Papalin is a blend of several aged rums (Caroni + rums from Cuba and Venezuela) bottled in 2013. Velier was founded by Casimir Chaix in Genoa in 1947. It is a small family business whose activity is the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, former representative of Saint James and great rum lover and collector, bought it in 1986 and launched his trading activity, first with whisky in 1992 then with rum in 1996. It was in this year 1996 that Gargano bottled his first Demerara. In 2004, Gargano was invited by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) to Guyana by his friend Yesu Persaud, then president of DDL, to choose casks. This partnership ended in 2015 with Mr. Persaud's retirement, but the rums bottled in the interim are legendary. The same goes for the Caroni casks, which he purchased in 2005, two years after the distillery closed, following a visit to Trinidad with Fredi Marcarini the previous year to take photographs. These two lines of bottlings established Velier's reputation, and he is now also known for his work in other Caribbean territories such as Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti, and Marie-Galante.