Over the past few months I’ve fallen in love with Ron Barcelo’s portfolio of delicious premium rums. Theirs is the only rum from the Dominican Republic that is distilled directly from the juice of freshly cut sugar cane. I was recently invited to the Dominican Republic to tour their production plant in San Pedro de Macoris, the top-rated tourist attraction in the province as per TripAdvisor, as well as their sugar cane fields. But not only that, myself and a few other journalists got to sample their entire portfolio of rums and stay at the sprawling Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana. I’m still recovering, but in the meantime, here are some pictures.
Sugar cane is cut 365 days a year and is placed in farming carts that get filled with up to 6 tons of sugar cane.The lineup of Ron Barcelo’s impressive, award-winning, portfolio.Before rum is aged in the barrels, workers shave down the insides and then toast it for three minutes to get those gorgeous, smoky notes.The La Aurora ADN Dominicano and the Ron Barcelo Imperial Onyx is a match made in pairing heaven.There are multiple warehouses with thousands of bourbon barrels from Kentucky in which they age their rums for up to 10 years.A master roller from La Aurora gets a cigar ready for me to enjoy while tasting the rums.Tayo, a fellow tour member, posing next to a vintage car that was used to transport the barrels of rum.After a long day of touring and tasting, this idyllic spot called my name, and I answered.
Later this year, we’ll have an in-depth guide on how you, too, can go on a a tasting and touring trip of the Dominican Republic.
