Diplomatico N°2 Barbet Rum

The second in a line of limited edition Rum showcasing the power of the still — this one produced exclusively on a rare Barbet still from 1959.

The Licorerías Unidas S.A Distillery was founded in 1959 deep in the heart of Venezuela in partnership with Seagrams. The partnership was very successful, supporting Rum production in the Seagrams portfolio for decades. During the acquisition binge of the 1990s, Seagrams was largely acquired by industry giant Diageo who already had a large production capacity. Seeing an opportunity, local management and entrepreneurs bought the distillery and the Diplomatico brand from Diageo in 2002, renaming it Distilería Unidos. Today they produce a wide array of quality Spirits under family ownership.

Distilería Unidos has long practiced a variety of distilling techniques. The famously have several different still types that they use with intent and craftsmanship to create different flavor profiles. They created the new "Distillery Collection" to highlight the effects of each type of still on the Spirit.

The second still to be installed in 1959 was a continuous column still. But this still was of a rare and unique design called a Barbet. There are very few Barbet stills running today. Diplomatico N°2 Barbet Rum is a small batch Rum created exclusively from Spirit distilled on this still to showcase this differences.


Smartass Corner:
The Barbet Still is a still created for continuous distillation. The most common continuous still used today is the famous Coffey still with it’s signature two-column design. The Barbet is structurally similar to the Coffey design, but has a reflux condenser mounted near the top.