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Ron Abuelo

Abuelo means grandfather in Spanish, so naturally, Ron Abuelo is named after one. José Varela Blanco who came to Panama from Galicia in Spain in 1908. Every bottle bears this date though the family only began distilling in the 1930s and the rum named in his honour was launched in the 1950s.

To make it, five different varieties of sugarcane go into the rum which all comes from its 1600-hectare estate near the town of Pesé. Much of it is hand-harvested. Unusually for Latin American rum, both molasses and pure sugarcane juice are used with an 80/20 split between the former and the latter. The two different types of sugar are fermented, distilled, and aged separately. Abuelo uses a special in-house yeast derived from pineapple. Fermentation takes place over about 48 hours to produce a 7-8% low wine.

Distillation is done in a 12.5m column still to produce a new make of around 78-84% ABV, low compared with many Latin American rums. This preserves a lot of congeners, 250mg per 100ml, so you get a new make with plenty of flavour. The two types of distillate are then aged for two years in ex-bourbon casks separately before blending together. The family has casks dating back to 1978, with only Appleton in Jamaica and Demerara in Guyana having older casks. This means that Abuelo has a lot of mature rum to play around with, largely from ex-bourbon barrels but they do have other casks including sherry, Cognac, and others which are used for finishing.

As with Port and sherry, Abuelo’s age statements are averages not minimum so for example the XV contains rums between eight and 43 years old. It’s aged for an average of 14 years and then finished for a further year. All Abuelo’s rums are blended from different casks except the Centaria which is aged in a solera.

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Ron Abuelo 12 Year Old

70cl, 40%

A 12 year old dark rum from Ron Abuelo of Panama. They age their rum in whiskey barrels, which adds a distinct vanilla sweetnses. This 12 year old was launched in 2009, and is elegant, slightly smoky…  More info

Ron Abuelo 12 Year Old
21
$37.63

Ron Abuelo XV - Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish

70cl, 40%

Panamanian rum from Ron Abuelo's Finish Collection, which has been given a finishing period in Oloroso Sherry casks! This'll be very interesting to taste alongside the other expressions in the range,…  More info

Ron Abuelo XV - Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish
2
$65.15

Ron Abuelo XII Two Oaks

70cl, 40%

A richly smoky release from Ron Abuelo over in Panama, as you may have guessed Two Oaks has been matured in two different types of oak cask. Aged for over a decade, initially the rum was rested in…  More info

Ron Abuelo XII Two Oaks
6
$47.84

Ron Abuelo XV Finish Collection (3 x 20cl)

60cl, 40%

A tantalising trio from Ron Abuelo in Panama, this glorious gift set contains three 200ml bottles from its XV cask finish collection! Included in this set are a bottle each of Ron Abuelo's XV -…  More info

Ron Abuelo XV Finish Collection (3 x 20cl)
$74.38

Ron Abuelo 7 Year Old

70cl, 40%

A 7 year old rum from Panama made by Varela-Hermanos. Ron Abuelo is made using distillery grown sugar cane and is aged in white oak barrels.  More info

Ron Abuelo 7 Year Old
4
$29.04

Ron Abuelo XV - Tawny Port Cask Finish

70cl, 40%

Port-cask finished, well-aged Panamanian rum? Yum yum yum! This comes to us via Ron Abuelo's Finish Collection, which features rums finished in Sherry and Cognac casks alongside this delicious treat.  More info

Ron Abuelo XV - Tawny Port Cask Finish
1
$64.18

Ron Abuelo Añejo Reserva Especial

70cl, 40%

A 5 year old Panamanian rum from Ron Abuelo. It is made at Varela-Hermanos, which is a third generation family distillery that grows its own sugar cane and ages its rum in white oak barrels.  More info

Ron Abuelo Añejo Reserva Especial
3
$22.53
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Ron Abuelo XV - Napoleon Cognac Cask Finish

70cl, 40%

An interesting expression from Panamanian Rum range Ron Abuelo - a well-aged expression which has been given a finishing period in casks that previously contained Napoleon Cognac! Ought to be a…  More info

Ron Abuelo XV - Napoleon Cognac Cask Finish
1
$65.15

Ron Abuelo Centuria

70cl, 40%

A rare rum blend made in Panama, Ron Abuelo Centuria is aged in Jack Daniel's whiskey barrels in the solera method. Some of the rums are as old as 30 years, and the flavour is astonishingly rich and…  More info

Ron Abuelo Centuria
5

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