Rum Journal: Cartagena’s Caribbean Soul, In a Glass

Above: Cartagena

IT MAY BE to the south, but much of Colombia is very much Caribbean.

And Cartagena de Indias, the metropolis on the country’s northern coast, is not just the heart and soul of the Colombian Caribbean — it’s home to a singularly good rum.

That’s Dictador, the sternly-named spirit in the matte-black bottles that’s distilled nearby.

Dictador comes from a city with centuries of rum history, and the rum itself has generations of rum production heritage.

To honour that history, we offer you the recipe for a Colombian-style Old Fashioned, courtesy of Dictador:

Colombian Old Fashioned

50ml Dictador 20-year-old
Half tablespoon of vanilla sugar
10 drops of freshly-squeezed orange juice
Two drops of orange bitters

Serve it in a short tumbler glass. Dissolve vanilla sugar in orange juice.

Fill the glass with ice cubes and pour 25ml of Dictador.

Stir gently for a few seconds and add the 25ml of rum.

Spice it up with two drops of orange bitters and stir again.

Garnish with two cinnamon sticks and orange zest.

— CJ