Saint James 2001 Of. One of 1137 - bottled 2019 Velier Brut de fût (Brown)

In the second half of the 18th century, Martinique became a major sugar producer. The Trou Vaillant habitation, managed by the Brothers of Charity, was home to stills used to distil molasses residue to raise financial support for the Saint-Pierre military hospital at the foot of Mount Pelée which they ran. Father Edmond Lefébure, the head of the congregation, took matters into hand and organized the export of excess rum supplies to the English colonies in North America, as it was illegal to export the product to France to prevent competition with wine-based spirits. It was sold under the name Saint James, which was easier for the English to pronounce and named after Saint Jacques, one of the estate’‘s habitations. In the 19th century, Martinique became a leading rum producer. The brand was registered in 1882 after it was bought by Paulin Lambert, a Marseilles businessman who purchased several habitations and oversaw the production of rum and its export to mainland France, making the most of the Restoration to acquire properties from religious orders that had been nationalized during the French Revolution. Lambert was also behind the square-shaped bottle found today and used for the first vintage rum released by the house in 1885. The brand became a huge success despite the damage caused by the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902. The company was bought by Cointreau in 1973, who grouped all the facilities together in Sainte-Marie.

An official Saint James small batch distilled in 2001, aged in American oak casks and bottled in 2019 for Velier. Velier was founded in Genoa by Casimir Chaix in 1947. It was originally a small, family-run business specializing in the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, a former representative for Saint James and serious rum collector and enthusiast, bought the business in 1986 and began bottling whisky first in 1992 and then rum in 1996. It was in 1996 that Gargano bottled his first Demerara rums. In 2004, Gargano was invited to Guyana to select casks by his friend Yesu Persaud, then the CEO of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). This partnership ended in 2015 when Persaud retired, but the rums bottled in the meantime became legendary. The same can be said for the Caroni casks he bought in 2005, two years after the distillery closed, following a visit to Trinidad with Fredi Marcarini the previous year to take photos. These two lines of bottlings built the renown of Velier, today also known for its work in other parts of the Caribbean, such as Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti and Marie-Galante. Rums selected by Velier are only ever aged in a tropical climate, which explains both their concentration and the high angels’ share. They are generally bottled at cask strength or just below. Finally, Gargano has, for several years, fought for stricter classification of rum, even proposing his own model, which has since been adopted by several of Velier’s partners. A limited edition of 1,137 bottles.