Aroma visualization from community tastings
Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG 2002
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One taster's nose went straight to a "damp, woody ship's hull" hauling spices, and that dark barrel character runs the whole show. Think licorice, dried prunes, coffee and burnt sugar, dry and earthy on the palate with real tannin. The Versailles pot still gives it depth, but at 63% the alcohol pokes through — most owners let it breathe or add a drop of water and it settles.
The community says- Deep barrel character
- Licorice & prunes
- But: Alcohol sticks out
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The look inside the bottle
How does Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG 2002 taste?
Aggregated from 115 community reviews.
Dark, dry Versailles with licorice and prunes A dark, barrel-driven Guyanese most owners rate highly; the recurring note is that the 63% alcohol could be better integrated, so give it air.
Demerara fans wanting dark, dry pot-still depth
anyone chasing sweetness or hating high proof
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
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54 of 115 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Recommendation
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One difference each to this rum.
Rated better
Diamond (Port Mourant) El Dorado Rare Collection <PM> SVW 2001
8.7/10239 €
Milder
Enmore El Dorado Rare Collection EHP 1993
8.5/10199 €
Similar rating, cheaper
Habitation Velier Hampden <>H 2016
8.5/10119 €
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First choice: 30 of 38 tasters who tried both prefer it.
Community voices
What does the community say?
115 community reviews
41 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
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Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by cigares
Most helpful positive review
A rum decried by the RumX community and praised by Serge Valentin. So I had to buy it and taste it. I was rather disappointed when I opened the bottle, but I'm familiar with the phenomenon... A nose of old leather, flambéed banana, brown sugar and tea, with good concentration. A slightly peaty palate with fat and brown sugar. The finish is abrupt, but honey and cask reappear after a while. The empty glass is splendid with previously hidden aromas. Apart from the fact that this rum is too lively when opened, I find nothing but good in it. It's perfectly balanced and deep. It could have a slightly broader aromatic palette, but then it would be one of the great Demerara rums. Tasted again and one point more, the end of the bottle is splendid. Buy it before it disappears from the shelves.
Review by Pavel Spacek
Most helpful mixed review
Huge molassa taste.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
26.10.2025 Part 2 / Evening Session Today we have an El Dorado Rare Cask online tasting and I've been looking forward to it. I will keep the score and just enjoy the rums and I have all of them on my shelves as well. ---------------- I have the entire series in more than one copy and I really like them because the releases are good in general. Love the citrus note from nose to finish and the wood and tannins with other fruits in the mix. Lightly dry on the palate. The flavours are still in the glass the day after 😊
Review by DomM
Nose and finish come with intense citrus notes. Palate dominated by dried fruits. Not very heavy on „classic“ Versialles notes you would expect from a VSG ie somewhat of a weird animal. Nevertheless a nice expression. Oxidation changes the profile quite noticabley. Less citrus and more dried fruits as well as Versailles notes on the nose. Also nice in it’s „evolved“ form.
Review by Tim
Tolle Nase wie man sie aus der Rare Cask Serie kennt, auch wenn sie nicht so kräftig ist wie von anderen ED Rare Cask. Sehr fasslastig mit dunklen und röstigen Aromen (Lakritz, brauner Zucker). Leider auch eine alkoholische stechende Note vorhanden. Am Gaumen süß und dunkel würzig, also Vollrohrzucker und Lakritz, sowie andere intensive Geschmäcker. Reicht insgesamt nicht an die anderen ED Rare Cask Rums heran, aber dieser Rum muss sich nicht verstecken.
Review by TheRhumhoe
Un Versailles intense et corsé au nez, avec un profil changeant : on retrouve le côté sombre, avec le caramel cuit et le sucre Demerara, le boisé épicé sur la réglisse, le poivre et la vanille, le cacao et le café, les pruneaux, les raisins secs et l’orange. Une touche alcoolique se fait percevoir et dérange un peu les narines. L’aération lui fait du bien et lui donne de la fraîcheur. La bouche donne une autre facette de l’alambic Versailles : exit les notes fruitées lourdes et herbacées, on retrouve les notes d’agrumes sur l’orange, le boisé sombre, le chocolat au lait, les épices et les notes amères sur la réglisse, l’anis et le cuir. Le caramel, la mélasse et le sucre brûlé apportent de un peu de rondeur à ce profil chaud et malheureusement plutôt marqué par l’alcool. Mention spéciale à la petite note saline plutôt agréable. La finale est longue, sombre, épicée, boisée et amère, tannique et caféinée. Les arômes ne sont pas aussi marqués qu’escompté. Les épices, le caramel et la mélasse sont présents en fin de bouche, accompagnés par des raisins secs, des pruneaux et de l’orange. Un profil inhabituel, pas déplaisant mais un peu déséquilibré, en particulier face à d’autres Versailles ou encore les autres rhums de la gamme Rare Collection.
