Travel / Food + Drink

Rum, Off the Beaten Path

How to get your fill of the good stuff while on the road.

Do you like rum?

Good. So do I.

There is no shortage of it flowing around the world, since everywhere that produces sugar cane also produces rum.

Spend enough time in Central America, the Caribbean and the northern parts of South America and you realise that this stuff is a big part of life for many people in many different cultures..

Chances are you’ve had some of the heavyweights: Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry and such. Those are made by massive companies in massive factories and they ship massive amounts of bottles of it around the world.

You can get it anywhere.

There’s nothing wrong with them, but I want to think we can do a little better. I want to think we can support local producers who make less of it, but better. Who produce rums that have a closer connection to the land and the people who make it. Which, as you get good at tasting it, you can start to tell exactly which country it comes from, based on certain characteristics.

I am not there yet. I have many different rums to taste yet. But there’s still time.

If you are into rums, my recommendation when you are travelling in this part of the world is to seek out the smaller places, and the brands you may never have heard of that are only available in that place.

The people there, in our experience, always seem to be more excited about their product. They love to talk about it, they love to give you extra tastes, they want to make sure you leave with a bottle or two of the good stuff.

Cases in point:

If you go to Puerto Rico, you can tour the Bacardi factory, sure. I’m sure it’ll be a good experience, especially since at the higher end, Bacardi makes some great rums.

But you could also visit Ron del Barrilito just outside San Juan. There will be fewer people, you get a taste of delicious rums and by the time you leave after the mixology class, you’ll be feeling just fine.

If you go to Jamaica, you can go to the Appleton Estate in the centre of the western part of the island. You will have a great time and you will be able to experience the flagship of Jamaican rums way out in the country.

But you could also go to the Worthy Park Estate. It’s less fancy and less slick, but since there are no tourists, just Jamaicans, you’ll feel like you are getting a taste of the real thing, the way it is meant to be produced.

In Colombia, Ron Viejo de Caldas might call your name and take you to a part of the country less trodden by tourist traffic, high up in the mountains of the Efe Cafetero around Manizales.

I think you get the point.

As rum enthusiasts, my latest trip to Guatemala prompted me to see what was on offer. We were familiar with Ron Zacapa and since it is owned by Diageo, it is available around the world. Since the company doesn’t seem to offer tours or welcome visitors, we had another reason to search a bit further afield.

What we found was Casa Botrán Ron, located in the western highlands of the country just outside the city of Quetzaltenango.

Since we climbed a volcano on our first day there, we figured a rum tour the next day would even things out.

We were not disappointed.

The place features a small and beautifully done museum and an informative tour guide who explained that the cane is grown elsewhere and the cane juice is produced in the same place. The storage and ageing of the rum in four different barrels (American Oak, Burnt American Oak, Sherry and Port) happens there onsite and the bottling happens elsewhere still, closer to Guatemala City.

What it meant was there was less time walking around a factory and looking at machines, and more time for tastings.

The guide sat us down (it was essentially a private tour) and explained that we’d be tasting their full range, minus the low end. This included the 12 year, the 15 year, the 18 year and their Cobre Spiced. Usually it’s the other way around and you usually have to buy a bottle if you want to taste the top end.

Each offering was accompanied with an explanation of how to look at the colour and the legs (that wood barrel ageing creates), how to go about breathing it in and then finally how to taste it, followed by a discussion of what you noticed.

That would have been plenty, but a bit of food was also introduced. Parmesan with honey, Port Salut with Marmalade, 70% cacao dark chocolate, ham — that order, with the corresponding rum, going up the age ladder.

I think hey do this because they are trying to promote rum as a before dinner drink. Not as a cocktail though, rather as a straight sipper maybe with a bit of ice.

I can’t say I buy it, since for me, rum is a late night drink to be enjoyed as the hours dwindle. But it provided an interesting experience regardless, as well as some flavours that I’d never considered.

An hour and a half later, one further cocktail and 2 bottles in hand, off we went, confident that because we had managed to get a little bit off the beaten tourist path, we had tasted the best rum that this Central American country has to offer to people like us.

These are now firmly and rightfully installed in the bar at home.

Have you been on a rum tour somewhere interesting in your travels? I’d love to hear about it! (948)

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