There are tours that run to the factory, but they are super overpriced at USD40/head, of which half of that amount is used to cover transportation.
Latina Hostel suggested that I can make my way on my own, costing just a couple USD for a return bus trip. This was the instruction sheet I received from them. Super basic!
There's hardly any instructions online to get there via public transport, so here's my version to share :
- Get to the main bus terminal in Leon, located on "6ta Calle Nor Este".
- It's usually walkable (maximum 20 mins if staying at other end of Leon)
- The main bus terminal is located within a huge local market. Ask around if you have difficulty finding it
- Look for a chicken bus with the name "Chichigalpa". This is the town where Flor de Cana is located.
- It costs Nicaraguan Cordoba 14 one way, and would take about 45 minutes to get there.
- There is 1 main stop in Chichigalpa. This stop is located directly opposite the entrance of the factory.
Towards Flor de Cana, the chicken bus was packed with people and I was seated near the aisle, so if it's your 1st experience on a chicken bus, be prepared to have a bus packed full of people (or chickens), and people's butts or bags brushing past you as they walk through the tiny aisle.
The Flor de Cana factory complex is very secure, probably the most secure building I had seen so far on my travels in Central America.
The group was split into 2 – English or Spanish. The English tour was a small cosy group, made up of a group of 5, including I.
The tour was very well organized. The tour strongly emphasized that they are one of the very few rum producers that distills their alcohol 5 times, thus removing any traces of sugar. Most other producers only distill it 3 times, which may still leave some traces of sugar.
The guide also shared reasons why people may get hangover from rum is due to the sugar content, which is why they don't recommend mixing it with mixers.
When rum is taken out of the barrel, the % of alcohol in the rum is about 77%. Distilled water is added to the rum before bottling them for export, and depending on the legal requirements in each country, the alcohol % in the bottle may vary by country.
We were showed around different sections of the factory, from how barrels are made, the filling of the barrels, warehouse storage, and most important of all, the Family Reserve – an old underground cellar, which now functions as the tasting room for the tour. Photos weren’t allowed inside the Family Reserve and the warehouse.
The rum tasting made used of all 5 senses, with a glass of 18 year aged rum. First, the sight, where we swirl the glass and was asked to look at the colour and how the drops fall into the glass. The longer the drops stayed on the glass, the longer a time it had been aged in the barrel.
Then the nose test, where we smelled the rum – there is a hint of vanilla and nuts in the bouquet.
Then the most important test, taste. We took a sip and rinse our palette with the rum before swallowing, and then took another sip to better taste the rum. It went down very smoothly and it was delicious.
Next test, touch. This was done by pouring a little rum into our hands and rubbing them together until the alcohol evaporated. There was no stickiness residue in our hands, which meant there are no presence of sugar in the alcohol. Henry mentioned that most rum in the market has some sugar in the rum, so there will be some stickiness on hands if doing the same test.
And the last test, sound. We toasted our glasses with everyone and finished the balance of our rum.
We were told that barrels of different years of rum are stored in each warehouse instead of just a single year. In case something happens to one of the warehouse, it doesn't wipe out the entire aged collection of that year.
The bigger cool factor was we got to try rum out of a barrel, and not just any young aged rum, but one from 1987, a family reserve rum. A bottle of anything more than 25 years aged would cost at least $500!
The alcohol % was very high (77% and undiluted as it was straight out of the barrel), so we were told not to breathe the rum while drinking as it may choke the passage way, and not to gold the rum in the mouth, but rather take a sip and immediately swallow it down the throat.
I took my 1st sip, the rum taste was really good and although the alcohol % was very high, it went down the throat very smoothly with minimal burning as I swallowed the rum.
Our guide mentioned that the 2nd sip would be even better because the taste is already in the mouth, and he was right. It was yum!
The last stop of the tour was a visit to the museum, which is in a barrel and is said to be the largest barrel in the world.
It contains collectibles and pictures, and functioned as a souvenir store. We had our last drink on the house, rum on the rocks, before returning back to the main entrance.
I am now a rum connoisseur!
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