Destilerías Unidas S. A.

The roots go back to a Caracas wine and spirits business founded by Don Tomas Sarmiento in 1932. In 1959 his heirs joined with Seagram and several Venezuelan distributors to form Licorerias Unidas, with Seagram holding a 51 percent majority, and bottled Cacique from 1961. After Seagram's assets were split between Diageo and Pernod Ricard, a group of Venezuelan investors led by Jose Ballesteros bought the company in 2003, renamed it Destilerias Unidas (DUSA), and launched Diplomatico onto the world stage. It now makes around 24 million litres a year.

Sitting in cane-rich country, DUSA grows about 1,200 hectares of its own cane and uses both molasses and cane honey, the syrup reserved for its heavier recipes. After a stripping run, it makes three distinct distillates: a heavy-bodied pot-still rum at 80 percent, a medium-bodied batch-kettle rum near 96 percent that keeps surprising aroma, and a light continuous rum at 96 percent. These three are bottled solo as the Distillery Collection, so you can taste each component on its own.

DUSA's still house is one of the most original in South America, second perhaps only to DDL in Guyana. It runs two copper pot stills with double retorts, unusual in having their vapour arm on the side rather than the top, plus the batch kettles inherited from Seagram's Canadian whisky heritage that look like they were lifted from a steam locomotive. There is even a unique 40,000-litre copper cylinder that resembles a giant boiler yet yields spirit above 90 percent. Few distilleries anywhere blend such variety.

DUSA holds an enormous stock, somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 casks across more than 20 warehouses, mostly ex-bourbon plus sherry and experimental wine casks. Light rum enters at 65 percent, heavy at 55. The catch worth knowing: Diplomatico's super-premiums, above all the Reserva Exclusiva, are among the sweetest rums on the market. The brand is open about this in conversation, just not on the label, so it pays to know before you pour.

The Reserva Exclusiva and Mantuano are the volume bestsellers, but the community's top scores go to the drier, spirit-forward line: the Ambassador Selection pot-still rum and the Single Vintage 2005 lead the range, with the No. 3 Pot Still of the Distillery Collection and the white Planas close behind. DUSA also distils Cacique for Diageo and the heavy component of Pampero.