Albion 25 years 1986 Velier Full Proof Barrels AW - Cask n°10546 - bottled in 2011

Lot presentation

Albion 25 years 1986 Velier Full Proof Barrels AW - Cask n°10546 - bottled in 2011

The wine

An Albion 25 year old single cask (#10546, mark AW) distilled in 1986 and selected by Daniele Bondi. The rum was produced at Uitvlugt and bottled in 2011. The label mentions a wooden Coffey still that was once located at Albion but which was not kept after the distillery closed in 1968. It is therefore likely that this rum was distilled with Uitvlugt’’s four-column Savalle still set up to reproduce Albion’’s style. Velier was founded in Genoa by Casimir Chaix in 1947. It was originally a small, family-run business specializing in the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, a former representative for Saint James and serious rum collector and enthusiast, bought the business in 1986 and began bottling whisky first in 1992 and then rum in 1996. It was in 1996 that Gargano bottled his first Demerara rums. In 2004, Gargano was invited to Guyana to select casks by his friend Yesu Persaud, then the CEO of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). This partnership ended in 2015 when Persaud retired, but the rums bottled in the meantime became legendary.

About the Producer Albion

The Albion plantation was most likely founded in the early 19th century. It is not known when it began distilling rum, but it is known that the distillery closed in 1968. Like Skeldon and La Bonne Intention, which closed in 1960, and Blairmont, which closed in 1962, Albion was closed following the decision of the Brooker group—which owned the distilleries—to keep only Uitvlugt, which was modernized in 1960. Albion used a wooden column still, but what became of it is unknown. After the distillery closed, Albion’‘s style was reproduced at Uitvlugt with its four-column Savalle still, whose different settings enabled it to produce a number of different styles of rum. Bottlings mentioning a wooden Coffey still were most likely produced with Enmore’‘s still.