Latest update April 28th, 2026 12:30 AM
DDL cops coveted Spirits Award 10 years in a row
In recognition of its unwavering efforts to maintain its renowned status as one the best spirits producers in the world, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) recently secured Gold Medal awards for three of its premium aged rums in the International Wine and Spirits Competition.
According to the company’s International Marketing Executive Vice President, Mr Komal Samaroo, the entity’s 12, 15 and 21-year-old rums continue to be very well recognised and respected around the world as the best available.
It was no big surprise when officials of the entity were advised, on Wednesday last, that the spirits had been highly recognised at the competition, which was held in London.
According to the Vice President, he was pleased to learn that the El Dorado 15-year-old rum was awarded the trophy and adjudged gold medal and best in its class. “It came out right on top…the trophy is the highest standing you can get in that competition; there is nothing challenging it.”
He noted, too, that this is the tenth consecutive year that the 15-year-old rum has come out on top.
The 12- and 21-year-old rums were also given gold medals and adjudged best in their respective classes, he said.
Samaroo said that the prestigious competition, which is characteristic of a bar show, is the longest running competition that evaluates products which originate worldwide by staging a series of tasting tests annually.
The venture, which has been in existence for almost 30 years, was initially set up by all of the wineries of Europe, a move which was later complemented when spirits companies joined in.
He disclosed, too, that the rums have also been bestowed with similar ratings, over the years, in the United States, where the tasting is done by the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago.
Over the years, he said, the 21-year-old rum has had the highest rating of any rum that has been sampled there.
“Our products are absolutely outstanding; we are getting extremely high ratings,” Samaroo asserted.
And in order to retain its prestigious status over the years, Samaroo revealed, the company has had to invest considerably in renewed presentation of its products, even as immense efforts were made to secure suitable markets.
“We compete in the market place against mega-brands; brands that are huge in terms of their production facilities and their market shares; brands that are huge in terms of the amount of money they invest in marketing. So we at DDL have to go out in the wide market place.
“First of all, we have to build a distribution to get our products on the shelves, and then we have to get consumers to want to consume them.”
For this reason, Samaroo said, the company has been working in several markets, building its distribution capacity.
He said that in Canada, for example, where each province is virtually a separate market controlled by provincial liquor boards, efforts were made to convince those boards to carry DDL products.
“We had to convince them that we are going to support our products that would sit on their shelves, and ensure that they move through to consumers. We have had significant successes in the last couple of years,” Samaroo noted.
DDL has been able to launch its products in several provinces so far, and Samaroo said it is anticipated that all other provinces will be infiltrated with DDL products by year’s end.
The company has also been able to penetrate the Russian market which, according to Chairman Yesu Persaud, has been a major achievement.
And since there is a process of “premiumisation” taking place in the spirits market around the world, Samaroo said, consumers are simply selecting a brand name. “We have to present our product so that consumers can go and ask for El Dorado.”
As such, he said, one of the key elements DDL has had to rely on is upgrading its presentation of products.
He disclosed that over the last couple of months, DDL completed a major upgrading process on the presentation of its five-year-old rum. According to DDL, the five-year-old is an award winning rum which is aged for at least five years in oak casks. As such, the packaging was redesigned to reflect the superior quality of the product.
The entity also recently launched on the international market its three-year-old white rum. This product is aged for at least three years in oak casks, and then double-filtered through natural charcoal.
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