Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
you'll discover some of the factors that
make this rum so good. The slight licorice
taste of Cruzan is characteristic of St. Croix
sugarcane, you'll learn, and the alcohol
gets an extra smoothness from being
blended with pure island rainwater. The
stills they use have five stainless-steel col-
umns, to refine the liquor five times. (The
distillate comes out crystal-clear; the rum's
amber color comes from the white oak
barrels it's aged in.) The sugary aroma
throughout the plant is intoxicating.
Despite the industrial environment, it's not
hard to imagine that the laid-back island-
ers working here impart some of their own
mellowness to the drink.
All this and a tasting session too—you'll
be glad you interrupted your beach loung-
ing for half a day.
Estate Diamond 3 (
&
340/692-2280;
www.cruzanrum.com).
(
St. Croix (7km/4
1
/
3
miles).
L
$$$
The Buccaneer,
Gallows Bay
(
&
800/255-3881
or 340/773-2100; www.
thebuccaneer.com). $
Pink Fancy,
27
Prince St., Christiansted (
&
800/524-2045
in the U.S., or 340/773-8460; www.pink
fancy.com).
Distilleries
414
A Taste of Tequila
From Aztec to High-Tech
Tequila, Mexico
No, it doesn't come with a worm in the
bottle—that's mescal you're thinking of,
Mexico's other wickedly potent distilled
beverage. (And even mescal doesn't really
have a worm in the bottle anymore, just a
plastic caterpillar.) Smooth, sweetish,
fiery-tasting, this heady liquor first drunk
by the ancient Aztecs is Mexico's alcoholic
ambassador to the world, consumed now
in many more forms than that old standby,
the margarita cocktail. Mexico has con-
ferred tequila with controlled appellation
status, meaning that no liquor can be
labeled tequila if it isn't distilled in the
state of Jalisco—better yet, in its tradi-
tional source, a town called (you guessed
it) Tequila.
Just an hour outside of Guadalajara, this
small colonial town has built its tourism
industry around tours of its many tequila
distilleries. On your drive there, you'll
notice the spiky blue agaves growing in
vast fields as far as the eye can see.
Tequila is made from the heart of the aga-
ve's
piña,
or pineapple, which is cooked to
a pulp and crushed to remove its juices;
the juices are then fermented, distilled,
and aged in stacked wooden casks (it's the
length of aging that gives tequila its range
of colors, from the harsh clear
blanco
to
the mellow long-aged golden
añejo
).
In the center of town, the biggest draws
are
Mundo Cuervo
(75 Calle José Cuervo;
&
52/374/742-2170;
www.mundocuervo.
com) and
Sauzo
(80 Francisco Javier
Sauza;
&
866/510-2250
or 52/374/742-
4140; www.sauzatequila.com). Mundo
Cuervo makes the famous José Cuervo
brand, dating from 1795, and its slick well-
run tours offer snazzy audiovisuals, a cafe,
and an art gallery (featuring several stat-
ues of the distillery's namesake black
crow). Sauzo, founded in 1873, was the
first company to export tequila beyond
Mexico. Its tours have an Old Mexico aura—
fountained courtyard, colorful murals, tast-
ing sessions in a pleasant garden—and
lead off with a walk around real agave
fields. Although it isn't a factory tour, the
Sauza Family Museum
(Vicente Albino
