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We’ve made no secret right here about our favourite rum, which is an opinion a whole lot of the specialists share. The best Guatemalan rum, Ron Zacapa, beats out the remainder of Central America and the Caribbean in our opinion and in case you throw of their Botran rum too, they could simply have two within the high 5. Unless you step all the best way as much as their Ron Zacapa XO version in a really fancy bottle, you will get this high-quality rum for a really affordable worth, a tiny fraction of what you’ll pay for Scotch and even bourbon that has skilled the identical stage of getting older.
I used to be truly sorry I had booked an early flight once I walked into this lounge and I used to be very tempted to do some day consuming. It was 9:00 within the morning although, so I made a decision to be a accountable grownup and have coffee as a substitute. I checked out the scene on behalf of you although, expensive reader, and was salivating sufficient that I’m prepared to move again to Guatemala on one other journey so I may be on the Casa de Ron later within the day to actually take pleasure in it. You might earn again an excellent portion of the annual payment in your Priority Pass membership from this lounge alone in case you do a rum flight right here.
Casa de Ron on the Guatemala City Airport
While this Central American nation does have just a few different airports, together with one serving Tikal, they solely get a smattering of worldwide flights. So in case you go to the nation, you’ll nearly absolutely fly into La Aurora International Airport, with the code of GUA. When I first visited this airport with my spouse and younger daughter again within the late ’00s on trip, the Guatemala City airport was somewhat dumpy and unhappy wanting. They’ve made nice strides since then, nonetheless, and it’s now on par with what you’d anticipate from a capital metropolis take-off and touchdown facility.
There are literally two lounges within the GUA airport. One is the Copa Club lounge serving enterprise class passengers of Copa Airlines, those that have excessive sufficient standing with Star Alliance to get in, or Priority Pass members. So in case you’re within the latter camp, you’ve obtained two decisions. The Copa one could also be much less crowded in case you aren’t a rum fan or it’s too early for a drink.
Casa de Ron is a celebration of high-quality Guatemalan aged rum, nonetheless, and an actual deal with if you wish to pattern the corporate’s items with out shopping for a complete bottle to see what you want. It’s a pretty facility too, newly constructed on this bi-level location in 2019. You can sit at a desk or stomach as much as the bar and take a look at no matter you’d like from their rum menu, with the one restriction being that you simply’re restricted to 1 drink solely of the Centenario XO rum. That’s an affordable sufficient restrict contemplating that a bottle retails for around $135.
Otherwise, you’re welcome to attempt a Ron Botron 15-year, a Zacapa 23-year, or an fascinating Edicion Negra model that’s saved in charred bourbon and pink wine barrels. That final one seems like a recipe for catastrophe, however all Zacapa merchandise are blended with the Solera methodology, which means the 23-year rum is barely partly 23-year rum, for instance. So the grasp distiller can flip the depth up or down on the ratios of what got here out of these various barrels with out having to reveal something.
Here’s the total listing of what they’re pouring:
- Zacapa XO (1 per individual, restrictions could apply)
- Zacapa Edición Negra
- Zacapa 23
- Botran Solera 18
- Botran Reserva 15
- Botran Añejo 12
- Botran Reserva Blanca
- Ron Colonial
Some purists get irritated with this Sistema Solera methodology because it’s as opaque as what’s in your glass and also you don’t actually know what you’re paying for once you see an getting older years indication on the label. For me although, the ultimate product’s style issues greater than what goes on within the mixing course of and this manner you’ve assured of consistency too. A Ron Zacapa 23 goes to style the identical whether or not you purchase it in 2015 or 2025.
There’s additionally a bit training within the combine, from the shows on the partitions to data the bartender will present on the background. Then when your abdomen begins rumbling, there’s meals on provide such as you’d discover in any airport lounge although once more, superior to what you’ll discover in a U.S. one run by the large 3 legacy carriers. (I didn’t drink, however I did get to eat.) Here’s the menu in English.
The Casa de Ron VIP lounge is situated between gates 6 and seven within the worldwide terminal and is open from 4:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Exit by means of the Rum Shop
If you favored what you tried in Casa de Ron sufficient to carry some dwelling with you, that’s as simple as swiping your bank card on the best way out. There’s a pretty show of Zacapa rum manufacturers, with costs marked, so you will get a duty-free bottle right here with out visiting another shops within the Guatemala City airport. Prices are in step with what you’ll discover elsewhere in Guatemala, lower than what you’d probably spend at a liquor retailer in your personal metropolis.
When I visited on the finish of 2023, for instance, a liter of the Zacapa 23 was simply $46, an actual cut price, and the Edicion Negra in a pleasant present field was $65 for a liter.
As talked about earlier in our publish about Guatemalan rum, Casa de Ron has expanded its choices through the years and this airport location is simply probably the most handy one to attempt. If you don’t have lounge entry, it’s simple sufficient to pay up elsewhere and have your personal educated sampling at a Casa de Ron in Guatemala City (several locations) and the historic middle of Antigua.
They don’t simply pour rum right into a glass although. If there’s somebody in your party that doesn’t take pleasure in consuming spirits neat and desires to have a cocktail as a substitute, they’re glad to oblige. The bartender will combine up a signature cocktail that can be price taking a photograph of to your social media feed.
Are you headed to Guatemala quickly? See our evaluations of the best Guatemala hotels for luxurious vacationers and take a look at our Guatemalan travel page for just a few tour tales too.
Article and images by Luxury Latin America editor Timothy Scott, who visited the Casa de Ron within the Guatemala airport in December of 2023 and did a tasting at one of many capital metropolis places on an earlier journey.
Article by Timothy
Timothy Scott is the founder and editor of Luxury Latin America and has been protecting the area as a journey journalist because the mid-2000s. He has visited every nation we cowl a number of occasions and relies in a UNESCO World Heritage metropolis in central Mexico, the place he owns a house. See contact information here.
