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 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. 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.

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 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.

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Maturation is in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels of American oak and in French Limousin oak some of which previously held wine or Cognac. 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.

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.

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A solera is a system of fractional blending that originated in the sherry producing zone of Andalucía. In a sherry solera, the liquid is moved through a tier of barrels where a portion is mixed with previously aged sherry. Each tier is called a criadera (cradle). The bottom tier is called the solera. The term solera is also used to describe the entire process. 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. 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.

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 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. Some critics condemn the practice and believe it detracts from the rum adding an artificial quality. Others see nothing wrong with it. I’m in the latter camp, although I wish, for the sake of transparency, that producers disclosed the practice and the dosage.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. 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. Santa Teresa is the first rum producer in Venezuela, originating from the valley of Aragua, its story started as a sugar cane plantation in 1796 and remains to this day as a family-owned business. Santa Teresa rums have been produced at Hacienda Santa Teresa for more than two centuries and are now present in more than 40 countries. 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.