The earliest reference to an El Dorado-like kingdom occurred in 1531 during Ordaz's expedition when he was told of a kingdom called Meta that was said to exist beyond a mountain on the left bank of the Orinoco River. Meta was supposedly abundant in gold and ruled by a chief that only had one intact eye. [11] Inspection of the Welser army by Georg von Speyer (right) and Philipp von Hutten (center) at Venezuela. A Demerara rum is probably a rum that someone with a more sweet tooth will take to. I have seen Ron Zacapa noted for being very sweet. I think this rum is sweeter. However, nothing about this rum seems artificial. You don’t get that caramel or spiced taste sum rums do carry. It never becomes cloying. Waterton, Charles (1891). Moore, Norman (ed.). Wanderings in South America. London, Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Co, Ltd. p.192 – via gutenberg.org. He went about all covered with powdered gold, as casually as if it were powdered salt. For it seemed to him that to wear any other finery was less beautiful, and that to put on ornaments or arms made of gold worked by hammering, stamping, or by other means, was a vulgar and common thing. [ citation needed]

The canoa [sic] was carried down the stream, and certain of the Guianians met it the same evening; and, having not at any time seen any Christian nor any man of that colour, they carried Martinez into the land to be wondered at, and so from town to town, until he came to the great city of Manoa, the seat and residence of Inga the emperor. The emperor, after he had beheld him, knew him to be a Christian, and caused him to be lodged in his palace, and well entertained. He was brought thither all the way blindfold, led by the Indians, until he came to the entrance of Manoa itself, and was fourteen or fifteen days in the passage. He avowed at his death that he entered the city at noon, and then they uncovered his face; and that he traveled all that day till night through the city, and the next day from sun rising to sun setting, ere he came to the palace of Inga. After that Martinez had lived seven months in Manoa, and began to understand the language of the country, Inga asked him whether he desired to return into his own country, or would willingly abide with him. But Martinez, not desirous to stay, obtained the favour of Inga to depart. [7] While the existence of a sacred lake in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes, associated with Indian rituals involving gold, was known to the Spaniards possibly as early as 1531, its location was only discovered in 1537 by conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada while on an expedition to the highlands of the Eastern Ranges of the Andes in search of gold. [23] From 1775 to 1780, Nicholas Rodriguez and Antonio Santos, two entrepreneurs employed by the Spanish Governors, set out on foot and Santos, proceeding by the Caroní River, the Paragua River, and the Pacaraima Mountains, reached the Uraricoera River and Rio Branco, but found nothing. [40]Even if you haven’t actually tried an El Dorado rum I would bet a bottle of Lambs Navy Rum that you have at some point in your tastings had some of the nectar which hails from DDL (Demerara Distillers Limited). Alas, like many Caribbean nations, whilst Guyana was once awash with distilleries it now only has DDL. Until recently this was a state ran distillery but it is no longer in the government hands and has almost 9000 shareholders. Many of whom work in the distillery. This is no ordinary distillery. It has some of the most traditional rum distilling equipment on the planet, some of which was originally at other distilleries in Guyana, such as the Utvluigt (easy for you to say). Demerara rum from traditional English/Scottish brands such as OVD, Lambs and Skipper use a rum base produced in this distillery . If it says Demerara rum and Guyana on the bottle then there’s at least a drop of DDL in the mix! Videla, Rafael (1 January 2008). "El Dorado: El Gran Descubrimiento de Roland Stevenson". Alerta Austral (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 August 2017 . Retrieved 15 February 2019.