Review by Serge
Update: Back in the glass after a long time. Also in direct comparison with an anoxidized sample. Both delicious, but also very different. In addition to the dried fruit and liquorice with brown sugar, the fresh one also has some banana (overripe) wafting around. Very tasty. The nose develops beautifully and the palate is simply delicious with licorice, dried fruit, prunes, wood and brown sugar.
Review by Frank
Another from the Rare Collection, which I really like overall. It's actually crazy that these very good drops are still available; it just has the wrong name on it 😉 Nose: once the alcohol has evaporated, a very pleasant and tasty spicy-woody-roasty affair. Soft, sweet licorice with dark maple syrup and mocha chocolate. In addition, a fine fruity note of blood orange, dried date and soft prune. There is also something fresh and tart from blackcurrant, plus a little pepper. The palate is again woody and spicy with the soft licorice up front and some chocolate behind it. Dried dates and prunes are also consistent here. A little more caramel and almost toffee. Damn well integrated alcohol. Very accessible + good
Review by Mirco
Gefällig aber mit einer Note von zu lang gezogenen Grüntee.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Very intense and concentrated! lots of resin, licorice and some citrus and caramel on the nose, then milk chocolate, strong espresso, prunes and gingerbread, salty caramel and treacle with tangerine peel. Nevertheless, aromatically very exciting!
Review by Galli33
I tried this in a lovely place in genova. Very good rum with a nice complexity and mix of dried fruits. The alcohol could be integrated better, otherwise this could have a 85+ rating The nose reminds me of a hampden 🤔
Review by LukaŽiga
8,7:On the nose, we have a strong barrel impact with roasted wood notes like caramel, leather, nuts, cocoa and coffee, spicy vanilla and marmelade like dried, citrus fruits with orange and raisins, as the molasses is herbaceous, slightly dark with licorice. On aeration, Demerara sugar is caramelized, also dried fruits with prunes and apricots, spiced with cinnamon and a whiff of a tobacco. 8,9:On the palate, the attack is delicious, but still complex with fruits like banana, prunes and citrus fruits, roasted wood notes like caramel, milk chocolate, coffee, toffee and especially Irish cream, slightly salty and oaky, as the molasses is grassy, herbaceous, later dark with black tea and licorice...as we see a strong barrel impact, also with slightly tannic touch. 8,7:The finish is long, dry and tannic, very buttery, like on the palate, joined by Demerara sugar and hints of coconut. Edit:23.11.25, an upgrade for 0,1
Review by Joachim Guger
Seit langem wieder mal im Glas, das erste mal hat er nicht geschmeckt (69 Punkte). Eine sehr schüchterne Nase. Karamell, Leder und feine Würze. Viel Kaffee!! Zurückhaltende Trockenfrüchte und Tabak. Blind würde ich die Reifung eindeutig kontinental verorten. Im Mund pelzig, holzig, alkoholisch und bitter. Mit dem Abgang gewinnt er dann wieder. Warm, gebrannter Zucker. Ein feiner und guter Rum dem Zeit und Muse gewidmet werden will. Am Ende schafft er es aber nicht, aus dem Schatten der tropischen Opulenz seiner Brüder zu treten.
Review by Timo Groeger
Der war mir dann tatsächlich eine Runde zu dunkel. Vielleicht Tagesform. Ansonsten sehr Holz-, Eichen- und Fasslastig. Allerdings lassen sich auch etwas Kaffee und Karamell erkennen, ber grad irgendwie nicht mein Favorit.
Review by Johan R
Cool, aningen funky, Wood pot still, komplex men funken är lite over the top.
Review by Jakob
The alcohol is not entirely perfectly integrated, but as a lover of the Versailles profile, you get your money's worth here.
Review by Mopar Rules
a subtile complexity on nose and palate, very balanced but the alcohol is a bit too present. while dried fruits and mango and apricots dominate the nose, on the palate it is the chocolate and wood that rules. Not quite as bodied and heavy as other special releases of DDL
Review by Rumpalumpa
Schöne würzig-fruchtige Paarung. An der Nase primär Fassaromen und rote Trockenfrüchte wie Rosinen. Am Gaumen zeigt sich die ganze Intensität und gibt sich sehr röstig-würzig und erneut roten Früchten. Kaffee im Abgang, toll!
