O.V.D Demerara Rum, 40% - 70cl - £17.50 at Amazon

• The oldest pure demerara rum
• Specially selected superior quality
• Smooth and mellow
• 700 Millilitres
• 40 Percent by Volume

O.V.D stands for Old Vatted Demerara, a style of rum blending unique to the Demerara region of Guyana. The rum is distilled from molasses in a wooden Coffey still in Guyana before it’s blended and bottled in Glasgow. A classic dark rum with an almost cult status, that’s packed with rich, creamy notes.

OVD is made from the finest Demerara Sugar, produced from the finest sugarcane, the sweetest in the Caribbean, grown on the banks of the famous Demerara River in Guyana. OLD because it has been imported to Scotland since 1838 and is aged longer than most rums to obtain a mellow, rich and spicy taste. Vatted, because specially imported, top quality rums from Guyana are vatted or blended carefully to a consistent style which is smooth, rounded and full-bodied. The image is one of colour and character and like the Caribbean people, it is big hearted, friendly and a great mixer. OVD can be drunk neat, on the rocks or with a mixer drink. Drink it with ginger, Cola or fresh orange juice. Also popular with peppermint cordial or blackcurrant.

Tasting Note

Nose: Buttery, toffee-rich aromas. Dried peels, oak and stone fruit.

Palate: Syrupy, buttery palate. Sweetened coffee and banana sweets.

Finish: Medium-length finish, sparkling spices on the tail.

A time of extraordinary changeOur story began in 1838.

This was the year of the first successful transatlantic steam crossing, the year Queen Victoria was crowned at Westminster Abbey and when the first photograph was just about to be taken by William Henry Fox-Talbot.

It was, in short, a time of great change and innovation.

With his draper’s business flourishing, George made regular trips to Dundee, the capital of high-quality jute brought over by ship from India. It was while standing on the Dundee docks, watching the cargoes from far-flung lands being unloaded, that everything changed for George Morton. Ships from the new colony of British Guiana began arriving with casks full of Demerara rum, a rich dark navy rum quite unlike the Caribbean rums that had come before. George was entranced. He bought a barrel there and then and never looked back. In honour of that first inspiring moment, he established his future rum business on Dock Street, Dundee, overlooking that same quay.