Crossroads of the Americas
Straddling the narrowest point of the land bridge between North and South America, Panama is a revered rum country. Its world-famous Panama Canal not only connects oceans but also serves as a gateway to Latin American rum, making it a major supplier of tropical-aged rum. This logistical hub connects South American rum to the global supply chain. Yet, despite its strategic location, Panama remains a hidden gem for rum enthusiasts, with only a handful of distilleries open to visitors.
Panama City, a vibrant capital with a tropical rainforest and two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is a captivating blend of modernity and history. The country’s rich history is intertwined with the cultivation of sugarcane, which arrived from the Caribbean in the early 16th century. Initially grown on the Pacific coast of Kuna Yala, sugarcane now thrives in the region’s fertile soil. Panama’s independence from Spain in 1821 and subsequent separation from Colombia in 1903 marked significant milestones in its history.
The fermented cane juice, known as guarapo, has long been used to distill rum. Seca, a popular Panamanian spirit, is a testament to this tradition. The country’s dry season, which typically runs from January to May, particularly on the Pacific coast, provides ideal conditions for sugarcane cultivation.
Now, let’s embark on a rum adventure to Panama traveling west to east across the country. Grab your Panama hat and join us as we explore the country’s old-world charm and discover its delicious treasures.
Chiriquí Province
Chiriqui is one of the most productive provinces in Panama for coffee because of its climate and fertile soil. The area surrounding the Boquete and Volcan-Candela, the dormant Baru Volcano is Panama’s highest point (11,400 feet). It’s a protected area of high ecological importance for species of plants and wildlife. From coastal plains to the mountains, the fertile volcanic soil with regular rainfall contributes to the exceptional quality of the sugarcane grown. Stunning waterfalls, gorges, hot springs, and resorts await you in this beautiful region.
Panama Craft Spirits – Ron Casa Barú
Established in 2017 in the Highlands of Chiriqui, this is the home of Casa Barú, a pure single rum. Dick Barba, the founder, decided to leave the corporate world after a 20-year career in the distilled spirits industry and start his own rum distillery. He chose to use artisanal sugarcane syrup instead of molasses and distill it in a small batch copper pot still. The rich volcanic soil, rainforest climate, and high altitude, he thought, made Chiriqui, the perfect place for slow maturation of the rum.
Casa Barú makes a white, a 5-year-old, and a special rum called Double Crop. All their rums are made from sugarcane syrup produced by small farmers in the region and then aged in fresh ex-bourbon, ex-rye, and European fortified wine casks. Casa Barú Double Crop uses a fermentation process like the dunder pits used in some Jamaican rums, combining Panamanian sugarcane and coffee cherries. Being close neighbors to Boquete, one of the most renowned coffee regions in the world, they decided to also produce a coffee liqueur called Xopa, made with locally sourced Caturra coffee beans. You can book a visit to learn about the processes that make Ron Casa Barú. The tour includes a tasting of 3 rums and an explanation of the production process.
Find out more on Panama Craft Spirits
Ron Colibrí
Colibrí means hummingbird and is an independent and family distillery operating since 2016 in Boquete. The founders originally started distilling in Europe back in 2005. They make a range of spirits, liqueurs, and coffee for Latvia, Panama, and Barcelona. The artisanal rum is made with sugarcane honey, panela, and molasses on copper still and aged in 50l barrels of a wide variety of woods: Criollo Oak, Carob, Cedar, Laurel, Macano and Mango from Panama, Amazonian Amburana and Balsam, White and Red Oaks, Maple, Walnut and Cherry from North America, Chestnut and White and Black oaks from Europe.
The range includes Ron Colibri Criollo, Ron Barba Negra, Ron Colibri Scherry, Ron Roneo, Ron Artesanal de Panama, Ron Barba Negra Oro
Find out more on Ron Colibrí
Ron Carta Vieja
Founded in 1915, Carta Vieja has been making rum. Carta Vieja Claro is a blend of rums aged 4 years in American white oak barrels and vats. Carta Vieja 8 8-year double cask is aged in ex-bourbon American oak barrels and finished in French oak barrels. Carta Vieja Añejo is their signature aged rum blend. The rum is made from molasses, column distilled and ageing is by solera system. This expression is three types of barrels used for their aging; an aging in Soleras with an average of 12 to 15 years in French oak barrels located at the distillery very close to the warm Pacific sea. In the second weekend of 2 years, Pedro Ximenez wine barrels are used with a final step or fine-tuning in French barrels that were used to make fortified wines of the Denomination of Origin (AOC Banyouls).
