Cultural Links

High Spirited Rums

by Larry Luxner

No doubt you have stirred and shaken with Bacardi, Myers and Mount Gay Eclipse from the renowned rum maker of Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Barbados. But chances are you have not mixed with the delightful rums of Guyana. Demerara Distillers Limited and Banks DIH Limited, Guyana's two biggest liquor producers, have begun recently to market their premium rums to United States and European consumers.

Komal Ram Samaroo, managing director of Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL), employs 500 workers at three distilleries around the country. "Demerara rums are very distinctive, mixable, smooth on the palate and not as heavy as some of the Jamaica rums," said Samaroo, noting that Guyanese rums have long been known by the generic name Demerara, after the mighty river which divides the country and runs past its capital city, Georgetown.

The country is already a major supplier of rum to Pusser's Limited, which blends, distills and bottles Pusser's Royal Navy Rum in the British Virgin Islands for export to up-market clients in the United States, Canada, England and most recently, Japan.

Unlike other Caribbean and South American rum producers, most of Guyana's rum exports are still in the form of "high wine." "High wine is an overproof rum that comes off the stills at 90 to 95 percent alcohol by volume, and between 163 and 167 proof," Samaroo explained. "We reduce the strength of the high wine to 140 proof, after which it is aged in open barrels, blended and bottled into various house brands.

"Raw or unaged rum is exported to other bottlers for mixing," said Samaroo. "We take 20 percent of our 25 million liter-a-year capacity for domestic use; the balance is exported, of which 60 percent is high wine."

Samaroo said "high wine" exports, which go to Seagram's (where raw high wine is blended to produce Seagram brands) bring DDL some US$15 million annually, making Guyana the Caribbean's largest high wine producer after Bacardi Corporation in Puerto Rico. He estimated total company sales last year at between US$25 and $30 million.

DDL's only real competitor in Guyana, Banks DIH Limited, does not produce nearly as much rum, though the company's executive in charge of purchasing and exports, Michael Pereira, says he would like to do more. Out of total rum sales of 15,000 cases a month, Pereira says the company aims to export 500 cases, mainly to the United States, Great Britain and the Caribbean. He has also had inquiries from as far away as Poland.

Banks, whose distillery is located in an industrial complex affectionately called "Thirst Park," ships its XM Light Gold and XM Demerara Dark rums to the United States through its Miami importers, Global Merchants & Traders. Rum is actually a small part of Banks' overall business; most of its income is derived from other beverages, snacks, and the exclusive license to bottle Coca-Cola for the Guyanese market.

DDL has a 15-year-old exclusive select rum, in distinctive 750-ml bottles, geared for upscale duty-free shops. Samaroo said he does not expect to sell more than a few thousand cases of this Reserve rum a year. He will not need to. With a price tag of between US$30 and $40, it could easily become the most expensive rum in the world.

But to achieve that kind of quality and boost its other export lines, the company has to modernize and expand its operations by some 20 percent. In order to do that, it has called for a new stock issue to raise US$3 million.

"We want to be able to have the flexibility to use the distillery to produce alcohol. If the rum market collapses, we could go into a different business altogether," said Samaroo, a 22-year DDL veteran.

Besides rum, the firm-with its three distilleries, two bottling plants, vinegar plant, carbon dioxide plant and shipping terminal operations-also makes the following liqueurs: Blue Curacao, Orange Curacao, Triple Sec, Creme d'Cacao, Creme d'Mente and Creme d'Bananas.