Tasting

A glass of Ron Santiago de Cuba Carta Blanca offers little on the nose at first: a touch of sugarcane, a hint of vanilla, perhaps a little citrus peel. The rum is typically light, dry to soft, and short on the finish. Anyone who places a Bacardí Superior alongside it will find a related but, in its details, distinct character.

The Extra Añejo 11 Años at 40 percent alcohol shows what the years in cask have delivered. Expect darker wood notes, toasted nuts, dried fruit, and cocoa, along with caramel sweetness. How much of this comes through in the glass depends on the batch and the rum's age. The Maestros del Ron, the Cuban master blenders, calibrate the casks so that every bottle tastes much the same.

A tulip-shaped nosing glass holds the aromas together. For the pale rum, a simple tumbler, a plain, flat glass, is enough. Room temperature, around 18 to 20°C (64–68°F), lets the aromas come through most clearly, since cold mutes them.

Here's how to proceed: smell first, with your mouth slightly open so the alcohol doesn't sting, then let a small sip move around your mouth and wait a moment. A few drops of water can open up a rum, though at 40 percent this is rarely necessary.

Tasting neat means getting to know the rum without any additions, and that's exactly the point here: not about quantity, but about perception. Anyone who tries Carta Blanca and Añejo one after the other will understand the journey from fresh distillate to wood-aged rum.