SAN JUAN'S Rum Diary

A journey into the Puerto Rican capital's buzzy cocktail scene flows through a 19th-century rum producer, Spanish sherry barrels, and locals committed to blending heritage with innovation.

- IAN PALMER

A rum Old-Fashioned with a cherry and lemon twist. The rainbow-hued buildings of Old San Juan. A view of a domed chapel at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery.

Iam drinking rum ins de a near nearly 200 -year-old Bayamón, a suburb southwest of San Juan, just a few hours after I land in Puerto Rico.

The weathered-brick exterior of the 19th-century building gives way to a small circular interior furnished with a large round table, cane-back chairs, and a line of glasses enticing me with aromas of oak, macerated fruit, and caramel. It's the tasting room for Puerto Rico's oldest rum producer, Ron del Barrilito, and a vital first stop in my exploration of San Juan's stirring cocktail scene—and the heritage of the island's prized export. The country's economic and cultural identity is deeply tied to rum, going back 500 years since the arrival of sugarcane on the island.

As an avid home bartender and the de facto cocktails editor for VERANDA, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in craft spirits and liqueurs—but I am by no means a rum expert, especially given the array of regional styles and production methods at play. But the beauty of a heritage spirit like Ron del Barrilito is its simplicity, making it an ideal introduction for a rum neophyte like me.