Harris, C. A.; Abraham, John; De Villiers, Jacob (1911). Storm Van's Gravesande: The Rise of British Guiana, Compiled from his Works. Hakluyt Society. So how will the El Dorado work as a mixer? I’ll shake things up a little here for my review and rather than mix with cola we’ll try a little lemonade. It’s fair to say that comparing the El Dorado and the Lemon Hart side by side is quite difficult once you have mixed them. The taste is very similar. The Lemon Hart is slightly sweeter and slightly rougher in terms of the young alcohol mouth feel. The El Dorado is more muted in terms of flavour but is a smoother and slightly easier spirit to drink. With cola it is much the same story both hold their own and make a pleasant mixed drink. Nothing is really floating my boat though.The Spanish Governor of Trinidad, Antonio de Berrio (nephew of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada), made three failed expeditions to look for El Dorado. Between 1583 and 1589 he carried out his first two expeditions, going through the wild regions of the Colombian plains and the Upper Orinoco. In 1590 he began his third expedition, ascending the Orinoco to reach the Caroní River with his own expeditionaries and another 470 men under command of Domingo de Vera. [25] In March 1591, while he was waiting for supplies on Margarita Island, his entire force was taken captive by Walter Raleigh, who proceeded up the Orinoco in search of El Dorado, with Berrio as a guide. Berrio took them to the territories he had previously explored by himself years before. After several months Raleigh's expedition returned to Trinidad, and he released Berrio at the end of June 1595 on the coast of Cumaná in exchange for some English prisoners. [26] His son Fernando de Berrío y Oruña (1577–1622) also made numerous expeditions in search of El Dorado. Th rum has a smoky, savory aroma, with hints of oak, cinnamon and caramelized oranges. Notes of tropical fruits, banana bread and coconuts dominate the palate, and are complemented by touches of tobacco, cedar and woody spice, and lead to a long, caramel finish. El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum earned the Gold Medal and the title "Best in Class" at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in 2011. In addition, it was named on the "Top 10 List" by the The New York Times. The Muisca people occupied the highlands of Cundinamarca and Boyacá departments of Colombia in two migrations from outlying lowland areas, one starting c. 1270 BC, and a second between 800 BC and 500 BC. At those times, other more ancient civilizations also flourished in the highlands. The Muisca Confederation was as advanced as [ clarify] the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilizations. [2] Rodriguez Freyle, Juan (1859). El Carnero: Conquista y descubrimiento del Nuevo Reino de Granada. Fundacion Biblioteca Ayacuch. ISBN 84-660-0025-9. Okay onto the actual rum. The first thing I notice about the rum is that as soon as the cork is popped it exhibits that El Dorado smell. Inspite of the numerous other rums which use DDL rums as their base or entire blend, nothing smells quite like an El Dorado rum. Sweet, almost flowery but very difficult to place, with light whifts of brown sugar.

Often seen as a benchmark in the world of aged rums, El Dorado is a brand that is well worth getting acquainted with as their older rums especially have much to offer. a b c d e "Humboldt, Alexander von, Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799–1804, (chapter 24). Henry G. Bohn, London, 1853". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03 . Retrieved 2015-03-04. To my mind, this incarnation of El Dorado 12 is better than its predecessor but isn't going to wow the masses in the same way. I also think that, at this price point, it is one of the better rums around. With that said, I'd happily a bit more for a 12 year old with a greater percentage of the pot still. This would probably put it in line with quality and price of some other good rums (I want to mention Doorly's 12, though I've not had it recently, so don't quote me on that).Fonseca, J. A. (7 September 2011). "A Misteriosa Pedra Pintada (Roraima)". Moiseslime (in Portuguese). WordPress . Retrieved 15 February 2019. Durivage, Francis Alexander (1847). A popular cyclopedia of history: ancient and modern, forming a copious historical dictionary of celebrated institutions, persons, places and things ... Case, Tiffany and Burnham. p.717. William A. Douglass; Jon Bilbao (2005). Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World. University of Nevada Press. p.84. ISBN 978-0-87417-625-4. It appears today that the Muisca obtained their gold in trade, and while they possessed large quantities of it over time, no great store of the metal was ever accumulated. [ citation needed] Candide satire of Voltaire published in 1759 describes a place called El Dorado, a geographically isolated utopia where the streets are covered with precious stones, there exist no priests, and all of the king's jokes are funny.