In 2020, they opened a second aging cellar at 1,668 meters elevation to develop different rum profiles and lower the evaporation losses called angels share. You can stay at the Boquete Tree Trek learn about the rum and get closer to the region’s terroir.
Find out more on Ron Carta Vieja
Herrera Province
A 3–4-hour drive west of Panama City along the Pan-American Highway (Interamericana) are the districts of Pesé and Las Cabras which are renowned for their sugarcane fields and rum distilling near the Pacific coast. The Azuero Peninsula has a tropical savanna climate with year-round warmth and cane harvest season known as Zafra is January to May. The heartland of Pesé is home to Panama’s rum pioneers. Cuban-influenced rum techniques have thrived here since Don Pancho came here in the 1990s and revived a distillery.
Hacienda San Isidro – Ron Abuelo
Hacienda San Isidro, founded in 1908 in the picturesque district of Pesé is the birthplace of Panamanian rum and where Panama’s most famous rum, Ron Abuelo is produced. The grandfather rum was first distilled here in 1936. Spanish immigrant Don José Varela Blanco established the Ingenio San Isidro to process sugarcane and later rum, thus forming the company Varela Hermanos.
On The Panama Rum Route® tour, you visit the family home next to the San José Church in the centre of Pesé, along with a rum tasting and connoisseur certificate. Arriving at the entrance surrounded by sugarcane and teak plantations, you’re given a Panama Hat. The tour continues on a traditional wooden cart, pulled by two large zebu bulls. The next stop is production, which includes the milling of sugarcane juice through rollers. The aroma of molasses leads you to the fermentation vats, where the juice is fermented with their own yeast. A 4-column still is used for distilling the neutral alcohol used to make the Seco Herrerano and molasses rum is used to make premium rums. You can walk into the enormous ageing cellars, where the different casks of Ron Abuelo’s are aged.
At the tasting, you’ll try the Ron Abuelo range 5 years, 7 years, and 12 years as well as Ron Abuelo Centuria, a solera rum of 30 years. Varela Hermanos is 100% Panamanian and produces 90% of the liquors consumed in the country; Panama’s national drink, Seco Herrerano, and the world-renowned Ron Abuelo.
Find out more on Hacienda San Isidro
Las Cabras Distillery
Located in the Arco Seco (Dry Arc) of the Azuero Peninsula, the area around Las Cabras Distillery is drier compared to the rest of Panama. Built in 1919 as a sugar mill, the abandoned distillery was transformed into a rum distillery by Don Pancho (pictured) and Carlos Esquivel in the mid-90s. Don Francisco Fernandez left Cuba after being the Master Distiller and Blender of Havana Club rum for almost 40 years and was instrumental in modernising Cuba’s rum industry in the 1970s.
Las Cabras is part of a group of companies SER Alcoholes del Istmo which produces rum for many brands. There’s no visitor experience and most of the rums are made for export. Las Cabras has about 60 square miles of sugarcane fields (approx. size of Manhattan) providing the distillery with the molasses used to produce its rums. The sugarcane is harvested and sent to a partner sugar mill for processing and molasses is then returned to the distillery to make rum. The benefit is they own and manage sugar and don’t have to import molasses from abroad – allowing full traceability in all stages from planting cane to bottling. Many rum brands are created here like Zafra Master Reserve Rum and the Debonaire Rum range but Caña Brava is no longer being made. The following is just a selection you may be familiar with in your country.
Auténtico Nativo
Created by Autentico Nativo master blenders Don Pancho Fernandez & Eduardo Perez. Autentico Nativo means authentic native, and all the rums are made with local sugarcane grown in volcanic soil and distilled in a continuous copper and brass still at the Las Cabras Distillery. Autentico Nativo Overproof Rum is produced using a unique blend of 8-year-old rums aged in ex-bourbon casks and macerated with locally sourced chocolate and bottled at 54%. Autentico Nativo 15 years is matured for at least 15 years in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels, with some older rums in the blend. Autentico Nativo XO is finished in Cognac barrels.
