Yo ho ho: Bottles of rum (and Johnny Depp) in Puerto Rico
— -- — Manuel Fernández opens a padlocked cabinet at his family's small rum-making facility on the grounds of its 18th-century hacienda and takes out a wooden stick he calls a ladrón ("thief" in Spanish).
He walks past a worker pasting labels by hand on rum bottles into a darkened, humid warehouse where barrels are stacked horizontally. He opens the stopper atop one, using the ladrón to suction out an amber liquid he carefully squirts into an elegant glass snifter. The rum has been aging since 1982, gaining flavor from imported white-oak barrels that once held wine or sherry.
"Swirl it," says the soft-spoken, mustachioed chemical engineer, a grandson of company founder Pedro Fernández. The rum's perfume is dizzying, its taste as silky and divine as the cherubs that adorn bottles of the Fernández family's award-winning Ron del Barrilito, made using a secret family recipe and prized by connoisseurs of the sugar cane-based alcohol.
Barrilito and other premium Puerto Rican rums are Cognacs of the Caribbean compared with less sophisticated stuff used in mojitos and daiquiris. Served straight or on ice, the dark, molasses-infused sips come as a revelation to the uninitiated imbiber.
Whether it's brandy-like drinks or lighter libations — some infused with spices or fruit — tourists will discover locally made quaffs aplenty on an island that bills itself as the "rum capital of the world." Puerto Rico polices manufacturers to make sure rum is correctly distilled and aged for at least one year.
The profile of Puerto Rican rum will be raised later this month by Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp, who plays a swilling journalist in San Juan in The Rum Diary, based on an autobiographical novel by the late Hunter Thompson. The movie is due Oct. 28. (Barrilito was favored by Thompson, according to accounts of his San Juan sojourn.)
Rum-making tours
Seventy percent of rum sold in the mainland USA comes from Puerto Rico, according to Rums of Puerto Rico (a government program that promotes the island's trademark beverage). Most of that comes from industry giant Bacardi Corp., another family firm. Founded in Cuba, it decamped after the revolution and now has plants in Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
Free, daily tours of its 127-acre distillery on manicured grounds in Cataño, near San Juan, are among the island's top tourist attractions. Tours include two free drinks in an airy outdoor pavilion, which increases their appeal.
Bacardi uses a filtering process to make rum smoother than the old-time "fire water" beloved by sailors, says William "Willie" Ramos, walking through rooms showcasing company history. They used to be on the tour but are being revamped to be more exciting and interactive. (Meanwhile, visitors view the distillery via tram and learn about rum manufacturing.)
Brooklyn-born Ramos, 46, began his Bacardi career leading tours and now travels the world teaching bartenders and giving tastings. He educates people about the virtues of dark rum such as Bacardi 8.
