The Colours of Rum 2003 Guyana (Versailles Still) 18 Year – 54.2% 

The Colours of Rum 2003 Guyana (Versailles Still) 18 Year – 54.2% 

Stats: Independent Bottling from The Colours of Rum, a project from Wealth Solutions, an investment company “with a mission to provide luxury goods for demanding customers.” This bottling is Edition No. 5 and contains a single cask distillate from Diamond Distillery in Guyana that was made on the Versailles single wooden pot still in May 2003 and aged until April 2022 before being bottled at cask strength, 54.2% ABV. This was cask #32 of 242 bottles produced. It does not stipulate where the aging or bottling took place. Supposedly only 30 bottles came to the US through K&L Wines.

Background: A friend was recently in CA and asked if he could bring me back anything from K&L. I checked their website and this bottle caught my eye. I’ve enjoyed a couple Versailles from 2004 and some of my favorite Port Mourants were distilled in 2003, but I’d never had a Versailles from 2003.

Conditions: Enjoyed neat in a stemcairn over the course of multiple sessions.

Nose: Toasted oats, coconut lotion, leather, dirt, chocolate mousse, marshmallow, orange peel, cocoa, sea breeze

Mouth: Musty oak, leather, coconut water, chocolate, burnt coffee, bitter orange peel, black pepper, anise, allspice

Final Thoughts: The rum is fine but lacks some of the complexity and dynamics I expected from an early aughts heritage still. This cost me around $180 after tax. If I had the opportunity to sample it in advance, I would not have made the purchase. 

My Rating: 3/5

My Scale:
1 – I don’t want this in my mouth ever again
2 – Underwhelming
3 – Decent tipple
4 – Very enjoyable
5 – I always want a bottle of this on my shelf