Review by Alex Kunath
Beautiful VSG notes! Very good PLV.
Review by Jussi Piirainen
On the nose: Very woody and barrel heavy. Woody notes, licorice, light vanilla and cinnamon. Caramel/burnt sugar note gives some nice sweetness. Some dried fruits in the background. Taste: Very Woody and barrel heavy. Licorice notes. Light caramel notes. Dry. Salty. Light dried fruit notes. Finish: Woody and licorice notes. Light roasted coffee notes. Light citrus notes. Dry and slightly bitter towards the end. In overall, not as rich and powerfull on the palate as the other rums in Rare Collection series. Very dry and barrel influenced. For me, i would have liked just a little bit of sweetness on the profile.
Review by Righrum
A nice Versailles, not as deep as a Rev but still highly enjoyable. The sugar/caramel added is not disturbing and overall the rum is not that dirty. Not all Guyana are rums that I find pleasant, this one though is one that I liked
Review by Filip Šikula
This is my first encounter with the rare collection and we are pleasantly surprised. A very complex rum from start to finish. Pleasant notes of orange in the aroma followed by a finish. Wide palette in the taste including barrel, pepper, salt and citrus. Very nice indeed.
Review by Chrischi78
War erst skeptisch wegen der niedrigen Bewertungen, aber angenehm überrascht: Typische Rare-Cask-Nase, fassbetont, röstig, am Gaumen süß und würzig mit Lakritz und Vollrohrzucker. Nicht der Beste, aber für mich ein toller Tropfen!
Review by Tschusikowsky
EastIndia Company⚓️Hat mich in der durch die Nase in einen feuchten, holzigen Schiffsrumpf versetzt, der Gewürze transportiert. Durchaus angenehm. Schöne Komplexität.
Review by Jarek
Von diesem Rum habe ich schon gehört, dass er in einer offenen Flasche eine ziemliche Wandlung durchmacht. Die Flasche die Serge mit uns geteilt hat war auch schon länger offen. Mich hat der Rum begeistert und meine Bewertung fällt über dem Durchschnitt aus. Die Nase mit Leder, Lakritz, Kaffee, Karamell und getrockneten Früchten, dazu etwas Zitrus. Setzt sich am Gaumen fort, mit etwas Holz und Pfeffer. Am Gaumen geht es ähnlich weiter, dunkel und röstig. Sehr lecker das Ganze.
Review by TheJona'Spirits
Nez : un peu d'artichaut en premier nez voir même de fleur de badamier mais la note disparaît rapidement pour laisser place à un très joli caramel brûlé, du sucre Demerara, beaucoup de réglisse aussi, fondue. Toutes sortes de café, graines de café torréfiées, du cacao, du chocolat noir 95%, tout cela exprime un mixte entre une pâtisserie tel que le moka et un cappuccino pour l'accompagner. C'est gourmand. Bouche : De la vanille caramélisée qui devient à tour de rôle de la crème caramel vanillée. Le fruité évolue sur du pruneau bien mûr voir confit, je retrouve la réglisse du nez, un peu d'orange amère aussi. Finale bien torréfiée sur la cosse de cacao, de l'amande aussi. Alcool assez présent au nez, encore plus en bouche, dommage sinon la note aurait été plus élevée. Belles saveurs.
Review by Martin Švojgr
It's a great smell. Right from the start you are hit with a strong spicy aroma of prunes and old noble woodiness. After a sip, you're embraced by the woodiness, the nuts, the prunes, the cappuccino. The finish is very long strong wood, tannins...
Review by Buddudharma
Slightly sharper than the ED EHP 1996, but with a fruitier and for me more interesting profile, so I see it slightly ahead overall.
Review by Benoit Mahe
Un peu piquant et alcooleux mais très original et rafraîchissant. Une vraie chance de pouvoir goûter ce rhum en full tropical et à haut degrés (peut être un poil trop haut du coup)
Review by Tropheus80
Richtig gute Nase Im Mund kann er nicht ganz mithalten, die recht hohen 63% könnten besser eingebunden sein. Trotzdem interessantes Profil mit etwas von Lakritz
Review by Palo - V Poháriku
Gorgeous piece of history! ❤️
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
The nose is very smoky-toasted-roasted. There is caramelized Guyana molasses, coffee, roasted nuts, ... It is like a gingerbread refreshed by a lemon zest. It is complex and intriguing. On the palate, it is very concentrated on licorice and prune. We have bitter coffee, empyreumatic notes ... and caramel to sweeten it all. The finish is very long on spices and burnt wood. The mouth does not leave indifferent. It is much more marked than the nose let it presage. This very marked finish makes this rum worthy of the name.
