TASTING NOTE

Nose: Leather, brown sugar, molasses, bourbon, notes of cedar, pipe tobacco, fruit, chocolate and brandy butter.

Palate: Absolutely incredible intensity with waves of brown sugar, caramel, spicy oak, cedar and tobacco.

Finish: Long and warm with spices.

THE BRAND

In 1876, on the banks of the Rio Grande, a Guatemalan town was founded: Zacapa. Located more than 200 meters above sea level, the region boasts sugarcane crops, as well as distilleries. Industrias Licoreas de Guatemala is probably the largest in the country, with production led by a doctor of chemistry, Alejandro Burgaleta. To properly celebrate the centennial of the town of Zacapa, a subsidiary of the distillery known as Rum Creation & Product, in 1976, launched an eponymous rum, Zacapa Centenario 23 Años. The process is unique in that it begins with a juice from a first pressing of the cane, from which virgin honey is extracted by slow heating, a method specific to this distillery in Guatemala. Fermentation will be just as slow and activated by the addition of yeast extracted from pineapple. Finally, distillation will take place on a single copper column. Aging will also play a large part in the final style of Zacapa, since it will take place in a cellar located at an altitude of over 2,300 meters. Lower average temperatures and a rarefied atmosphere will considerably slow maturation, but also evaporation. For Zacapa, its producers have chosen the Solera method, this set of interconnected barrels of different origins. The barrels come from America, from bourbon distilleries, but also from Europe, from different vineyards, from Cognac... and of course from sherry bodegas, producing mainly Pedro Ximénez. To highlight Zacapa's Mayan origins, the first bottles will be wrapped in woven palm leaves. This work is carried out by artisans from Esquipulas, on the border with Honduras and El Salvador. Even today, a thin strip of this leaf still surrounds bottles of Zacapa. The name of this rum has also evolved over time, the original one leading to confusion about its real age. Indeed, according to the current rule, the Solera method allows the theoretically highest age to be displayed on the bottle, except that Zacapa Centenario 23 Años contains rums whose age is between 6 and 23 years. Now its full name is Zacapa Centenario, which offers greater clarity for the informed consumer.