Venezuela, a country with majestic geography, rich soils, and tropical climate, offers the ideal conditions for rum production. Among its treasures, we can find Diplomático rum, a super-premium spirit recognized as one of the best rums in the world. It is produced in Destilerías Unidas S.A. (DUSA), the largest liquor complex of the country granted with the Controlled Denomination of Origin “Ron de Venezuela”.
DUSA is located in one of the geographical areas with the most natural resources in Venezuela, in the middle of the three largest sugar cane producer states – Lara, Portuguesa, and Yaracuy. Rains throughout the year, springs, and an altitude – that generates warm temperatures during the day and cool temperatures at night – favor the development of high concentrations of sucrose in the stem of the sugar cane, making it one of the sweetest on the continent.
In the Hacienda Saruro, next to the town La Miel (Lara), the complex has one of the few plants in the world with different distillation systems gathered in one place. Therefore, the manufacturing plant can produce not only rum but also whiskey, gin, vodka, and cocuy.
DUSA covers an area of 1,300 hectares where the plant, industrial effluent treatment plants, and crops are located. The company owns different farms where they grow sugar cane, cereals, and fruits, enough raw materials to produce a great variety of liquors.
At the end of the 1950s, the main liquor distribution companies in the country were grouped under the name of Licorerías Unidas S.A. (LUSA) by the initiative of Seagram’s International, which in 1992 acquired all of the shares of it.
In 2001, Diageo acquired Seagram’s Company LTD worldwide and, among the assets, Licorerías Unidas. But one year later, the company decided to sell its manufacturing assets. A group of local entrepreneurs and investors decided to take advantage of this opportunity and buy them. On August 22, 2002, LUSA became Destilerías Unidas, S.A., a 100% Venezuelan private company.
At the time, DUSA started with four brands: Chemineaud (liqueur brandy), Manager’s (whiskey liqueur), Cinco Estrellas (rum liqueur), and Diplomático (rum), the gem of the company. At present, it has a great portfolio with a variety of liquors produced with the highest quality standards.
Over the years, they have been recognized with countless awards because of their products and facilities. In 2013, it received the “Rum Barrel Award” at the London RumFest in the UK, becoming the World’s Best Distillery of the year.
In 1989, the Diplomático’s voyage began. The family-owned brand was inspired by Don Juan Nieto Meléndez (“Don Juancho”), the portrait on the bottles. He was a local nobleman that put his soul and heart into exploring the sources, ingredients, methods, and environmental factors behind the complex flavors of rum and other traditional liquors.
It has achieved great success since its launch. Today, Diplomático is one of the most awarded spirits in the world. In 2018, it received the prestigious “Spirit Brand of the Year” award from Wine Enthusiast celebrated in Miami, becoming the first rum in history to win in this category.
To start our journey through the Diplomático production process, we should first introduce Miguel Monsalve, Institutional Ambassador of DUSA, and our guide during the visit of The Rum Lab team made to the distillery. Monsalve made us immerse ourselves in “the heart of Diplomático”.
“The distinctive and enriching element of the brand is the plant, the processes, and the complexity of the liquor. It characterizes not only our rum but also the rest of the liquors that DUSA produces.” Miguel Monsalve.
The manufacturing plant where Diplomático rum is produced dates from 1959, and it is one of the most versatile in Latin America. Such versatility comes from the technology, equipment, and research teams that initially were brought from distilleries of different parts of the world, including Scotland and Canada. All the knowledge of the processes, heritage, and traditions from the original company have remained from generation to generation.
It is very well-designed, divided into two parts: manufacturing areas and supporting areas, and it covers a total of 18 hectares. The humidity in the plant is 90% and remains constant throughout the year, which along with other environmental conditions has a significant impact on the aging process since alcohol ages three times faster than in other parts of the world.
As we mentioned above, the Hacienda Saruro, where the plant is located, occupied 183 hectares. It produces 80% self-sustaining energy to maintain leveled the production process. The Hacienda also has its own water resources, such as springs of crystalline water. “Since water is the main element for the production of alcohol, this becomes the ideal place for the production of rum,” Monsalve argued.
They work with up to ten varieties of sugar cane; however, there are four varieties they use the most: Romana, Venezuela, Canal Point, and Diplomática. Regarding the latter one, the brand supports FUNDACAÑA Venezuela, a research and development foundation that granted the name “Diplomática” to a new variety of sugar cane developed after years of investigation.
These varieties of sugar cane grow in their agro industrial complex, Agropecuarias Unidas, which manages sugar cane farms and animals, and includes the Haciendas Saruro, Botucal, Yaguamar, and Las Santas. “We harvest a total of 120 to 130 thousand tons of sugar cane per year. Then, we take them to the surrounding sugar mills. So, in terms of logistics for the transportation of cane, we have many advantages.”
Once they receive the molasses (for light rums) and sugar cane honey (for complex rums) from the sugar mills, they store the raw material in underground tanks of 15,000 tons of capacity until the fermentation process begins.
