Wherever there has been sugar production, there has been rum. Nowadays, I sometimes wonder if my own fascination with rum is tied to some genetic predisposition that goes back to early nineteenth century ancestors on Jamaica who rode the sugar cane fields regularly. Put it this way – I certainly don’t feel the worse for wear next morning on rare occasions if I indulge a bit, and back when I was a boy, driving past the sugar refinery along the north coast is still marked in my memory by the powerful scent of the burning sugar. An odor you either loved or hated – and I still love it many years later.
Jamaica may also be the perfect place for anyone to begin their own rum journey, since this also happens to be the first island to have produced the liquor commercially. Nowadays its traditional product is the dark and full-flavored variety that admirers and marketers like to tout as the “Bordeaux of the Caribbean”, and the prime venue to take in its distillation and sample it too is at the Appleton Rum facility at the Appleton Estate located near the Black River. Here you take a tour that includes visiting the distillery, a demonstration of the rum aging and blending process and a tasting in the the Appleton Lounge. While the presentation relies on marketing savvy, the location and the methods remain true to tradition here, as Appleton avoids mass production and maintains the original batch process of making rum.
Over on the Dominican Republic, you can’t help but meet up quickly with Brugal Rums, the pre-eminent label of this side of Hispaniola. I was greeted with rum samples going past customs upon arrival into the capital’s airport at Santo Domingo, and the signs along highways frequently include the Brugal logo. But their real presence of course is the distillery and tour available at the museum they operate in the Puerto Plata area on the north coast. Since 1888, the Brugal family has passionately overseen the production and distribution of all its rums, and presently the Brugal portfolio of award-winning offerings includes Brugal Anejo, Brugal Gold, Brugal White and most recently, Brugal Extra Viejo Rum, a sophisticated, elegant super-premium sipping rum. Nowadays, Brugal remains the number one premium Dominican rum and also the third largest selling rum in the world.
A little further east on Puerto Rico, the setting for your rum encounter is varied also. For instance, the Bacardi rum visitor center, Casa Bacardi in Cantaño, is a sophisticated blend itself of Bacardi family artifacts, hi-tech presentation, and recreation of an original rum factory. What you come away with – along with the tasting experience at the end and your possible purchase of Bacardi rums – is a real sense of one family’s dedication to the creation of rum and determination to preserving a legacy down through the generations and a turbulent history. On the other hand, you can also view another fascinating family history tied to rum in the entirely different Castillo Serralles in the town of Ponce, where the Serralles rum story is presented amidst the grand castle-like location where the Serralles family once lived. The tour here is a double exploration of both the Serralles sugar and rum production along with a glimpse of the elegant interior personal lifestyle of the family itself.
Other noteworthy locations around the Caribbean to savor the local connection to rum and its continued production include Foursquare Rums and Mount Gay Rum, both on Barbados. Mount Gay with its claim to being the oldest rum in the world, plus the multimedia tour, age-old artifacts, photogalleries and tastings is probably a must-do for any rum connoisseur visiting this end of the region. However, once you enter the world of rum, you suddenly find a truly astounding collection of labels in production from Trinidad to the Central American countries and into the western Caribbean. A good possible starting point to understand what exists before you actually visit is the online Gifted Rum Guide by Robert Burr, that details the elite labels, their background and foremost selections. Taking time to explore the rum traditions of the Caribbean is one very distinct way to interract with an island’s past and living patrimony – economic, social, and of course its enduring connection to it as the beverage of choice and even an ingredient in its culinary life. The affair with rum not only lingers on in the present, but also continues to develop as many of the finest rums expand beyond their island homes to reach wider audiences globally. — HP
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