Rum has been talked up as "the next big thing" for many years, before everyone started talking about tequila and mezcal!
Last year, The Spirits Business reported that sales of rum in the on-trade had overtaken whisky for the second year in a row. Despite this, data shows a 2% decline in both these spirits over the previous year's figures. Nevertheless, according to Statista, the UK rum market is still projected to grow a little by 1.17% between 2024 and 2029.
Any category growth would appear to be mainly driven by spiced rum and the enduring popularity of cocktails. Yet, modern expressions of white and golden rums from quality brands with a clear USP are always welcome and one of those is award-winning Licorera Cihuatán.
Gabriela Ayla, Master Distiller at Licorera Cihuatán
Established in 2004, Licorera Cihuatán is the first and only rum distillery in El Salvador and part of Ingenio La Cabaña, a century-old sugarcane business in the Cihuatán valley. Drawing inspiration from their Mayan heritage, the distillery has mixed traditional and experimental production methods to create distinctive, cask-aged rums that reflect their culture. All of these are carefully crafted by master blender and chemical engineer, Gabriela Ayala.
'Cihuatán' is an ancient Nahuatl word meaning 'the land next to the sleeping woman'. According to legend, many centuries ago, a Mayan goddess came to the Cihuatán valley and filled it with riches, so that the ancient Mayans could build their city. This 'guardian goddess' would also intercede on behalf of the people so that Tlaloc, the Mayan God of rain, would make the valley bloom.
Cihuatán rum is named after her and celebrates the Mayan heritage through the strap lines 'Rum of Mayan Gods' and 'Invoke your Curiosity'.
The distillery controls the entire manufacturing process from crushing the locally grown sugarcane in their mill to producing the molasses used for fermentation to bottling the rums.
A 36-hour fermentation is carried out in three tanks that work in parallel to produce a wash (the liquid created by fermentation, usually less than 10% ABV, which is then used for the distillation of spirits) at 8% ABV. This is then distilled in a continuous process using column stills with different numbers of plates. This produces two distillates - a heavy, high congener (congeners are chemical compounds, created during fermentation and distillation, that are responsible for much of the taste and aroma of alcoholic drinks, with 'heavier' rums having particularly high amounts) rum at 75% ABV and a light, low-congener rum at 94-94.9% ABV - which are diluted and aged separately before blending. This method yields an extensive range of flavour profiles in the finished spirit.
The current portfolio offers six unique expressions and I recently had the opportunity to sample four of these, imported into the UK by Highfern:-
Jade is a premium white rum, aged for four years in used bourbon barrels. This rum has been made in honour of Chac Chel, the Mayan goddess of the arts, muse to ancient artists and craftsmen.
This flavourful white rum delivers hints of vanilla buttercream, lemon and mint with delicate tones of herbs and white pepper spice. Perfect for many cocktails, including a Mojito (see below).
Indigo is a homage to Tlaloc. The name was inspired by the colour blue, the sacred colour of Tlaloc and a symbol of El Salvador, crafted by the Mayan people from the indigo flower.
This rum has been matured for 8 years in former bourbon barrels and delivers notes of coffee and vanilla fudge, dark chocolate, sugared almonds, toasted hazelnuts and citrus.
Alux is a limited edition dark rum, aged for a minimum of 15 years and finished in used oloroso sherry and cognac casks. The name, Alux, comes from the Mayan legend of the Aluxes, the guardian gods of the land. To celebrate the harvest and give thanks to the Aluxes, the Mayans would hold a feast where chocolate and corn were given particular prominence.
So this complex rum has been blended to reflect the flavours of the feast and shows notes of roasted corn on the cob, cinnamon, ginger, cashew nuts, dried fruit (apple and pear) plus hints of marzipan and dark chocolate pudding.
Each hand-numbered bottle has been beautifully packaged with labels that incorporate symbols of the Aluxes - macaw, jaguar, corn and cacao - in a gift tube.
Sahumerio is a limited-edition dark rum celebrating love. A 'sahumerio' is an incense burner in which the Mayans would burn gifts for Chantico, the Mayan Goddess of love. Each offering had a specific meaning - dried flowers or floral honey for romance; dried fruits for family unity; incense for friendship; cacao seeds and butter for self-protection.
Inspired by this ritual, Cihuatán's master blender Gabriela Ayala has carefully blended 12 to 14 year-old light and heavy rums to create a new expression reflecting the offerings that the Mayans would burn.
The flavour profile shows notes of honey, cocoa butter, dried apricots and spice with a hint of smoky tea leaves.
You can find several cocktail recommendations using Cihuatán rum on their website here, so here are two simple ideas you can easily try at home.
Muddle the mint leaves, lime wedges and sugar in a sturdy glass. Add ice, then pour in the rum and fill the glass with sparking water.
Mix together and serve with plenty of ice.
You can find Cihuatán Rum at Drink Finder, Master of Malt, Shop4Whisky and from Highfern's on-line store. Prices start from £35.99 for Cihuatán Jade, up to £75.96 for Cicuatán Sahumerio.