For the fermentation, firstly, the raw material is diluted with water for an optimum sugar concentration, while the yeast is waiting in tanks of 100,000 liters of capacity to start its job. To keep the yeast alive and working, the temperature in the fermenter must be at a maximum of 34°C. Yeast consumes the sugar present in molasses and sugar cane honey and transforms it into ethyl alcohol.
As a product of fermentation, CO2 is produced, which is responsible for the bubbling that is observed on the surface of the liquid.
There are 17 fermentation tanks, 12 for molasses and sugar cane honey, and 5 for cereals. Each tank will have 2,000 to 3,000 liters of yeast diluted in water.
Molasses is fermented for 24 hours, while sugar cane honey is fermented for about 48 hours since it has a higher concentration of sugar. Based on their production criteria, this time is enough to create the chemical profiles or congeners they need. Congeners are precursor compounds of aromas and flavors that later will evolve in aging when interacting with the wood of barrels.
After this process, the wort or mash obtained is subjected to a primary distillation, from which it is obtained around 8,000 liters of alcohol at 56% from every fermentation tank. The rest are liquid wastes – called vinasse – to be used as fertilizers in their sugar cane plantations, after a specific treatment to decrease organic content.
During the distillation process, they use artisanal methods along with the most advanced techniques, and this is the fundamental characteristic that distinguishes Diplomático rum worldwide.
At DUSA, there are five distillation systems from where they obtain the alcohols that will be used as a base for rums and other liquors:
Artisanal copper pot stills. With time and nose, they verify and control the process.
In these systems, the alcohol obtained from the fermentation process is heated to separate its components. The vaporized alcohol is then condensed to form the raw spirit. “By having several distillation systems, we obtain a great variety of profiles in the alcohols, so blending is more complex,” Monsalve highlighted.
Batch-Ketter system: The batch is filled, heat is generated, evaporates, and passes to the column. Up to this point, the alcohol has sweet and fruity notes.
Now, the magic starts. The different alcohols are placed in white oak barrels. Each one has a capacity of 180 to 250 liters and can be reused several times, depending on the type of alcohol that is aging, sometimes they can be used up to 6 times or more than 30 years. They carry on a static aging practice by which the barrels are placed in racks or pallets in warehouses and are not moved until their optimum maturation time is over.
“The maturation of rum is a magical process, in which the nobility of oak, chemistry of alcohols, optimal environment condition, and time are combined… Patience is the key.”
At DUSA, each of its 21 aging warehouses, which in total occupied 17.0 hectares, has an average of 15,000 barrels to total storage and an aging capacity of 300,000 barrels. They import barrels from the U.S., Scotland, or Spain and then are assembled and repaired at the plant.
The heat is concentrated in the higher part, so light alcohols are located in the upper section since they require less aging time, the intermediate ones in the middle, and the complex ones underneath.
The barrels are pressure-armed and held with metal rings by a handmade process. A good barrel maker can process up to eight barrels per day. To prevent the leakage of the liquid, they use the Enea (cattail), a typical plant of the region used to seal the lids of the barrels. Finally, they test the barrels to check their condition.
For a better exchange between the alcohol and the wood, it is necessary to give barrels the highest permeability possible. This is achieved by subjecting them to a process called “charring”, which consists of burning the wood inside the barrel.
They use white oak barrels since they are made with resistant wood and offer exquisite flavors and attractive colors.
In comparison to toasting, which is a slow process that involves gently heating the barrel’s interior over an open flame, charring is a “fast burn”. It gives the barrel a burnt interior that confers darker colors and sweeter flavors to the rum.
On the other hand, the barrels are categorized by code, not by-product, which will be part of a specific formulation that will grant them the profiles to make each spirit. In this case, Monsalve said, “we do not age rums, we age formulas or codes to maintain the sensory profiles.”
Once the alcohols are in barrels, wood will act on the congeners that are part of the alcohol, and it will make them react. This is the exact moment new nomenclatures begin to form that eventually produce the smoothness, aromas, flavors, and color of rum as such.
At this point, there is no way to intervene or accelerate the process, it is only controlled in two ways: physical-chemical and sensory. Through an inventory survey conducted periodically as long as an aging curve analysis, they will know when the alcohol is ready to be extracted and blended, always following their aging criteria.
What has been explained so far answers us where the complexity of Diplomático comes from and what makes it unique. Considering the five distillation systems, different types of barrels, plus different years of aging, in the end, they obtain a nomenclature of more than 150 rums, from the lightest and youngest one to the darkest and most complex.
Once the alcohols have aged and different types of rums are born, blending begins. A group of award winners Maestros Roneros hand in hand with Maestros Catadores put their creativity to work to create the original recipes that are going to be used in the blending process. They are also the ones who guarantee their quality and reproducibility over time.
Two of the five honorific Maestros Roneros of Diplomático Rum are Tito Cordero and Nelson Hernández. “Their responsibility is to supervise all the production process, and especially to create distinctive rums that capture the best balance and roundness of flavors and aromas.”
