Transcontinental Rum Line Panama 2013

Transcontinental Rum Line Panama 2013 is a column-distilled traditional rum from the Don Jose Distillery.

Don Jose Varela set up Panama's first sugar mill in 1908, and nearly three decades later his three sons talked him into adding a distillery, Hermanos Varela, known as Don Jose. Molasses is distilled in column stills there, giving a lighter, cleaner spirit than a pot still would. Maturation took place under tropical conditions near the Panama Canal, five years in ex-bourbon barrels, followed by a further year in Europe. Natural colour and no added sugar, which is worth saying about a Panamanian rum, since sweetening is common in the style.

Exotic fruit with more floral character than ex-bourbon oak usually allows, a sweet coconut lift, aniseed, then clove and nutmeg over an open, generous palate. Neat at room temperature suits it best. It also makes a clean, elegant daiquiri, or a rum old fashioned without needing added sugar.