Find out more on Auténtico Nativo Rum
Grander Rum
Also produced at Las Cabras Distillery, Grander Rum was launched in 2015 by Dan DeHart, a Kentucky bourbon aficionado. Inspired by Caribbean cocktails and a visit to Panama, Grander offers a range of long-aged rums. The 8-year-old is aged in ex-bourbon barrels, some of which are seasoned with sherry for a minimum of 8 years. The 12-year-old Trophy Release and the 10-year-old Port Cask are other notable expressions. Grander Rums are bottled in San Miguelito before shipping
Find out more on Grander Rum
Heffron Rum
First produced in 2019, Heffron Rum now has a range of 5 rums, 2 aged rums, and 3 rum liqueurs. Heffron Rum commemorates the 100th anniversary of the American ship Heffron’s journey through Panama and honours the Czech legionnaires who were on this ship. The rum is a collaboration between the Green Tree distillery in the Czechia and Las Cabras. Heffron Original rum is aged 5 years in American white oak barrels. Heffron 10YO rum is aged in selected barrels after sherry, bourbon, and cognac for 10 years.
Find out more on Heffron Rum
La Marielita Rum
Inspired by a screenplay, written by the founder, about her experience as a six-year-old girl during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift exodus from Cuba to Key West, FL. The creative process of writing the story evolved into producing La Marielita Rum – the brand is her legacy and the epitome of The American Dream. La Marielita Rum is distilled in Las Cabras de Pesé, Panamá, and matures in ex-Bourbon barrels for a minimum of 18 years. Janet Bonilla (pictured) is the first Cuban-American refugee woman to found a rum brand.
Find out more on La Marielita Rum
Ron Malecon
Inspired by Cuban tradition Malecon Rum is named for a legendary street in the heart of Havana, where the recipe comes from. Ron Malecon was launched in 2015. The range is made in the Cuban style and long-aged in oak barrels and includes Ron Malecon 10, 12, 18, and 25 years.
Panamá-Pacific Rum
Named after the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The sugarcane harvested between January and May is extracted and evaporated into molasses, fermented with pineapple yeasts, distilled in a copper Coffey column still, and aged in Kentucky bourbon casks The 3-year expression is then filtered to be clear.
The 5-year expression is aged in American oak bourbon whiskey casks for 3 years and then finished in toasted Tennessee and Canadian rye whiskey casks for 2 years. Panamá-Pacific Rum 9 Year is aged for 3 years, and then 6 years in used Tennessee and Canadian rye whiskey casks that have been toasted, not charred.
Find out more on Panamá-Pacific Rum
SelvaRey Rum
Founded in 2014 by multi-Grammy award-winning artist, Bruno Mars and his partners, SelvaRey translates to “king of the jungle” in Spanish. Selvarey White Rum is a blend of rums aged in Bourbon barrels and filtered clear. SelvaRey’s Chocolate Rum is a five-year-old rum infused with natural chocolate. SelvaRey Coconut Rum is a 60-proof, two-year-old rum infused with coconut essence. SelvaRey opened a popup oceanfront rum bar at Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii for tasty cocktails and tropical sunset vibes.
PILSA Rum
Started as a small distilling venture in the mid-1990s, they went full-scale operations in the early 2000s. Today, they supply bulk rum for brands, casks for independent bottlers, brokers’ casks, and consult for brands. PILSA Rum led by CEO Carlos Esquivel works closely with legendary master blender Don Pancho Fernández of Las Cabras distillery. PILSA distills its rum there and has a portfolio spanning over 100 brands. Ron Duran launched in 2015 is named in honour of Panama´s most famous boxing champion Roberto Duran. Created by master blender Don Pancho
Don Pancho Orígenes
Distilled, and blended by Don Pancho, the Orígenes luxury series was launched in 2014 and includes Don Pancho Orígenes 8-Year-Old, 18-Year-Old, and 30-Year-Old. Reserva Francisco Jose 38-Year-Old Rum is a single cask limited bottling of only 240 bottles each bottle is hand signed by Don Pancho himself. The sugarcane, yeast, and ageing for this series are all unique to the brand.
Some of the brands they develop are Arome, Caña Brava Rum, Don Pancho Orígenes, Rum Rats, Panamá Pacific Rum, Martí Rum, Afrohead Rum, Grander, Panama Red, Ron Duran, SelvaRey Rum, Yolo Rum and Ron Zafra.
Find out more on PILSA Rum
Rum Serum
The brand created in 2018 by Kratochvilovci from Czechia was inspired by the construction of the Panama Canal. The rum is made in Pesé from virgin cane honey, fermented for 72 hours in open vats, and then distilled once in a column still. It’s aged in bourbon barrels from American white oak.
