Aroma visualization from community tastings
The Taste of Rum Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum SVC 1996
"A whole different Guyana league," one taster called it, and that's the tone here: heavy, oily, dark. Espresso, dark chocolate, burnt sugar and dried fruit run deep, with old wood and a bitter orange-peel edge. Several were struck by how intense it drinks at only 47.3%. A couple wanted more fruit and sweetness, and one found it a touch bitter on the finish.
The community says- Rich coffee-chocolate depth
- Intense despite low ABV
- But: Can feel one-sided
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The look inside the bottle
How does The Taste of Rum Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum SVC 1996 taste?
Aggregated from 36 community reviews.
Heavy, dark Demerara: coffee, chocolate, old wood Most tasters loved this continentally aged '96 Diamond for its rich coffee-chocolate-molasses depth and surprising punch. A few found it slightly one-dimensional or bitter, wanting more fruit.
Fans of heavy, roasty aged Demerara
Those wanting bright fruit or a light sipper
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
17 of 36 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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How is The Taste of Rum Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum SVC 1996 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 8.9 sits in the “Very good” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Community voices
What does the community say?
100% rate it 8 or higher. 13 selected write-ups from 36 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Vergleich mit RX15898 Ich mach's kurz: Sind die beiden Rums an der Nase noch kaum zu unterscheiden, liegen am Gaumen Welten zwischen ihnen. Der Corman Collins ist wirklich hoffnungslos unterlegen. RX15426 dagegen bietet alles, was ein großer Diamond braucht: Lakritz, Leder, Honig, sowie Malz und Melasse satt. Und das genau in der richtigen Verdünnung. Glatte 10 Punkte mehr als der Corman Collins. Uneingeschränkte Empfehlung.
Review by mto75
Orange peel on the nose, a hint of essential oils, cola, herbal notes, floor wax, old barrel. Caramel, malt, dark chocolate on the palate. Very intense despite the low ABV. Only the finish is not super long. I quite like this one!
Review by zabo
Christmas Meeting 2023 Secret Santa Sample Thank you mto75 I also liked this one very much. The longer it was in the glass, the better it got. I feel honored to be able to taste it. A completely different Guyana league. Thank you very much
Review by DomM
Little random 96 Diamond cross tasting. For the colored contenders I‘m looking at the RDL Collectors Series No. 2 (MDS) and the The Taste of Rum bottling (SVC). On the nose the impact of the coloring is very noticeable. Burnt sugar, caramel as well as coffee notes alongside dried fruits are present in both bottlings. However, the ToR bottling provides a better balance and way more complexity/depth on the nose. RDL is more straight forward delivering intense notes but cannot quite match in terms of compexity. On the palate, RDL delivers nicely on heavy roasted, chocolate and coffee notes with bold dried fruits. Very nice. The ToR bottling, however, is still some notches ahead. Very well balanced and rich Demerara profile presenting a top notch column bottling. The low ABV doesn’t hurt the experience at all as the rum delivers a surprising high intensity in the palate. This is very good indeed.
Review by Basti
Die Nase ist super einladend mit viel Schokolade, röstigen Aromen, getrockneten Früchten, Gewürzen und Kaffee. Am Gaumen schokoladig/karamellig, Malz, ölige Textur. Eigentlich ziemlich lecker, aber irgendwie auch ziemlich flach. Mir fehlt hier die Intensität für eine noch bessere Bewertung.
Review by Joachim Guger
Great, very dark color. Tobacco on the nose, plenty of espresso, chocolate and a hint of powdered plum and liquorice. I like it very much. It continues in a similar way on the palate. A great, continental matured Demerara. Warm, tart, powerful and yet very balanced. I haven't had many old Demeraras from the 70s, but this one reminds me strongly of them. Thanks to Bonn for this great sample 😀😀😀
Review by Serge
Wow, very cool Savalle profile with heavy coffee, chocolate, dark sugar and dried fruit notes with varnish and licorice. The ABV is surprisingly sufficient and well integrated. Even as a great advocate of tropical maturation, I have to pay tribute to this continental rum. Very good.
Review by Boletus
Das ist genau die Art von Rum, welche es geschafft hat, dass ich mich als Whiskyliebhaber immer mehr dem Rum zuwende. Ölig und schwer, mit viel Melasse und Malz als tragendes Element und gleichzeitig genügend Trockenfruchtaromen und röstiger Eiche für nötige Abwechslung und Tiefgang. Ein hervorragender Guyana-Rum!
Review by Skyfly
Very heavy rum from start to finish. Notes of chocolate, coffee and dried fruit dominate. In the mouth, the barrel really comes into its own and a spiciness spreads that lasts until the end of the finish. The alcohol is well integrated, but certainly too strong for some.
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
Surprisingly intense given the ABV, so the flavours are well noted. Overall profile feels a bit one sided with burnt caramel and milk coffee, missing abit of fruitiness for me, and sweetness. This came out for me only at the very end with a last sip, which was a nice surprise, maybe I was rushing it a bit. Different overall profile than rare cask series, which is at a similar price point.
Review by Mentalo
Beautiful bottling. The low alcohol content is not a problem. The rum still brings the aromas across very well. Nice coffee note, caramel, dark chocolate, pleasant wood note, slightly malty. The finish is quite bitter. I think it lacks a bit of balance.
Review by Palo - V Poháriku
I loved this sample! Very nice dark notes of coffee, burnt caramel, old wood and a bit of dustiness in the nose. The taste is full bodied, just like what you'd expect from old aged Demerara. Espresso, dried fruits, and orange peel bitterness lingering on the tongue. Finish is very long and again dark, old wood, molasses, burnt caramel and not that intense but still present unexpected fresh herbal sensations.
Review by Johannes
I love the 1996 Velier Diamond SVW. That's why I'm always very excited about every 96. This is actually the best continental matured Diamond I know. Nicely balanced, well chosen dilution, nice molasses, caramel, wood, chocolate, espresso.
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Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
This is a bit struggling. On principle I like this profile, but at times it seems overly sweet, even for 96 diamonds. I don't want to say it is too much but I would assume I would have liked it more without that heavy sweetness
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Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Market value
Avg. community purchase price 343 €
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Details about The Taste of Rum Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum SVC 1996
A Column Still Rum from Guyana, bottled by The Taste of Rum, at 47,3%.
How do you read a Diamond bottle? The RumX guide →
Community purchases
15 bottles logged by 11 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
6% opened, 1 emptied and repurchased.
What did the community pay for The Taste of Rum Diamond Demerara Single Cask Rum SVC 1996?
Community paid 266–340 €.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
15 purchased · 37 tasted · 34 wishlist · as of
Read on in the RumX Guide
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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.
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