The Physical-Chemical Laboratory is the heart of the analysis of all elements involved in the production process. Raw material, alcohols, products in-process, and finished spirits are subjected to analysis in this laboratory where the quality standards established for each element are verified. Once approved, they pass to the Organoleptic or Tasting Laboratory where the sensory standards established are certified.
Finally, packaging. At DUSA, they have nine filling lines with different capacities, ranging from 60 bottles to 500 bottles per minute.
The Diplomático’s portfolio includes:
All their activities in DUSA are aimed at the intensive use of the natural resources they have without leaving out their commitment to the environment. So, they designed a 100% sustainable system that begins from the inside. At the organizational level, each job position carries out specific tasks for environmental protection. The company also promotes training and awareness programs among its employees.
At the plant, their Cogeneration System combines thermal and electrical energy, and compared to a normal distilling one, it considerably reduces fossil fuel consumption. In the Hacienda Botucal, they conduct a breeding project with more than 1,500 buffalos of the Murrah and Mediterranean breeds, including 550 breeding females for the production of milk and cheese. They also have a select herd of pure Brahman Cattle for breeding to offer quality alternatives to the breeders of the region.
Moreover, DUSA has a treatment plant of more than 4 hectares, with two Anaerobic Digesters with 9 million m³ each, where the vinasse is processed. The vinasse from cereals after its fermentation is turned into feed for cattle due to its high level of protein.
The vinasse from molasses is converted into a natural fertilizer after a treatment in the digesters. The result is vinasse – rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. This is used for their crops and grass, as well as to feed the ducks that will complete the diet of the cattle and buffalo.
“We are educating many people about all our sustainable efforts. Our real mission is to make our employees, consumers, clients, commercial partners, distributors, and whoever shares our values and wants to protect the environment get involved in these efforts.”
So far, Diplomático has reduced its water consumption by up to 50% in the last seven years through this comprehensive liquid waste management process, and more than 200 tons of solid waste are recycled every year.
The brand is also conducting specific actions nationally and internationally to extend its “Distilled Consciously” program to teach how to create a more sustainable rum with Zero Waste in the production process. They are working with NGOs that fight against food waste, as well as to promote food collection, fundraising, and training workshops campaigns in the main markets they operate.
Currently, Diplomático has an initiative in the U.S. – called “Project Leftover” – to reduce waste and redirect food to those in need aiming at reducing local food insecurity, especially in pandemic times. This pilot program enlists restaurants and bars around the country.
Last but not least, since cocktails have been a key to the development of the brand, they created “Diplomático & Co”, an education platform for the bartending community worldwide to share and encourage the brand’s values of craftsmanship, sustainability, and community through different experiences and activities.
One of these is “Artisans of Taste”, a project that consists of different educational activities based on the main three pillars of the competition that takes place in different countries annually: homemade techniques, sustainability in the bar, and local products. Its purpose is that bartenders also apply sustainable techniques and ingredients in the creation of their Diplomático serve.
A generational work where different generations of local families have been part of the plant for decades, putting passion and heart into making rums. At this time, DUSA employs about 90% of the population of La Miel.
All of them share a strong identity promoted by the first founders. Their values have led the company to create strong ties with workers and their families, as well as with the local community by encouraging respect for the environment, consumers, and the products they made.
This big family of more than 800 employees is also led by what they named as the “perfect triplet”: José Ballesteros, President of DUSA and the head of the internationalization of Diplomático Rum; and two of his partners, Rolando Díaz and Humberto Arispe, both involved in the spirits business for many years, mainly focused on the technical and organizational tasks for the development of the brand. On this matter, Monsalve highlighted, “our most valuable capital is the human resource”.
The company has been committed to fair wages, social responsibility, and a significant investment in health programs. Furthermore, they continue promoting equal opportunities for all employees in their workforce. So, it is not just a brand, it is a family that represents the core values and traditions of the country, and makes Venezuelans feel proud.
Now, let’s talk about El Paso de Diplomático, a visitor-friendly tour format that makes it possible to share with you all this knowledge. It combines audiovisuals with a plant visit guided by an expert. Since 2012, they offer a unique experience in which you explore this rum, literally, in all its senses.
This program takes you through the production process of Diplomático and the rum tasting. At the local level, their main objective is to educate rummeliers, aficionados, and the public in general.
Internationally, El Paso aims at distributors, bartenders, brand ambassadors, journalists, and any emerging market representatives that are interested in the brand and want to know more about it. Although, if you are an adventurous rummelier and a big fan of the brand that would like to visit them, they will welcome you with open arms.
Diplomático Rum is distributed in more than 100 countries on five continents, being a leader in the super-premium rum category. In countries such as Germany, you can find it as Botucal Rum, a name that comes from the Hacienda Botucal where sugar cane is cultivated.
At a global level, the brand sells the experience of consuming a quality Venezuelan rum with the help of bartenders, mixologists, and brand ambassadors. “Behind Diplomático Rum quality is our people, the processes and the care for the environment,” Monsalve concluded.
Nowadays, Diplomático is in a good moment operationally. Even so, they continue enlarging its portfolio to increase its economic muscle and strengthen its presence in the international market by injecting the passion that has come from the plant to the world.
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