Rum Tasting and Rummery Tour
Covid-19 Update
Since reopening in 2020 this tour has been difficult to fill and arrange- it is only offered on the last two Thursdays and Fridays of each month and the day must be reserved with a minimum of 1-week anticipation. Copies of legal id of each participant are required as well as full payment. The tour currently has a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 10. Please contact us well in advance of your dates if interested in this tour.
Tour Description and History
Gringo Tours is proud to present our newest and most exclusive tour. Join us on this limited edition small group tour of El Salvador’s first Rum distillery. The Ron Cihuatán distillery is located just 45 minutes from Suchitoto and San Salvador and in 2018 opened its doors to Gringo Tours allowing us to share this rum tasting and production adventure with travelers from around the world. Because we will be visiting a working distillery (solera ageing, blending and bottling areas), the tour is only offered once or twice a month and on demand and depending on the actual production schedule making it necessary to schedule visits well in advance.
This tour is not open to the public and is coordinated by Gringo Tours owner Robert Broz and the Team at Ron Cihuatán. In the economic re-opening in late 2020 several other tour companies and guides were given access and now offer tours of the Cihuatán distillery, but with Gringo Tours our clients are given access to tasting some of the high end rums only found for sale at the Airport and distillery where they can be purchased at substantially lower price. Tasting of the high end rums are not provided with our competitors making Gringo Tours your best option for the Cihuatán Rum Tour.
The rum tasting tour is given by the head of production in the solera storage warehouses where sampling of the raw distilled alcohols as well as samples from different solera barrels will help fully understand the complexity of fine solera rum blending. When available the master Rum maker, Gabriela Ayala will join the tour explaining how she developed each of the Cihuatán Rums.
The tour finishes in the bottling area where tasting of both bottles of rum included with our tour is provides as well as the chance to taste some of Cihuatán’s best rums. Tourists will also be able to purchase any of the rums available and at a better price than anywhere else!
The tour does not include the actual distillery where the alcohol is made, as it is an industrial plant within the La Cabaña sugar refinery. Our guide will tell you all you want to know about the sugar cane production and processing as we drive from the city or Suchitoto.
To schedule tours of the Cihuatán distillery we need a minimum of five workdays, this to coordinate with the distillery and insure the quality tour that both Cihuatán and Gringo Tours always tries to provide to our clients from around the world. For security reasons at the Cabañas processing plant we are also required to a list of our clients’ full names as well as provide digital copies of their passports or IDs as well as vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers.
Since August 2018, we have been offering these new and exclusive tours which we hope to continuing making available to our clients in the future and as the demand increases. All of our past clients have said that this is the best rum tour they have ever experienced! If interested, please let us know as soon as you have your available dates so that we can make arrangements for you or your group to enjoy this unique and wonderful experience. The tour of Ron Cihuatán’s production area (solera ageing and blending and bottling) will include tasting of different Salvadoran rums exclusive to Ron Cihuatán, each with its own distinct flavors and character. As we are enjoying the sample tastings, we will learn about the solera technique of ageing and blending before visiting the blending and bottling plant where we will have a taste of the final, ready to bottle Ron Cihuatán. The tour of the Cihuatán distillery will include your choice of one bottle of Cihuatán Indigo 8 year or Cihuatán Cinabrio 12-year rum, each with its own unique taste and both distilled and aged exclusively in El Salvador. If you want to purchase more of these or the other more exclusives bottles that can be arranged as well.
Tour Options
Gringo Tours is offering different options with tours departing from Suchitoto or San Salvador and with group size from 5 to 10 persons. Although we know this tour will be popular, we do need maintain a minimum group size of 5 (price per person can be adjusted up for smaller group tours which would include an extra bottle of rum).
Option #1 Suchitoto
Starting and finishing in Suchitoto, Visiting Ron Cihuatán distillery has a cost of $50/person (minimum cost for groups less than 5 of $250/group), this includes as mentioned before your choice of one bottle of Cihuatán Rum, transportation to and from the distillery from Suchitoto, a certified and bilingual driver guide and a bottle of water.
Option #2 San Salvador
Starting and finishing in San Salvador, Visiting Ron Cihuatán distillery has a cost of $60/person (minimum cost for groups less than 5 of $300/group), this includes as mentioned before your choice of one bottle of Cihuatán Rum, transportation to and from the distillery from San Salvador, a certified and bilingual driver guide and a bottle of water.
Option #3 Adding the Mayan site of Cihuatan
Make a day of it and include a visit to El Salvador’s largest Mayan site Cihuatán with its typical Mayan ball court and main unique pyramid. We combine the 1.5-2 hour tour of the distillery with the nearby Mayan site making it a fuller day trip and combining our past Mayan cultural with today’s Rum production. The cost for this tour is $80/person (minimum cost for groups less than 5 of $400/group), which again includes your choice of one bottle Cihuatán Rum, transportation to and from the distillery and Mayan site of Cihuatán from Suchitoto or San Salvador (tour can be arranged for other destinations in El Salvador), all entrance fees, a certified and bilingual driver guide and two bottles of water.
Option #4 add the beautiful city of La Palma
Make it a full day and include a visit to the colorful mountain town of La Palma to see how the painted wood handicrafts are produced and see Fernando Llort’s and Alfredo Linares art style throughout the city. We combine the 1.5-2 hours’ tour of the distillery with lunch and a short tour of La Palma combining our local handicrafts with today’s Rum production. The cost for this tour is $100/person. This includes your choice of one bottle of Cihuatán Rum, transportation to and from the distillery from Suchitoto or San Salvador (this tour can be arranged for other destinations in El Salvador as well), and tour of La Palma, with one of our certified and bilingual driver guides and a two bottles of water. The price does not include the cost of lunch. If you don’t have time to join us on a tour you can try Ron Cihuatán at any of several places in San Salvador or at the airport.