Montebello 2002 Velier 19 Year Old Flora Antillarum
Velier was founded by Casimir Chaix in Genoa in 1947 as a wine and spirits importer and distributor. By the 1980s they were still a small family-company with less than ten staff. This all changed in 1986 when it was purchased by Luca Gargano, a former brand ambassador for Saint James who was at the time still in his twenties. Under his direction, they selected their first single cask whiskies in 1992, and their first rum in 1996. In the decades that followed, Velier have gone on to become one of the most collectible brands in the industry, and Gargano has positioned them as the one of the foremost authorities and bottlers of rum anywhere in the world.
This is a Montebello rhum vieux and is blend of both agricole and traditionnel rhums. It is one of a trio of Guadeloupe rums from the 2022 series, Flora Antillarum.
More commonly referred to as Montebello after its flagship rum brand, the Carrere distillery is located in Petit Bourg on the Basse-Terre island of the Guadeloupe archipelago. Established in 1930, it is a small operation run by the Marsolle family, and buys in sugarcane from local farmers to supplement the fifteen hectares of plantation that it owns. Carrere operates a two-column copper still, and its spirit runs at around 85% ABV, unusually high for the production of agricole in the region. Due to a government enforced quota system, the distillery is allowed to sell 350,000 litres of rum per year, but rarely operates at such a capacity.
This was distilled in February 2002 and bottled in 2022.
One of 482 bottles.
