New addition to the home bar: Santa Teresa Rum is an exciting bottle for advanced beginners – and brings the rum tradition from Venezuela into the glass.
Rum. I somehow always associate it with pirates who go on treasure hunts and set sail on adventures. And I’m sure that if Captain Jack Sparrow landed on an island at some point on his Pirates of the Caribbean journey and dug up a bottle of Santa Teresa rum, he would put the thought of how to get off the island on the back burner.
I’m a fan of rum, but after a visit and tasting at the South Tyrolean hotel Der Weinmesser, where the host has a collection of over 100 different bottlings of the spirit, I was in the mood for a more intense rum adventure. A date with Santa Teresa Rum 1796 was just the thing.
The Caribbean is already the right direction, specifically we are traveling in a glass to: Venezuela. The Santa Teresa distillery was founded in 1796 in the fertile Aragua Valley, around an hour southwest of Caracas – making it the oldest state-approved distillery in Venezuela. Perfect quality cane sugar is grown in the Aragua Valley.
Very classy: the packaging dress code. As we all know, the eye also enjoys.
Santa Teresa rum is backed by over 200 years of family and craft tradition.
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Hacienda in 1996, Alberto Vollmer Herrera, a fourth-generation member of the family, called for the creation of a rum that would incorporate all the craftsmanship of the last 200 years.
The processed molasses comes from a nearby sugar factory, which in turn processes sugar cane grown on the fields of the Santa Teresa estate and other farms in the area. The molasses obtained, which looks like dark honey, is then distilled into rum and stored for at least two years in barrels made from American white oak or French Limousin oak. The solera process is used for all Santa Teresa rums.
The solera process has been passed down from one master to the next over generations. This ensures that a little of the first bottling can still be felt in every bottle. This is because the original cask has never been emptied. Instead, a new blend is refilled for every bottle removed. And this process is repeated with every new bottle.
Santa Teresa Run is produced using the solera method.
Beautiful, classy detail: the wax-sealed lid.
The solera process can be simplified as follows: At least three, but often more, rows of barrels are stacked on top of each other. The row of barrels at the bottom is called a solera, the rows above are called criaderas (from criadera – to raise). The rum intended for sale is always taken from the bottom row of barrels. However, only a maximum of one third of the contents is removed from each barrel. The quantity removed is topped up from the row of barrels above. This second row is in turn refilled from the third row above. This principle continues up to the top row of barrels. The quantity removed there is now replaced with young rum. This means that the rums are blended and can be up to 35 years old. However, it is not the age of the rum that is decisive, but the perfect balance between young and old rums. How does it taste? Let’s find out!
Tasting of Santa Teresa Rum 1796
The first flirtation of Santa Teresa Rum 1796 with the nose is harmonious. No hectic pirate raid of aromas, more like a relaxed day at the beach. The fragrance reminds me of dried fruit such as peach or banana, almonds, wood, and clearly vanilla and caramel.
On the tongue, too, the rum does not jump over the plank to waiting sharks, but is calm and balanced. A round thing, very soft, with nuances of creaminess. Here, too, you feel as if your tongue is gliding through a stream of vanilla and caramel, accented by aromas of almonds and dried yellow fruits. There is also a hint of chocolate. Before the Santa Teresa rum sails off into the sunset, another round of spices greets you, from clove to pepper. But everything is very balanced – the rum doesn’t make any big waves. My choice of outfit to go with the rum was therefore deliberate: a cozy base such as a teddy hoodie or wool turtleneck, plus a top that follows a certain taste pattern, but is anything but petty.
Cuddles with notes of fruit, roasted nuts, creamy vanilla, oak, caramel cream and a hint of cocoa: Santa Teresa Rum 1796.
In the bottle you will find a round, balanced rum from Venezuela, which you can sit back and relax with your eyes closed and unpack your inner pirate vibe as you glide across the sea. We are clearly talking about a rum that should be drunk neat (for now) and not drowned in cola and the like. At most as a rum sour – that’s where the taste really comes into its own. Santa Teresa Rum 1796 is a nice rum for newcomers to try out the taste of this spirit without having to worry about sailing into too deep spirits waters. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if the rum had been a little more angular and edgy, but having such a relaxed balance rum in your home bar can’t hurt your nerves either, can it?
The rum is not petty, but very harmoniously balanced.
In other words, this is a very well-balanced rum that you can dare to try as a beginner, but also as an advanced beginner and curious person. We are talking about daring, because with a price tag of around 40 euros, this rum is naturally a step up. However, the look of the packaging and bottle dress code, which I really like, also promises this. Nobly made, as we all know, the house bar eye drinks too.
Santa Teresa Rum 1796, Price: around 40 Euros, infos where to buy online via santateresarum.com/buy-online
