Drink of the Week: Santa Teresa 1796 Solera Rum

Venezuelan rum house Santa Teresa was founded in 1796 and has long been employing a Solera system (most commonly used in Sherry production) to age their rums, wherein barrels aged to varying years are blended to create complex profiles. The Santa Teresa 1796 was first released in 1996 to celebrate the distillery’s bicentennial, but the rum is now widely available in the United States. The 1796 Solera is a blend of rums aged in used bourbon barrels for anywhere from four to 35 years. The rum then spends an additional year aging to marry the blends before bottling. The result is complex and smooth, with flavors of vanilla and caramelized fruit up front, followed by notes of tobacco and spice. It’s best sipped solo or mixed in a simple cocktail that lets the flavors shine, like this Rum Old Fashioned. $44.99, astorwines.com.