The Rum Diaries Part XXXIII

Actually this should have been number 28 but it turns out that remembering to write about rum is way harder than the act of buying and drinking it. Flor de Caña 7 year is the standard drink around Nicaragua and the best drop for price without doubt. 

When you order rum in a bar in Nicaragua you order by the bottle and it comes with a bucket of ice (and fancy ice tongs), wedges of lime and either coca-cola or soda water depending on your preference. Can you imagine ordering spirits by the bottle in Australia?? The thought of bottles of Bundy going over the bar is terrifying indeed.

The Rum Diaries Part XXXI

*Note: due to some rather poor counting on my behalf this post was written under the impression that this was the thirtieth bottle of rum tested so far...turns out we are a bottle ahead and this is really number 31!!

Woohoo, the big 3-0. It's probably worth mentioning that this bottle was consumed about 3 weeks ago, so don't get the wrong idea when I follow this one up immediately with number 31 ok? It's not like we're pissheads or anything.

Ron Plata is made by the same genius who brought us Flor de Caña but is definitely the povo cousin in the rum family tree. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty decent drop (especially at three to four dollars a bottle!) but it ain’t Flor de Caña. Good one to pick up for those nights of downing bottles in the plaza though...which, sadly, is what it often comes down to.

The Art of Relaxing: Little Corn Island

Remember the good old days when I used to write about doing stuff....you know, hiking, museums, cultural activities and the like. Well, it seems those days are over. Or at least, they are if the last seven days is anything to go by.

We flew out to Corn Island on Tuesday after spending the Easter weekend in Granada, gorging on gringo food (salads!!!! good bread!!!! and thai curry!!), swimming in the hostel pool and generally being sluggish.

  

We arrived on Big Corn Island and quickly high-tailed it to the panga for a boat across to Little Corn Island- a car-free, rastafaried, white sandy paradise surrounded by beautiful coral reef. Unlike the rest of Nicaragua, most people on the Corn Islands speak English, albeit a heavily accented creole which makes everyone sound like Bob Marley.

The chief pastime on Little Corn Island is 'chillin', aided by copious amounts of marijuana. When you ask someone what they've been up, you can pretty much guarantee that 'chillin' has formed at least 98% of the days program. So, what to do...when in Rome right?

The first day was our most active- a two hour snorkelling tour in the morning. We took a boat out to the reef and our guide showed us nurse sharks, eagle rays, sting rays and a huge variety of fish and coral.

Aside from that (and one afternoon where Martijn went scuba diving), we pretty much spent the entire week lying on the beach or in a hammock, swimming, eating (expensive) seafood and drinking rather a lot of icy cold beers.

 Uneventful, in a gloriously slothful way.

A belated ode to Isla Ometepe

"Out of the midst of Lake Nicaragua spring two magnificent pyramids, clad in the softest and richest green, all flecked with shadow and sunshine, whose summits pierce the billowy clouds. They look so isolated from the world and its turmoil- so tranquil, so dreamy, so steeped in slumber and eternal repose...These mountains seem to have no level ground at their base but rise abruptly from the water...When not a cloud is visible elsewhere in the heavens, their tall summits are magnificently draped in them"

Mark Twain, 1867

The island of Ometepe is one of Nicaragua's most beautiful sights, so it seemed a bit unfair not to give it a bit of airtime (especially in light of how many paragraphs have been devoted to rum consumption).

Maderas at sunset

The island consists of the twin volcanic peaks of Concepcion and Maderas- the former a perfect cone reaching 1610m and still (very) active; the latter is extinct, 1394m high and covered in thick forest.

View of Concepcion from the rickety lancha

 The only way to get to Ometepe is by boat, namely lanchas of questionable seaworthiness. Because of its size, Lake Nicaragua is prone to fairly heavy swells, which made the boat sway dangerously from side to side, with huge amounts of water coming in over the bottom deck with every lurch.

I hope Leontien has forgiven us for making her get on board. If you look behind the nervous smile you'll see the glint of real terror in her eyes!! Probably not the best sea-going experience for someone with a bit of boat-phobia.

