Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum
Hamilton · Demerara Distillers Limited (Diamond Distillery)
A workhorse Demerara that punches well above its price — equally at home in a tiki glass or a tasting flight.
Nose
Burnt sugar and molasses lead, joined by hints of charred oak, dried plum, brown butter, and a whisper of pipe tobacco — the unmistakable signature of Guyana's wooden pot stills.
Palate
Rich and viscous, with layers of muscovado sugar, baking spice, dark coffee, candied orange peel, and a smoldering note of bittersweet chocolate; faintly funky and unrepentantly tropical.
Finish
Long, warming, and slightly smoky, with lingering molasses, anise, and a touch of leather.
- Base Ingredient
- Molasses from Guyanese sugarcane
- Distillation
- Blend of pot and column still rums from Demerara Distillers' historic stills, aged tropically in ex-bourbon casks in Guyana, then bottled in the U.S.
- Country
- Guyana
Cocktail Suggestion
Demerara Daiquiri — 2 oz Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum, 0.75 oz fresh lime juice, 0.5 oz demerara syrup (2:1). Shake hard with ice, double-strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a lime wheel.
Food Pairing
Jerk pork shoulder with charred pineapple, or a dense flourless chocolate torte.
Curated by importer Ed Hamilton — the longtime 'Minister of Rum' — this bottling draws on Demerara Distillers' historic wooden stills, including the Port Mourant double pot, whose smoky, oily character has defined Guyanese rum for nearly two centuries.
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