The Flor de Caña Rum Factory
Flor de Caña, one of the world´s best rums, is a product of Nicaragua, manufactured in Chichigalpa, just one hour north of León. Incredibly, the factory offers free tours of its facilities and a free tasting for its guests. I got together with five friends (Allie, Rufus, Kolja, Adaée, and Bonnie) and made the trip one afternoon a few weeks ago.
OK, the factory tour is exceedingly boring. It´s a factory, which means it is loud and hot and smelly. We also had some difficulty hearing the Spanish-speaking tour guide over the roar of all the machines. The one interesting part of the hour-long tour was the bottling plant: Under very florescent lights, they have a series of shiny machines for washing, filling, capping, labeling, and sorting the glass bottles with different types of rum. It´s impressive to watch. For the workers this is a rather difficult and monotonous job; unfortunately, it really is the only stable large-scale chance at employment in the area.
Afterward touring the plant, my friends and I retreated to the visitor´s center with the guide. There we sampled all the different types of rum, some more than once. Our favorite was the 12 year old rum (this means its aged in barrels for 12 years.) Our guide was friendly and poured with a heavy hand.
After an enjoyable and often hilarious hour of drinking (yep, we were hammered), it was time to return to León. We started down the lane that leads to the main road, but just as we reached there, the bus roared past us. We chased after it, but only lost our shoes and got separated from each other in the process. Thankfully, Rufus and Kolja flagged down a pick-up truck and we all scrambled in the back. Allie was only half-way into the truck, perched on the running board, when the truck started moving; with a tug I hauled her in as we pulled away.
From the main highway we hopped on a León-bound bus. Eager to keep our buzz going, we all went for a quick dinner at Buen Gusto and started up a family poker game to end the night.
OK, the factory tour is exceedingly boring. It´s a factory, which means it is loud and hot and smelly. We also had some difficulty hearing the Spanish-speaking tour guide over the roar of all the machines. The one interesting part of the hour-long tour was the bottling plant: Under very florescent lights, they have a series of shiny machines for washing, filling, capping, labeling, and sorting the glass bottles with different types of rum. It´s impressive to watch. For the workers this is a rather difficult and monotonous job; unfortunately, it really is the only stable large-scale chance at employment in the area.
Afterward touring the plant, my friends and I retreated to the visitor´s center with the guide. There we sampled all the different types of rum, some more than once. Our favorite was the 12 year old rum (this means its aged in barrels for 12 years.) Our guide was friendly and poured with a heavy hand.
After an enjoyable and often hilarious hour of drinking (yep, we were hammered), it was time to return to León. We started down the lane that leads to the main road, but just as we reached there, the bus roared past us. We chased after it, but only lost our shoes and got separated from each other in the process. Thankfully, Rufus and Kolja flagged down a pick-up truck and we all scrambled in the back. Allie was only half-way into the truck, perched on the running board, when the truck started moving; with a tug I hauled her in as we pulled away.
From the main highway we hopped on a León-bound bus. Eager to keep our buzz going, we all went for a quick dinner at Buen Gusto and started up a family poker game to end the night.
posted by Hayden @ 1:00 PM
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