Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Diamond Old Demerara Rum 1988
Rare praise here — the people who've tasted it call it a near-perfect Demerara, and the score backs them up. What sets it apart from the other Velier Diamonds is the fruit: loads of ripe strawberry and red berries, even an "Erdbeer-Yoghurt" note one taster couldn't get over. Under that sits smoky wood, vanilla, chocolate, glue and an oily, heavy body. The 59% barely shows.
The community says- Big red-berry fruit
- Oily heavy body
- Alcohol well hidden
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Diamond Old Demerara Rum 1988 taste?
Aggregated from 13 community reviews.
Strawberry-forward Demerara, one for the shelf The consensus is unusual agreement at the top end — an intensely fruity Diamond several tasters rank among the best rums they've had. The only real catch is finding a bottle.
Velier collectors and Demerara devotees
newcomers and anyone hunting an everyday bottle
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
5 of 13 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Velier Diamond Old Demerara Rum 1988 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.7 sits in the “Excellent” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Community voices
What does the community say?
0% rate it between 6 and 8. 5 selected write-ups from 13 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Johannes
The perfect rum for me! Incredibly intense, complex, yet balanced and round. Lots of strawberry, some glue, wood. Differs very clearly from the other Diamonds.
Review by Jakob
Stands out in the blind tasting of all Velier Diamonds with its comparatively very fruity-sweet nose. On the palate, bitter notes are added and the typical profile of Velier Diamonds becomes recognizable, however, the fruit notes remain very present, reminding me of overripe red berries (strawberries). Excellent drop and meanwhile a privilege to be able to taste it - great cinema.
Review by Gregers Nielsen
Insanely balanced, complex and well integrated. Powerful yet elegant and completely different to all the other Diamonds from Velier!
Review by Oliver
Totally awesome strawberry yogurt flavor! 🤯
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Luckily this was the last rum of the evening or all the other samples would have failed horribly in comparison. A great rum and again one that was hidden in the back of a top shelf at a tiki bar., where they had a rum aficionado. The nose is complex and well balanced with fruits, smoked Wood, vanilla and chocolate. The chocolate and vanilla really come out if you leave the empty glass for a while. The palate takes off where the nose finishes. Complex and well balanced with fruit, smoky wood, vanilla and a hint of coffee/mocha. The finish is incredibly long with wood, cherries, chocolate and vanilla. I know this is a rare bottle, but my oh my, what a great rum.
Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 9.7/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Rob Bauer
Read full review →Nose Rex tremendae majestatis! The first sniff literally explodes and manifests what's making these Velier Demeraras so special. It's the unbelievable fatness, richness and the exotic jungle associations, hence the pure uniqueness. Meaning the most addictive Patexx glues, pure coconut mark, Jasmine flowers from India and Ylang Ylang from China. A crazy load of strawberries and raspberries alright (what?!). Slightly reminiscent of the 1991 Caroni (Samba) at this point. First Velier Demerara delivering red fruits! Very very unusual. Fried manioc roots in coconut butter and some undefined jungle herbs. Fine cedar wood. On top: very pronounced notes of wood polish and new leather. Now it even feels a bit like Pibous 1996. After a while the sweetness develops into candyfloss and the leatherness into the smell of a freshly opened Montecristo Cigar Box. Rafinesse, elegance and a monstrous complexity, all in one distillate, ergo a to-die-for-bouquet. Palate Yes, almighty! Welcome to the jungle! Sweet fermented mangoes and plantains. Manioc roots in abundance. Bounty bar and all kinds of glues. Super sweet initial start and absolutely balanced. The distillate is fat and super heavy. Overripe Raspberries and Straweberries indicate a slight sourness. But paired with the gentle bitterness of dark chocolate it just adds to the complexity. These fruity and berried components are simply stunning. The alcohol is wonderfully integrated, almost non-existent. Have we mentioned an oily texture? Pure oil. Every little sip holds another surprise. In terms of column still rum it actually can't get any better. Finish 1300 pages long, like The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, but way more lingering on the bright side of life. All on lovely raspberry and coconut mark, glues and rubber.
Expert review by Who Rhum The World
Read full review →Expert review by Rob Bauer
Nose Rex tremendae majestatis! The first sniff literally explodes and manifests what's making these Velier Demeraras so special. It's the unbelievable fatness, richness and the exotic jungle associations, hence the pure uniqueness. Meaning the most addictive Patexx glues, pure coconut mark, Jasmine flowers from India and Ylang Ylang from China. A crazy load of strawberries and raspberries alright (what?!). Slightly reminiscent of the 1991 Caroni (Samba) at this point. First Velier Demerara delivering red fruits! Very very unusual. Fried manioc roots in coconut butter and some undefined jungle herbs. Fine cedar wood. On top: very pronounced notes of wood polish and new leather. Now it even feels a bit like Pibous 1996. After a while the sweetness develops into candyfloss and the leatherness into the smell of a freshly opened Montecristo Cigar Box. Rafinesse, elegance and a monstrous complexity, all in one distillate, ergo a to-die-for-bouquet. Palate Yes, almighty! Welcome to the jungle! Sweet fermented mangoes and plantains. Manioc roots in abundance. Bounty bar and all kinds of glues. Super sweet initial start and absolutely balanced. The distillate is fat and super heavy. Overripe Raspberries and Straweberries indicate a slight sourness. But paired with the gentle bitterness of dark chocolate it just adds to the complexity. These fruity and berried components are simply stunning. The alcohol is wonderfully integrated, almost non-existent. Have we mentioned an oily texture? Pure oil. Every little sip holds another surprise. In terms of column still rum it actually can't get any better. Finish 1300 pages long, like The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, but way more lingering on the bright side of life. All on lovely raspberry and coconut mark, glues and rubber.
Details about Velier Diamond Old Demerara Rum 1988
A Column Still Rum from Guyana, bottled by Velier, at 59%.
Community purchases
9 bottles logged by 7 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
22% opened, 0 emptied and repurchased.
9 purchased · 13 tasted · 59 wishlist · as of
About the Diamond distillery
The Diamond distillery is located in Guyana. Rums from Diamond have been reviewed 5,310 times with an average of 8.3/10.
To Diamond →You may also enjoy
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Velier Uitvlugt ULR 1997
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Velier Albion AN 1994
Velier Albion AN 1994Dense, oily Demerara, dark and complex
Velier Albion AN 1989
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Velier Uitvlugt SP - ICBU 1988
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
What began as my digital tasting diary is now the world's most comprehensive platform for rum fans, today carried by a small team with Jakob, Lukas and Katharina, with Robert supporting us as a freelancer. We combine the collective intelligence of our community with an integrated marketplace, so you can choose with confidence, without paperwork, detours, or expert jargon.
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