I feel very cheerful at the moment. I am at El Arsenal and just finished a rum tasting. But not just any, Colombian rums from all over the country.
My favorite the Dictator XO. Is this my favorite because it follows three other rum and my taste perception is altered? I don't think so… Its taste leaves you wanting more… try it and you'll see.
It’s quite an experience this afternoon. From the welcome from Andrés and Veruzca, to the fiery explanations from Cristina, to the eclectic musical atmosphere, to the stylish decorations, everything was perfect. I would have dreamed of it and ... it wouldn't have been better. With each new rum, I was offered a chocolate drop to accompany it... From milk chocolate to deliciously bitter and crunchy cocoa beans to accompany the last copa.
The menu is also very attractive. I promise to come back very soon to taste their specialties.
They have several rum dedicated to great figures of Colombia such as Fernando Botero (Botero rum) and Gabriel Garcia Márquez (Maestro Gabo rum), or those who fell in love with them such as Ernest Hemingway.
My tasting started with a Botero, 15 years old. A rum whose bottle and label were created by Botero, the great artist who loves voluptuous forms and whose sculpture, La Gorda Gertrudis, adorns the Ciudad Amurallada (the historic town).
I continue with a Maestro Gabo, 15 years old. Its sweet notes of fruit and vanilla makes it bewitching.
La Hechicera, the enchantress, a blend of rums aged 12 to 21, continues the parade. This rum "polished" naturally, without adding sugar or other ... flavors ... is enchanting, just like the woman who is at the origin of this creation. Plus, when you place the bottle on a light source, a whole world opens up. The designs printed on the bottle transport us to the jungle at sunset.
And finally, the Dictator XO, which ends this tasting on a perfect note. The shape of the Dictator bottle has a very interesting origin. The neck is elongated and contains some air.
So, if the boat carrying it sinks at sea, the bottle turns over, the neck serving as the keel.
So we lose the boat and the sailors, but… we get the bottles back.
Cristina also tells me about the 21-year-old Viejo de Caldas Leon rum whose bottle, reminiscent of a crown, has a stopper made from the barrels that have seen it age.
Cristina would have anecdotes to tell me until the end of time, but I have to come home wherea delicious supper awaits me to celebrate Christmas Day.
