Tour the Flor de Cana Rum Factory
Just outside the city of Leon lies Chichigalpha. Located at the foot of the San Cristobal Volcano, Nicaragua, it has not become famous for the beauty and fascination of the mountain, but for its rum. Interestingly, the Ingenio San Antonia sugar factory not only produces sugar in the region, but uses the cane sugar to generate electricity. And even though the sugar factory is a large industry in Chichigalpa, it is the attraction of the rum factory, Flor de Cana, that steals the show.
Visitors to the Flor de Cana Rum Factory can arrange for tours of the facility through tour operators and a complete tour takes approximately an hour. Visitors should allow themselves enough time to enjoy a little rum tasting after the tour. All processes in the production of rum are explained along the way, and most visitors are impressed with the bottling plant. Here workers have to sort through the bottles for the different rums produced here, ensuring that all the bottles are washed, labeled and filled for capping. When it comes to unusually large bottles or the very small bottles, workers glue the labels to the bottles by hand.
There are four main rums produced at the Flor de Cana Rum Factory. The Flor de Cana Grand Reserve is a seven year old rum (meaning that the rum has aged in white oak barrels for seven years). It is described as a smooth rum with a copper-mahogany coloring. Not as smooth as its older counterparts, but pleasant with a slightly dry finish. Flor de Cana 12 Year Old is medium-dark amber in color and is a very smooth rum that is recommended to be served neat. The Flor de Cana Centenario 21 Commemorative Edition is a fifteen year old rum that is extremely smooth with a dark mahogany color. And last, but not least, is the Flor de Cana Centenario Gold, which is very smooth eighteen year old rum of medium amber coloring. But the proof is in the taste, and every visitor or rum connoisseur has their own opinion of what they are looking for in a rum. Fortunately, most agree that all the rum produced at the Flor de Cana Rum Factory is of the highest quality, and a drink to be enjoyed.
The rum factory is one of the biggest industries in the Chichigalpa region, providing the public with good rum and locals with steady and secure employment. Visiting the factory is a recommended attraction in Nicaragua that is as interesting as it is tasty.
