Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996
Near-universal love here, with just one or two finding it too woody-bitter. This is a dark, tropically-aged Demerara blend of Diamond and Versailles marks — licorice, dried prunes, roasted coffee, burnt sugar, leather and that telltale glue note. Fruit stays in the background; sweetness is almost absent. Give it 15 minutes in the glass and the nose opens up. Heavy, oily, spice-laden.
The community says- Complex dark profile
- Well-integrated alcohol
- Long roasted finish
View price history
10 more payment methodsSecure payment Sold by Spirit Academy Returns & cancellation
- Secure payment. You pay via RumX with PayPal, Klarna or card. Your payment data is encrypted and we never store your full card details.
- Clear seller. Sold and shipped directly by the partner shop. And you're never on your own: RumX handles support and communication with the shop, so you always get excellent service, whichever shop you order from.
- Honest shop ratings. The stars show your service experience with the shop, not the rum score. They come from RumX users, and critical ones stay visible.
- Returns & cancellation. Your purchase contract is with the shop, so returns and cancellations run through them under their own policy and your statutory rights. If anything goes wrong, RumX helps you sort it out.
Buy Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996:
Compare all 4 shop offers
Prices & availability last updated on
The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996 taste?
Aggregated from 51 community reviews.
Dark, spicy old Demerara with licorice and coffee Adored by nearly everyone as one of Velier's best Demerara blends — deep, spicy and complex. A couple found it a touch too woody and bitter to love.
Fans of dark, tropically-aged Demerara blends
Anyone wanting sweet, fruity, easy-sipping rum
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
23 of 51 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Recommendation
Your next rum
One difference each to this rum.
Drier
Velier Caroni Heavy Trinidad Rum HTR 1994
9.2/101900 €
Milder
Velier Diamond (Port Mourant) <W>PM PM 1999
9.0/101219 €
Similar rating, cheaper
Enmore Rum Artesanal Guyana Rum REV 1994
9.2/10595 €First choice: 12 of 22 tasters who tried both prefer it.
How is Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.1 sits in the “Excellent” 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. 10 selected write-ups from 51 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Serge
Blindverkostung: altes, dunkles, kontinentales Profil. Fruchtig, Holzig, Malzig … super lecker. Hab ihn beim ersten mal wohl doch nicht genug stehen lassen. Erste Verkostung: Mein zweiter Velier Demera-Blend … gefällt mir aus dem Stehgreif direkt besser als der zuletzt verkostete Diamon & Port Mourant (PM) … das dunklere Diamond S Mark passt sehr schön zum Versailles. Lakritze und Kaffee vermischen sich hier mit Pflaume und Kräutern. Alles schön tropisch gereift und mit lecker Kleber und Lack dabei.
Review by TheRhumhoe
A blend that plays on the complementary aromas and opulence of the Demerara style. The alchemy works on the nose, with a dark, chocolatey woodiness that opens with spices (vanilla, cinnamon, licorice) before plunging into the darkness of Demerara: dried fruits (prunes, grapes), black tea, leather, notes of varnish, glue and polish, baked caramel and burnt sugar immerse us in this facet that is as dark as it is gourmand. A generous, refined and unrestrained profile. On the palate, the blend dons its dark cloak, with a strong concentration of roasted, grilled and even burnt aromas. Leather and wood take center stage, but are quickly overtaken by a myriad of spices (cinnamon, licorice, vanilla back in the mix), coffee and dark chocolate. Dried fruit and burnt sugar are there in support, with that pleasant, slightly bitter roasted warmth. The alcohol goes unnoticed in this landscape as dark as it is delicious. The finish, perhaps not as intense as the rest of the profile, nevertheless retains all its splendor with that very dominant dark side. However, black tea and floral notes suddenly emerge to underpin the profile, before fruit and a saline touch finalize the show. The two origins complement each other well, delivering a performance that lives up to expectations: intense, full-bodied and round, this blend is now arousing the curiosity of bottlers who are trying their hand at the exercise with the same combination, without ever managing to match this unicorn.
Review by Christoph H.