There are so many rum brands from Panama including independent bottlings of Panama rum it’s hard to mention them all so here’s a selection. We’ve shared the 4 distilleries you can visit and it’s best you book ahead; it can be a long drive to reach them.
Panama City
Rum lovers will likely start or finish their travels here. Casco Viejo or Casco Antiguo is the old quarter. San Felipe is the old city’s heart, popular for foodies, restaurants, nightlife, cocktail lounges, and rooftop bars. With quaint streets decorated with elaborate murals and colonial-era landmarks, there are rum experiences to discover nearby.
Destilería Pedro Mandinga
The creator of La Rana Dorada Cevecería, Pedro Mandinga started distilling in 2016. The name is inspired by Pedro Mandinga, a leader of the Cimarrons of African descent early settlers who escaped slavery from the Spaniards in the 16th century and built hidden communities along the Caribbean coast.
As the first artisanal rum distillery in Panama, they distill from raspadura, a type of unrefined sugar made from freshly concentrated cane juice. The small-batch operation sources sugarcane coming from a family farm in Chiriqui, at the foot of Barú volcano. Rums are distilled in a small copper pot still located in the Tap Room of La Rana Dorada, aged in American white oak ex-whiskey barrels, and bottled at the distillery in Panama City.
The range includes Pedro Mandinga Raspadura, Casco Viejo, Geisha Coffe Liqueur, Cacao Liqueur, Blend & Spiced Pedro Mandinga has a Rum Bar is in the heart of Casco Viejo near Plaza Herrera. You can sample the rums on their own or in a cocktail. & Latin-inspired plates.
Find out more on Destilería Pedro Mandinga
Castelauro Ron El Galante
Founded in 2020 by Bernardo Rivas as Castelauro Beverage Factory making vermouth and now rum. Ron El Galante Salgado is their signature expression and is a rum with a salty edge. It is made from a blend of white and aged rum from molasses and cane juice. Distilled in a column and copper still. It tells the story of El Galante, who settled in Galicia (Spain) several centuries ago to settle down and form a family of merchants and farmers. Some of his clients told fantastic stories of setting sail from Spain in their ships filled with provisions, including barrels of fresh water they used for consumption.
As time passed, these barrels were emptied and refilled with sea water so as not to lose ballast, thus the ship maintained balance during the voyage. These sailors obtained rum in the ports and on other ships to refill the barrels. The rum acquires its saline character from the seawater and the tannins from the barrel wood, making it easier to drink, and is a tribute to his family. You can find the rum locally in Panama City and visits are by appointment only.
Find out more on Castelauro Ron El Galante
Bodegas América Panamá
A bonded warehouse, bulk rum, and blender of several rum brands like Malteco Seleccion 1986 which is released in year vintages, Ron Cortez Blanco, and Ron La Cruz. Bodega de America is the partner producer for The Rum Factory, a brand created in Bukova, Czechia with Albert Michler Distillery and now secondary ages in Europe (continental ageing). The Rum Factory 10-year-old is produced and aged at least 10 years in American white oak barrels. The Distillery Collection range has 10, 12, and 15-year-old rum which is exported.
Find out more on Bodegas América Panamá
Where to Enjoy Rum in Panama
Panama City: Casa del Ron, Pedro Mandinga Rum Bar, Element, La Pulpería – Casco Antiguo, 5inco Cocina Urbana, Amano Bar, Kanibal Panamá
Boca Chica Tiki Bar @ Seagull Cove Resort
Santa Catalina Tiki Lodge Bar & Restaurant
San Miguelito Tiki Bar by Frank
Taboga Island: Calaloo Beach Rum & Fish Bar
Pro Tip: You can take private tours of local experiences like a Panama City Old Quarter Rum and Cigar Tasting Tour. Or, take the ferry from Balboa Yacht Club on the Amador Causeway out to Taboga Island (Island of Flowers) where you can see the container ships lined up to pass through the canal, all while sipping on a rum cocktail from the comfort of the sandy beach. You can take an organised tour, book the Rum + Brunch Party, a day party in Panama City, or visit the Rum & Brunch Weekend in mid-January. There are many local experiences to enjoy rum in Panama from road trips to city tours. The Panama Rum Festival in Panama City is in August every year.
For more general travel advice on Panama Tourism
For travel planning use our Panama Rum Map
Thanks to the brands for contributing to this article and for permission to use their images. Other image credits go to Canva Pro and user contributions.
