On our first full day in Nicaragua our primary objective was to travel to the rum distillery, though I think a secondary objective was to regale ourselves with tales of the previous night's exploits at the Diamond Club, the strip club across the street from the hotel. The drinking began early on the bus this morning, as the revelers sought either a hair-of-the-dog that bit them the night before, or for some particularly athletic crew members, a continuation of the buzz that hadn't yet rested from the day before.
Some of the boys wanted to smoke upon our arrival, but were greeted by members of the Flor de Caña fire department with friendly reminders of what happens when you smoke around a column still, as anyone who is familiar with the Dripping Springs Vodka saga can attest to.
We arrived at the distillery and were treated to a brief presentation on rum production before beginning our tour of the facility.
Planta de Destelación reads the sign above the door. This building houses the column stills that produce Flor de Caña 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The barrels are dated and stored in giant warehouses. The buckets of water at the bottom of the frame supposedly help maintain proper humidity in the room; I personally didn't sense any lack of humidity on this steam bath of a day.
Though the 18yr is the oldest rum that they take to market, they have stores of other rums that have aged longer. This particular barrel has been aging 20 years. Mauricio, left, is one of the managers of the brand in Central and South America, and one of the hosts of our tour. They are using a hand pump to draw unfiltered, cask-strength rum out of the barrel for us to taste.
Brian came prepared with his own flask, for the only 20yr rum that would leave the distillery. This image of Brian Miller two-fisting drinks is one that would not be uncommon for the rest of the trip, though on occasion (beginning the first night when his glass was misplaced at the Diamond Club) he would forgo the glass and go straight for the bottle.
Mauricio explains how the Flor de Caña facility utilizes green energy, and produces ethanol from its own sugar cane. I don't even understand how a AA battery works so I will not pretend to explain the complexities of the green energy program at this distillery, though it sounded pretty convincing at the time.
Inside the storage warehouse with mountains of Flor de Caña cases, packed differently depending on receiving market. With bartender for scale.
Employee Parking Lot, Nicaragua-style
The entire crew of the trip, from left to right: (standing) Brian Miller, Eben Freeman, Greg Seider, Dimitrios Zahariadis, Pablo Moix (seated) KK Lewis, Rob Krueger, Phil Ward, Martha Lizarazo, Mauricio Solorzano, Master Distiller's son whose name I can't recall, Me, Samuel Fitch, Matt Tanner. Not pictured: James Bruton (he was holding the cameras)
