The Colombians drink a number of rum, however what they produce doesn’t have a number of recognition within the worldwide market. I’m within the nation proper now and wished to attempt one thing good, so I requested round lots and stored getting the identical reply from individuals who drink the spirit neat: Ron Viejo de Caldas.
The actual “special occasion” model you will get is the 15-year model, but it surely wasn’t out there on the grocery store the place I used to be buying and I didn’t need to go on a searching journey in hilly El Poblado, so I purchased the 8-year model as an alternative for some sipping at my leisure.
The first impression was good: a black field with silver lettering that options quite a lot of birds present in Colombia, together with one which occurred to be chirping exterior my balcony as I used to be penning this. On one aspect are details in regards to the rum firm, established in 1928. For occasion:
– They use pure first-pressing sugar cane juice from one form of cane (not molassas)
– They age the rum in new Colombian white oak barrels (not ones which have held different liquor).
– The getting older takes place at greater than 2,800 meters in altitude.
The bottle itself is much more engaging than the images I’ve seen on-line, so that they’ve clearly accomplished a design replace in the previous few years. My bottle was a considerably heavy manufactured clear glass one with a seam down each side, with an indentation within the entrance for the corporate seal emblem and one other emblem in glass on the underside of the bottle.
The high was steel with a synthetic cork stopper. The back and front labels had been clear plastic stick-ons. So okay, not a present bottle that’s going to wow anybody, however not practically as dated trying because the outdated design.
Ron Viejo de Caldas Tasting Notes
Sometimes a bottle that isn’t overly fancy is an efficient signal as a result of what actually issues is what’s inside and the fancier the bottle, the upper the manufacturing prices. The medium-dark, copper-colored rum appears good within the glass.
At this level I can often inform with the primary whiff whether or not I’m going to be consuming a high-quality rum or not and this 8-year model actually gave the correct alerts. The nostril is complicated and balanced, candy and comforting and never too alcoholic. The indisputable fact that it’s bottled at 35% alcohol most likely helps, but it surely undoubtedly invitations you to take a sip and savor.
That first style was not jolting in any respect and as with most nice spirits, it received extra attention-grabbing because it moved throughout the style buds. This isn’t a rum that hits you want a punch immediately just like the 7-year Flor de Cana, neither is it one like Centenario from Costa Rica that offers an expertise like consuming liquid caramel. There are a number of totally different notes working in concord right here and it takes a while to dissect the hints of various flavors popping out within the rum because it opens up within the glass.
Although this 8-year rum has gained a couple of worldwide awards, some severe rum drinkers appear to suppose it’s too clean, not hefty sufficient for them. If that’s you, you then could be happier with one thing made at sea degree just like the Caribbean or Nicaraguan rums. Or perhaps the 15-year model of this, which is clearly going to have a lot heavier oak flavors.
If your tastes are extra delicate and you want a clean sipper, nonetheless, you’ll most likely benefit from the 8-year model of Ron Viejo de Caldas. And at this value, it wouldn’t be a criminal offense to make a pleasant cocktail with it: you will get a 750-ml bottle of it in Colombia for round $15 and in USA shops it’s often not way more, within the vary of $17 to $20 and bottled at 37.5%.
Besides, whereas some complain that this rum isn’t manly sufficient for them, I haven’t heard it described with extra derogatory phrases and I can’t say the identical for the opposite closely marketed rum from this nation: Ron Medellin. If you’re making an attempt to select from one in every of these two on the airport duty-free retailer on the way in which house, go for the Caldas and also you’ll be glad you probably did.
Ron Viejo de Caldas relies in Manizales, which is a part of the Coffee Triangle area, so I assume the world can get you going within the morning and wind you down within the night. See extra in regards to the firm right here.
Article by Timothy
Timothy Scott is the founder and editor of Luxury Latin America and has been overlaying the area as a journey journalist because the mid-2000s. He has visited every nation we cowl a number of occasions and relies in a UNESCO World Heritage metropolis in central Mexico, the place he owns a house. See contact data right here.