The sherry intended for bottling is drawn from the lowest tier. In theory, this is about a quarter to a third of the barrel contents at any one time. Each producer, however, is free to manage the solera as they choose. Crafted withwhisky aficionados in mind, Santa Teresa 1796 Speyside Cask Finish delivers a familiar yet enticingly distinct flavor profile compared to our flagship rum, featuring a sweet yet smoky aroma and flavor profile for an enticing yet familiar sipping occasion. In the US, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), requires that the age statement on a bottle of spirits reflects the age of the youngest component of the blend. A 20 YO rum can consist of a blend of 20 YO and older rums, but it cannot contain rums that are younger than 20 YO even if it is just a fraction. The UK and the European Union have similar rules. Among rum producers, so do Jamaica and Barbados, among others. In Venezuela, [rum] takes two years [of aging] to be called a rum. But to make that super-premium rum, you need at least 15 years,” she says. “The blenders need just as long to develop the science and magic — to fully understand the raw materials that go into a bottle of rum, it takes a long time.” However, it’s not all toiling away to get there. “The maestro ronero spends their day playing and creating with those liquids to understand how they develop," Duarte says. Inspired by bothVenezuela and the Scottish Highlands, Santa Teresa 1796 Speyside Whisky Cask Finish has been crafted using a rare 13-month finishing process in casks previously used forSpeyside Whisky. This distinctive approach sets it apart as one the of the world's only rums to be made this way. Its extended maturation, in conjunction with Santa Teresa 1796's signatureSolera Method, renownedfor its use in sherryproduction, results in a drier, more balanced flavor. As the original cask isnever emptied, this process ensuresthat every bottle carries echoesof the very first 1796 cask.

The house is helmed by fifth-generation chairman and CEO Alberto Vollmer, who said of its presence in Singapore: “We are delighted to introduce our award-winning Santa Teresa 1796 Rum to the vibrant and mature market of Singapore. Our rum carries a rich legacy of heritage and craftsmanship, and we are the third oldest rum producer in the world, with every product in the bottle sourced from our single estate, the Hacienda Santa Teresa.” So how does one even become a maestro ronero at one of the world’s oldest rum brands? Again, it’s all about time. Duarte joined Santa Teresa in 1990, and has spent years developing her craft. She’s now the fifth-ever person to hold the position in the company’s 226 years of existence. She likens becoming a master blender to aging a cask of rum itself. The practice can be confusing when the age of the solera appears on a bottle because the stated age of a solera has nothing to do with the age of the liquid drawn from it or the average age of the blend.In the case of Santa Teresa 1796, each bottle is a blend of rums ranging in age from 35 years to 5 years. The older rums, however, are only a small proportion of the overall blend.

The practice can be controversial, however, because there are no firm rules on how a solera is operated. Critics of the practice have argued that Latin American rum producers, the area where the practice is most prevalent, do not follow a true, sherry style solera system but are really just producing a blend consisting of rums with different ages.On the palate, the rum is very creamy with an oily, syrupy consistency and a noticeable palate weight. It’s sweet, almost candied, with notes of dried fruit, vanilla, brown sugar and a bit of dark chocolate, along with some banana, cinnamon spice and some pepperiness. The finish is long, smooth, sweet, with dried fruit notes, some caramel and a lingering sweet pepperiness.

Soleras are a way of maintaining consistency across an expression since each bottling represents a blend of all of the previous liquids produced, although the average age of the blend will be heavily weighted toward the younger components.As contents are drawn off, the sherry is replaced with sherry from the next highest tier in the solera and so forth. When sherry from the highest tier (the youngest) is drawn off it is replaced with newly produced sherry. The color is a rich, dark amber with a pronounced orange-brown hue. On the nose, there is a distinctive aroma of molasses and brown sugar that gives way to a caramel sweetness, along with hints of cooked apple, some coffee notes, a touch of banana and a bit of melon. Registered in 1909, the Santa Teresa brand boasts the title of Venezuela’s very first rum trademark – as well as proudly carrying the “Ron de Venezuela” (Rum of Venezuela) DOC label. The issue is twofold. The application of an age statement to solera aging is difficult because it depends on how the solera is managed, varies by jurisdiction and is often inconsistent. The older the Solera the greater the difference between its age and the average age of its contents. This issue is made even more complicated by the fact that the definition of age statements also varies by jurisdiction. The barrels were first filled in 1992, and since then the Solera casks have never been fully emptied. As with Sherry from Jerez, Spain, each time a bottle is drawn, the Solera is topped up with a slightly younger rum blend, meaning that each final bottle has a balance of the ‘Ron Madre’ or Mother Rum blended with the flavour profile of younger expressions.