Review by Winetrader
The first impression on the nose is magnificent. This is a sexy and funky rum. On the palate, there’s an incredible explosion of aromas and huge density. A competition-level rum with great complexity. I love it.
Review by Roman Lelek
I was very pleasantly surprised by El Dorado..for the % of alcohol it has in it, it is just drinkable this time. I don't taste typical Guyana this time...the aroma is wood, caramel a little leather, honey and a little citrus. I can taste those..the finish is medium...dryness, woodpecker and marmalade on the palate. I'd take the whole bottle.
Review by Ondra RumRunner
Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG je výjimečný rum z řady El Dorado Rare Collection, známý svými hlubokými a výraznými tóny. Vůně přináší tóny lékořice, dřeva, kůže a dubového sudu. V chuti dominuje sudová zemitost, tóny dubu, slanosti a tříslovin, spolu s výraznými kořenitými a pepřovými akcenty. Dochuť je střední délky, dřevitá, s kávovým a lékořicovým nádechem, doplněná příjemným hřejivým závěrem. English: Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG is an exceptional rum from the El Dorado Rare Collection, known for its deep and bold notes. The nose reveals hints of licorice, wood, leather, and oak barrels. On the palate, barrel earthiness, oak, saltiness, and tannins dominate, with prominent spicy and peppery undertones. The finish is medium in length, woody, with notes of coffee and licorice, complemented by a pleasant warmth. Deutsch: Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG ist ein außergewöhnlicher Rum aus der El Dorado Rare Collection, bekannt für seine tiefen und kräftigen Noten. Die Nase offenbart Nuancen von Lakritz, Holz, Leder und Eichenfässern. Am Gaumen dominieren erdige Fassnoten, Eiche, Salzigkeit und Tannine, begleitet von ausgeprägten würzigen und pfeffrigen Akzenten. Der Abgang ist mittellang, holzig, mit Noten von Kaffee und Lakritz, ergänzt durch eine angenehme Wärme.
Review by JonasTh
Zoeter dan dan El Dorado Port Mourant.
Review by Martin Rasmussen
Great nose with alot of spicyness and wood influence. The palete however is pretty disappointing compared to the other Rare Collection El dorados. It has an Odd aftertaste that is Hard to describe. Its still a very good rum and the initial palate matches the nose
Review by Petr Andrysík
Ve vůni nejde vubev poznat 63% krasně jdou cítit švestky, dřevo. Chuť je ostřejší a plná švestek sušených, sladkost karamelu a konec ostřejší do lékořice
Review by Adrien B
Attaque cacao puis grise fraîcheur végétale et mentholée
Review by Olimpia1936
Unico dubbio sull’aggiunta di zucchero (?) per il resto uno dei migliori della serie
Review by Holger
Extreme alcoholic spiciness. Without water exorbitantly spicy and biting. Where should be the pleasure. With water quickly watery. A comparison with Poteen 90% vol. or Whisky 61%vol. is helpful. Where does this biting come from?
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Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 7.1/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by The Fat Rum Pirate
Read full review →I can see how rums from this still may benefit from being blending with others. I don't even think that the possible added sugar has really impacted this rum. If it had come up clean on the Hydrometer Test I wouldn't have been at all surprised. It's just not complex...
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
Read full review →
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Market value
What this bottle last achieved at auction. A research indicator, not a forecast.
Auction results 130 € – 171 €
from 15 sales, latest 08/2026
Prices incl. buyer's premium — what a buyer pays, not what a sale nets you.
Avg. community purchase price 159 €
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Community purchases
117 bottles logged by 106 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
22% opened, 11 emptied and repurchased.
What does Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG 2002 cost?
Community paid 112–190 €.
Current best price: 175.57 € – within the typical community range.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
117 purchased · 122 tasted · 43 wishlist · as of
Details about Versailles El Dorado Rare Collection VSG 2002
A Pot Still Rum from Guyana, distilled by Versailles, at 63%.
What do the letters on a Demerara label mean? The RumX guide →
About the Versailles distillery
The Versailles distillery is located in Guyana. Rums from Versailles have been reviewed 701 times with an average of 8.4/10.
To Versailles →Read on in the RumX Guide
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