Very stark aged, deep and heavy Demerara blend. The rum is more on the spicy, barrel and overall tart side. There is hardly any fruit on the nose, some prune in the background. Sweetness is also just absent, if at all in the form of strongly burnt brown sugar. Otherwise, there is a lot of freshly roasted coffee, licorice, roasted aromas, leather, tobacco and herbs. Still some furniture polish in the background. In the mouth heavy, full-bodied, oily, sweet. Much rounder than still in the nose, a bit more fruit, lots of molasses, balanced spice. Very horny rum, I like exceedingly well
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
I only have one comment on the nose for this one and that's WOW. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes and the nose is a crazy explosion of flavours not there when you poor the glass. I worried that the palate wouldn't be able to keep up with such a rich nose, but that wasn't the case. The palate is wonderful and very well balanced. The alcohol has been so well integrated that you don't need water, some may want a drop or two, but a wonderful palate overall. The finish is long and has a minty coffee note to it and it just keeps on lingering. Try to leave the glass for the next day nose it!
Review by Jakob
A rum that was somewhat under my radar for a long time - but that doesn't do the bottling justice. The Marque by Diamond is quite recognizable thanks to the dominant liquorice notes. The Versailles component comes forward with minerality, plus the oak barrel with its sweet vanilla note. Clearly the best Demerara blend from Velier in my eyes.
Review by zabo
Die Bewertungen entspricht einer Blindverkostung, dank der neuen Funktion in der App. Im Nachhinein gesehen schon ein wenig zu schlecht von mir bewertet, aber trotz allem kein Highlight am dem Abend für mich. Mir war er ein wenig zu holzig bitter im Geschmack. Trotzdem danke an Jakob fürs teilen.
Review by Jarek
Franconian Rum Tasting Gang & Jakob, 2023-07-27 Teil 2: Dunkel, schwer, würzig. Lakritze mit Trockenobst und ganz dunklen Beeren. Dunkle Schokolade, Tee und genau richtiges Maß an Holz. Ein Meisterwerk! Nochmals 0,5 cl verkostet und ich muss die Wertung etwas nach oben korrigieren.
Review by Mopar Rules
more shy on the nose with very balanced smell of spices, wood, burned caramel. Hard for me to find much fruitiness. On the palate, a subtle bitterness that harmonizes much better with the caramel and spices than RX13135 I tasted same evening. Strong, intense, long finish
Review by Johannes
I am impressed! I have not had the rum in the glass for a long time. Meanwhile, I like it even better. Wonderfully complex blend. Currently I feel more Diamond with the typical glue note, molasses, wood, dark dry fruits, less Versailles notes.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
My hands were shaking with anticipation, as you can easily see from the blurred photo. Simply delicious.
No reviews match this filter.
Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 9.1/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Who Rhum The World
Read full review →
Expert review by Tasting Bro's
Read full review →
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
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 674 € – 1774 €
from 7 sales, latest 03/2026
Prices incl. buyer's premium — what a buyer pays, not what a sale nets you.
Avg. community purchase price 697 €
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 Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996
A Pot & Column Still Rum from Guyana, bottled by Velier, at 57,9%.
What do the letters on a Demerara label mean? The RumX guide →
Community purchases
53 bottles logged by 42 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
5% opened, 1 emptied and repurchased.
What does Velier Diamond (Versailles) SVSG 1996 cost?
Community paid 159–1,503 €.
Current best price: 1170.50 € – 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+ →
53 purchased · 52 tasted · 36 wishlist · as of
About the Diamond (Versailles) distillery
The Diamond (Versailles) distillery is located in Guyana. Rums from Diamond (Versailles) have been reviewed 179 times with an average of 8.1/10.
To Diamond (Versailles) →Read on in the RumX Guide
You may also enjoy
Rum enthusiasts who like this rum have also given the following rums high ratings:
Velier Diamond <S> S 1999
Velier Diamond <S> S 1999Heavy, oily Demerara: licorice, leather, dark chocolate
Velier Diamond SVW SVW 1999
Velier Diamond SVW SVW 1999Deep coconut-and-chocolate cask-strength Demerara
Velier Albion AN 1994
Velier Albion AN 1994Dense, oily Demerara, dark and complex
Velier Enmore & Port Mourant EHPM 1998
Velier Enmore & Port Mourant EHPM 1998Oily, dark-fruited Demerara that needs patience
Velier Port Mourant PM PM 1993
Velier Port Mourant PM PM 1993Intense, woody-licorice Port Mourant at full proof
Never miss a price drop.
Set a target price in the app, and we'll let you know as soon as the rum becomes available at that price from one of our partner stores. This works for any rum on your wish list.
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.
What began as my digital tasting diary is now the world's most comprehensive platform for rum fans, today carried by a small team with Jakob, Lukas and Katharina, with Robert supporting us as a freelancer. We combine the collective intelligence of our community with an integrated marketplace, so you can choose with confidence, without paperwork, detours, or expert jargon.
Oliver, Stuttgart
About RumX →YouTube channel (in German)
