Rums similar to El Dorado Skeldon 2000

You are searching for a high end Demerara. El Dorado Enmore 1996 and Albion 2004 are still available for a good price and they are also on the same level. Velier 1996 SVW is around 1k if you want a better one. There are not much better Demeraras on the market. Corman Collins 1992 Enmore could be also on the same level but I can't find it anymore.

Thank you for your suggestions! I just ordered a sample of the Enmore 1996 and really look forward to a comparison. The Albion is great too, but I like the Skeldon a little better. The old Veliers might be fantastic, but 1k and more for a bottle of alcohol feels a little over the top for me. Maybe some day I will have the chance to buy a sample and change my mind.

You can find a sample of it here: https://www.whisky.fr/diamond-1996-full-proof-old-demerara-4632.html

I just placed the order. Now I can taste it against the Skeldon and the Enmore. I hope that I will hate it 😁 at least I found it for 600 online.

Watch out, the 63.4% SSN is not the right one for 600€. https://singlecaskrum.com/2020/08/15/diamond-1996/ You need the SVW with 64.6% like the sample of whisky.fr. I'm going to do the same crosstasting with Skeldon and SVW soon.

I'm going to do the same tasting soon. It's fantastic. I would gues, Enmore > Skeldon > SVW.

It was a really great experience but I am not sure were to place the SVW. It is definitely more complex than the El Dorados, but in comparison, the alcoholic sharpness is way higher. The El Dorados have a more pleasant mouthfeel to me. I don't know how to discribe it properly, but they have a more velvety texture to it while the SVW feels more clean and bright. Between the El Dorados it is more about personal preference. They are similar in many ways. For me, the Enmore is more overripe fruit and a hint more glue and the Skeldon is more like dry fruits and more burned wood. It is a very simplified way to discribe the differences, but I don't have better words for it right now. I prefer the Skeldon over the Enmore but they are both outstanding. One or two years ago I wouldn't have appriciated both of them I guess. My palate just started to develope and maybe in the future I will be able to appriciate the SVW in the same way. But for now, I would put in the third place. It reminded me a little on the Exclusive 13 Year Old Guyana Berry Bros & Rudd Bottling for Kirsch Whisky. Looking forward to your conclusion!

I think you mean the ElDs are more viscous, could be because of the lesser abv. You could try to add some dropps of water to the SVW. And the flavor profile of the SVW was similar to Enmore and Skeldon?

I have all four soon, the Skeldon, Albion, Enmore 1996 and the SVW. Also the Enmore 1993, but this one is not on the same level.

The SVW had alot of similarities but it was more layered and complex. When drinking more than one rum at once, I have some problems to distinguish all the little nuances, but the different flavours did not hit you all at the same time but followed each other. I'd like to discribe it in a musical way because I don't have a better comparison: the El Dorados to me feel like a beautiful chord while the SVW was more like a subtle melody. I am not sure if you know what I mean. But I guess thats the reason why the alcohol had more room and felt more pronounced.

That's the complexity. I enjoy it, especially in rums like Velier WARD and Forsyths WPM. Their complexity is that high, that I can imagine to drink three different rums. If the aromas are changing all the time while you keep this rum in your mouth, it's a clear sign of a very complex and good rum. Great. I think the SVW will beat any other Demerara. Probably the high abv bothered you a little. But I think you described quite well how good this rum is.

I might have chosen the wrong glasses for the tasting. 'The Rumble' from Simple Sample is a beautiful glass and a great choice for rum below 100 proof but after some further testing I would not use it for higher ABV anymore. In comparison to other glasses it seems to pronounce the alcohol even more which might have been the problem with the SVW. A few days ago I had a glass of the Savanna 2012 from Veliers Indian Ocean Stills line in this glass and it just tasted wrong. I absolutely love this rhum agricole and it is my baseline for complexity. It has an ABV of 61% but feels amazingly smooth. In this glass it felt a bit harsh and I did not get as many flavours out of it as I used to. After changing the glass it was perfect again.

Your glasses look like blender glasses 1920. I think it's nothing wrong with them. Did you wait around 45 minutes before the tasting? I used this simple ElD glasses for tasting. https://www.homeofmalts.com/18883/el-dorado-glas 1996 SVW is so damn tasty, I'm a sucker for this rum.

Resurrecting an old topic. How do you compare other SWRs (Kill Devil Savalle Still, Vanilch and Mallet, SBS) to the El Dorado Skeldon?

Many SWR (Skeldons) have been released resently. V&M 2001 was one of the best for me. SBS were also very good. Kill Devil in cask strength was strange (too heavy, the cask was not good - maybe the diluted is better).

I would rate: V&M2001>SBS2001>EL Dorado>>KD

El Dorado always brings a bit too much bitterness across in the taste and that reduces the other flavors, the V&M is more aromatic. El Dorado is a blended Skeldon therefore compared to the other he may have fewer characteristics.