Varela Hermanos is thrilled to announce that Ron Abuelo Two Oaks XII Años, Selección Especial (SRP, $59.99), their newest aged rum from Panama, is now available in the U.S. market.
A rum unlike any other, this unique selection is crafted from an exquisite blend of aged (between 8 and 40+ years old) rums averaging just over 11-years old. The benchmark rum was first matured in white oak bourbon barrels before being finished for an additional nine months in first fill extra-charred American oak barrels for exceptional smoothness, depth and nuance.
The idea for Ron Abuelo Two Oaks arose when Luis J. Varela, Jr., third generation of the Varela family and current head of the company, endeavored to produce a rounder, silkier version of what currently exists in the Abuelo portfolio—something so smooth and exceptional that new techniques needed to be created in order to produce the desired result.
Varela and his skilled team at Ron Abuelo worked with an acclaimed cooperage house in Napa Valley, where they devised a series of innovative barrel treatments and techniques for Abuelo’s newest rum adventure: Two Oaks.
To produce this new rum, Two Oaks spends its last nine months before bottling in virgin American oak 200-liter barrels that have been strategically cut on the inside to ensure maximum surface extraction. Once cut, the interior of the barrel experiences a slow and low (180°C / 356°F) char for 60-minutes using a natural wood fire. Once this portion is completed, the barrel receives a final char at a much higher temperature (225°C / 437°F) for 20-25 seconds to finish the treatment. The result is a barrel specific to the creation of Two Oaks that features 8 millimeters of interior black char. The barrel is then filled with the just over 11-year-old rum for its final nine-month ageing and finishing phase.
The barrel treatment and techniques amplify the lignin (the source of vanillin) naturally producing notes of vanilla and spice. The intense heat, or charring, also breaks down the carbohydrates into simple wood sugars turning them into luscious notes caramel, toffee and butterscotch in this final phase. Further, the 8 millimeters of char lessens the liquid’s contact with the wood’s tannins, ultimately producing a rum with an intensely silky and round character.
The resulting rum is dark mahogany with a bouquet of light smoke and toasted oak supported by vanilla and nuts. Lightly smoky and velvety in the mouth, Two Oaks has an intense taste of spice, caramel and roasted coffee beans with hints of coconut that lead to a long and lingering finish.
Available in select markets now, Ron Abuelo Two Oaks XII Años, Selección Especial (40% abv) will continue to roll out nationally across the country in 2021. Ron Abuelo is exclusively imported into the U.S. by Total Beverage Solution, SC.
ABOUT RON ABUELO
Two Oaks and all of the rums of Ron Abuelo are created by the expert distillers at Varela Hermanos, a family-owned company that dates back to 1908, when Don José Varela established the first sugar mill in the town of Pesé in the recently formed Republic of Panama. Quality is the hallmark of the brand, but Ron Abuelo’s secret weapon is its reserve of mature rum. The company’s expertise and exacting standards are devoted to the creation of a line of remarkable, aged rums sold under the Ron Abuelo name.
While rum is now distilled and aged in several regions around the world, the rums masterfully created at Ron Abuelo’s Hacienda San Isidro in Pesé (in a small fertile valley in the Azuero Peninsula), are uniquely delicious due to the region’s singular terroir, which features a rich mixture of volcanic soil and clay and special climate conditions that bless the hacienda. The moderate rainfall, cool nights, and humid days all play important roles in the development and personality of each spirit. Here, the company controls 100% of the rum-making process: they grow and hand-harvest 1,600 hectares of sugar cane (without setting fire to the fields, a practice commonly used), distill their own spirit, and age it all at their estate.
While all Ron Abuelo rums share the same DNA, each member of the portfolio offers a different experience—a unique personality and character—but they all express the family’s passion to produce the very best aged rum Añejo, 7 Años, 12 Años, Centuria, the XV Años Finish Collection (Oloroso, Napoleon, and Tawny), and their newest adventure in rum, Two Oaks XII Años.
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