Six executive members of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have been certified as official connoisseurs of Guyana’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning El Dorado Rum.

The directors were presented with official certificates last Thursday at a simple ceremony in the bank’s boardroom here by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Chairman, Komal Samaroo.

A release from DDL noted that they earned their certificates after visiting the operations of DDL at Diamond, on Guyana’s East Bank of the Demerara River, during an official visit to Guyana, which is a borrowing member of the bank.

The directors who visited DDL were: Eliot Pedrosa, the USA’s director; Bosco Marti Ascencio, director for Mexico and The Dominican Republic; Eric Mudueno; director for Canada; Malcolm Geere, director for the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia; Jose Guilherme Reis, director for Brazil and Suriname and Ambassador Selwin Hart, director for the Caribbean

While at DDL, the directors participated in an organoleptic testing exercise of a range of the El Dorado and other brands of Demerara rums distilled, blended and bottled by DDL.

Prior to the testing exercise, the directors, accompanied by IDB Representative in Guyana Sophie Makonnen, and DDL officials toured the distillery, warehouses and bottling plant and were particularly impressed with the centuries-old wooden still which is among the stills currently in use at the distillery.

“The visitors were brought up to date on the expansion and diversification plans currently underway at DDL, including the proposed solar farm to supply energy to the Diamond Complex, which is to benefit from funding from the IDB,” the release further noted.

Last week, DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo and Government Affairs Adviser Wesley Kirton were here for the Caribbean Legislative Forum on Capitol Hill and an energy meeting at the bank and were received by five of the six directors in the office of the U.S. Executive Director. While visiting with the bank’s directorate, Samaroo took the opportunity to further discuss DDL’s diversification and expansion programmes.