The Rum Diaries Parts XXIX and XXX- LIVE from the Flor de Caña Distillery, Chichigalpa

Happy birthday Martijn!!!! His present might have been a month late but judging by his happy face, it was worth the wait.

We had been hoping to arrange a visit to the Flor de Caña distillery and luckily for us, it opened its doors to the public just one month ago!! Oh fortune!! Martijn woke up on Thursday like a kid on Christmas morning : )

The Pellas family who owns the distillery is the richest in Nicaragua and they have poured a lot of money into designing the tour. Since they only opened recently, everything is still brand spanking new and gleaming- a sharp contrast to the generally non-shiny world outside the gate. A little electric train zipped us around while an audio-set equipped guide talked us through the history of the company and the process of turning sugar-cane into rum.



 

Molasses- the basis of all tasty rum

The first distillery was built at the San Antontio Sugarmill in 1890 and rum was produced to celebrate the harvest. The rum became famous and in 1937, the Flor de Caña brand was created and began to be distributed commercially.

The Pellas family owns huge tracts of land all around the Chinandega region and still grows all the sugarcane used to create Flor de Caña products. From raw sugarcane they produce molasses which is then distilled up to five times, barrelled and aged in their warehouses for anywhere from 4 to 25 years.

Interestingly, it was the revolution, and subsequent difficulties in Nicaragua which contributed to the present day success of the Flor de Caña brand. The company's land was appropriated in the early 80's but they retained the distillery. The Pellas family made the decision to begin storing huge quantities of rum, in secret locations, and they now posses one of the greatest stockpiles of aged rum in the world.

The company is eager to highlight its eco-friendly credentials- "With every sip of Flor de Caña Rum, you can take pleasure in knowing that great care has been taken to protect the environment for generations to come". They are also involved in education & health, having built probably the best hospital in the country and providing free health care for their employees.

Never has drinking rum felt so socially and environmentally responsible : )

After the initial spiel from our guide, and a high production value video, we got to the good bit. The tasting.

The tasting room was appropriately dimly lit and aesthetically pleasing. We were asked not to take photos but I managed to snap a sneaky one!

Classy snifter glasses for the Centenario Gold 18 Year

The Master Taster was on hand to lead us through the look, smell, touch and taste test for their Centenario Gold, 18 Año Rum. Amber hued, with a nose of nuts & caramel and a long smooth finish...man, if only all the Rum Diary entries could sound so knowledgeable!!

 The tour ended in the gift shop, where English speaking shop assistants hovered over us, encouraging us to buy rum-flavoured jam and a Disney-esque range of Flor de Caña bathrobes, t-shirts, hats, hipflasks and glasses.

We ignored all the crap and went straight for the rum. Martijn spent his birthday money wisely on a bottle of the Centenario Gold 18 year, which we sent back to Holland with Peter and Leontien...and a Centenario 12 Year, which we promptly cracked open and drank as soon as we got back to the hostel.

After our classy snifter experience we even sought out proper glasses and bought ice & soda water for the 12 year. Unfortunately we didn't have the Master Taster on hand to help us with tasting notes, but I've pinched these from the Flor de Caña website...

Palate: Stately and semisweet; nougat, almond butter, molasses and sherry abound. Finishes with a peppery spice, dark caramel, and charred oak fade.

We are now looking forward to the Havana Club tour in Havana for our next high-end rum experience....but until then its back to the old swigging from the bottle, tightass Rum Diaries.

The Rum Diaries Part XXVIII

This is one of the very few rum diary entries that didn't involve drinking the entire bottle!! Kind of feels like cheating in a way...

Martijn stumbled (not literally) upon this never-before-seen bottle of Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum at a little bar in Granada, Nicaragua. Needless to say, he was only too willing to stray from the tried and true straight-up variety of rum and delve into something a little more metro.

A bit like Captain Morgan's spiced rum, this one had a nice little vanilla-y taste to it, and would have been the cat's pyjamas in a hot chocolate on a cold winter night (not that we've had one of those for a while).