about the history of the Savalle company and when the production of the column devices was taken over, but for now I'll stick to Guyana. As the Savalle apparatus stands today, there are usually eight different marques made on it, some of which have a bit of legendary status, these marques are as follows; AN, B, CG, ICB/U, LBI, SM, SWR and UMS. If you are a little nerdy and bitten by rum from Guyana, most people probably recognize AN, B, LBI and SWR, probably primarily from the old Velier bottlings, where it must be said that Skeldon 1973 and '78 are some of the ultimate highlights. The Savalle column is sometimes a bit overlooked, with the focus being more on the old wooden apparatus, where it may seem a bit like people sometimes forget that the highly coveted brands such as SWR and AN are made on the Savalle column. There's not the same love for ICB/U which is a shame in my opinion, like the other marques it's generally a light and delicate style that may not always have quite the same depth as SWR, but it's still a great rum that just tastes really good. Even though these eight styles are different, it's still pretty clear that they come from the same column, a base, so to speak, which is common to all the Savalle bottlings I've tasted. The column produces a rum that I find a bit unique compared to the others at Diamond, namely the strangely creamy and dry sweetness that especially comes through at ICB/U. I know it sounds weird that sweetness can be creamy and dry at the same time, but that's the best way to describe it. I'll end with a little note and then descriptions of three different bottlings of different marques from the Savalle column. Of course, it's not the only Savalle column left today, like Enmore is the only Coffey column made of wood, but there aren't that many Savalle columns left in rum production anyway. I hope I may have managed to arouse a little extra enthusiasm for both the Savalle column in Guyana but also those elsewhere in the rum world. In addition, they are very historic devices in terms of Armand Savalle's involvement with Cellier Blumenthal, as they are, after all, made very closely to the design principles of Blumenthal's vision of perfection in a continuous column. Which is supported by the title of a book that François D. Savalle published in 1870, "Les distilleries perfectionnées". The columns that remain today stand as historical monuments to the quest for perfection that Pierre D. Armand Savalle began in 1813.
Cadenhead's, Uitvlugt Distillery, 1998-2014 16 years old, 60.2%This is the bottle that made me fall completely in love with the Savalle column in Guyana. A bottle that in many ways, for me, stands as a golden standard for continental aged ICB/U. There probably needs to be something a little more complex, something with a little more power or something similar, but there's nothing wrong with this one. It's just as it should be, balanced without anything sticking out or being too different. For the record, ICB/U stands for Ignatius Christian Bourda Uitvlugt. The nose offers the classic and delicate sweetness of sugar cane and a bit of molasses, as well as lovely tropical fruits. All very light and delicate, this is not a heavy rum at all. There is a light acidity that reminds me a bit of citrus fruits. The palette offers a light and delicate sweetness, with a surprisingly creamy texture, while at the same time there are brief hints of dryness, the odd combination as mentioned before. In addition, the delicate sweetness offers fruity notes of melon, among others. There is a nice finely balanced note of the cask. The dryness that occasionally breaks in reminds me most of salted biscuits, which strangely enough goes really well with the remaining notes of fruit. The funny thing is that you can't quite tell if it's a naturally sweet rum or a dry rum, as it switches between what it wants to do in such a wonderfully quirky way. The aftertaste offers primarily dry notes of melon, stone fruit and a hint of citrus fruits, with a slight cask character.
Velier,Blairmont 1991-2006, 15 years old, 56%Now we're getting to grips with one of the larger behemoths from Velier's catalog. This is now an old bottling that has also increased in price. If you want to try to get a bottle, it's not impossible, but it requires very deep pockets. This is a brand we don't see on bottles very often, namely B, which originates from the defunct Blairmont distillery, later produced by Uitvlugt and now Diamond. This rum was distilled at Uitvlugt in 1991, tropically aged for 15 years and then bottled in 2006 by Velier, and put on sale for the modest price of €58. Ah yes, if only... The nose offers a clear cask character, the classic delicate sweetness that seems relatively "warm", otherwise the impression is round and inviting, quite deep, some molasses. Light vanilla, faint glimpses of coffee, tropical fruits with a slightly floral and acidic touch. Again, this is a very light rum, with delicate and delicate notes. The palette starts out soft, quickly taking over the cask character, which is to be expected with this age in a tropical climate, it is not too much, but is very well balanced. It still has a bit of the occasional dry note of salty biscuits, but with a more penetrating sweetness in this bottling, however, there is a slightly floral character that lifts the slightly more molasses sweet, heavy notes, which nicely gives way to the still delicate notes of tropical fruits. The aftertaste is very smooth and not really as persistent as old rums can be, it offers cask notes, as well as faint notes of melon. This is a rum you can and should spend a long time with, maybe not quite as long as UF30E 1985, but you get a sense that this is a really delicate rum that is actually close to disappearing into the more heavily sweet elements, but the sour and floral notes manage to lift the almost fragile fruit notes up from the weight of the sweet elements. For me, this is a fantastic example of what this versatile column can do, really can do. Unfortunately, it's a shame that you can't get to the bottles for human money anymore. That said, DDL still publishes great examples of what their Savalle column can do. Namely their Skeldon 2000 and Albion 2004 releases from 2018.
Nobilis Rum,Diamond Distillery, 2013-2022, 8 years old, 64,7%The latest addition is another brand we don't see very often, namely LBI. In a somewhat young version here, but that shouldn't hold it back. LBI is a brand from the old La Bonne Intention distillery, this brand is probably best known from old Velier bottlings as well. The nose starts out very honey sweet, creamy and mild, then it opens up to notes that are very close to ICB/U, but under a more spicy and honey sweet, almost caramel-like layer. It seems to carry more weight than ICB/U, but many of the same notes, including sugar cane, tropical fruits in the same style and melon, but the spicier and heavier sweetness is different and interesting. The palette still carries the classic delicate sweetish tone, the notes are still a bit fragile if you will, but there's more spice, more creamy texture, the dry down is still there, maybe a bit more spicy than a salty biscuit this time, but I'm struggling to put my finger on how. In many ways, it's a bit of a heavier and sweeter ICB/U, which is extremely attractive to a Savalle nerd like me. However, the increased sweetness can also be a bit too much, depending on my mood, which is always the case. This is a highly recommended Savalle rum from Guyana, don't be intimidated by a young age or anything like that, it tastes really good, with good complexities that are not too much, a good balance of the notes but also of the alcohol percentage.
See our selection of Guyana rums here
