What better way to enjoy rum, painstakingly matured in cool temperatures at 2300metres above sea level, than at the heady heights of Hilton’s Cloud 23?
The Zacapa experience gives you exactly that – swap Guatemalan highlands for spectacular views over Manchester and find yourself unwinding in the uniquely fused, world’s best rum for four years running.
Conjuring up a sensory delight, the Zacapa experience is a new concept pairing food with cocktails, three edible courses complimenting their liquid counterpart.
Ron Zacapa Centernario rum is distilled from virgin Guatemalan sugar cane honey, slowly matured through a Solera System and sits pride of place in the Guatemalan Highlands distillery – dubbed House in the Clouds by locals.
The aperitif excellently combines Maraschino, Tio Pepe and Zacapa to offer a suitably refreshing starter, served with smoked-on-site salted almonds.
It makes for a rum lover’s dream and, for those not yet converted, the aromas arising from the cocktail delicately garnished with bitter orange peel mean it certainly slips down rather easily too.
The main course offers a very unique experience in itself, and one that evokes all the senses, something luxury brand manager at Zacapa James Hill is keen to express.
Two small cocktail glasses to be drank interchangeably, containing Zacapa, Jerez, Licor43 and Saline – yes Saline – sound, and look, unusual.
But with a food pairing of rare roast beef smothered in chilli chocolate powder, you are taught to understand the ancient Mayan tradition representing the unity of everyone and everything.
Zacapa believe just like the leaves of the petate are interwoven, so are the earth and the sky, the sun and the moon, and the physical and spiritual realms which inform the passionate care with which the rum is crafted.
The experience manages to provide a suitably contrasting, yet equally satisfying, range of food and drink with every course.
Non more contrasting than the after dinner serve cocktail, served cold and frothy with Zacapa, homemade spiced syrup, Galliano Ristretto and Helado de Caramelo – accompanied by a homemade spiced custard tart.
The complexity of this cocktail is achieved through the Solera System of ageing the spirit via a series of barrels that once held robust bourbons, delicate sherries and lush Pedro Ximenez wines.
The town of Zacapa sits a mere 229metres above sea level in the east of Guatemala, not quite the 2300metre maturing point, but the base of the rum’s unique taste.
A bustling railroad stop throughout the last century, the town’s centenary 1976 year inspired the Ron Zacapa Centenario rum and, in doing so, harnessed the legacy of Zacapians past and present in one unique, premium spirit.
Picture courtesy of SBPR, with thanks.
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