The Chamarel distillery was founded in Mauritius in 2008. It uses its own sugar cane, which is grown on the 220 hectares of the Exil estate, which the Couacaud family bought in 1996. Located in Chamarel in the south-west of Mauritius, the estate spans 300 hectares and benefits from a micro-climate and sun exposure that are ideal for growing both cane sugar and fruit and vegetables like the Victoria pineapple or the Royal palm. The cane is harvested by hand then quickly ground down at the estate’s mill. After the juice is fermented in open 25 hl stainless steel tanks, the rum is distilled in a Bardet copper column still or a steam-heated copper pot still. The rums are then laid to rest in stainless steel tanks for at least six months, before some are transferred to new oak casks (French or American) or casks previously containing other alcohols. The angels’ share varies between 5% and 8%.

A Chamarel rhum agricole bottled in 2017 to mark Velier’’s 70th anniversary. 80% of the final blend is from cask #181 (2010 vintage) and 20% from cask #180 (2014 vintage). The label was designed by Singapore artist Warren Khong. 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. Rums selected by Velier are only ever aged in a tropical climate, which explains both their concentration and the high angels’’ share. They are generally bottled at cask strength or just below. The company’’s selections from Diamond’’s vaults as well as the Caroni bottlings and the bottlings from various distilleries in Jamaica, Barbados and other countries have played a key role in rum’’s history and are today some of the most sought-after in the category.