Coloma, the Colombian soul

10 September 2024 | Interviews & Meetings
Coloma, the Colombian soul

Hello, thanks for having this interview with us. Coloma is a Colombian Hacienda. Where does the name Coloma come from? What does it mean?

The name Coloma comes from the Hacienda that was named "Coloma," the neighborhood where my father was born, and it's a name that's very close to the word "Colombia."

Since when has your family owned the Hacienda? How did the story begin?

In the 1950s, my family settled at the Hacienda, built at the end of the 19th century in Fusagasugá, right in the heart of the Andes. The Hacienda was designed to produce coffee, thanks to its perfect climate and altitude: 1,700 meters.

Where does the idea of making rum come from?

The Hacienda focuses on the production of grain, drying, and creating the best coffee beans that are sold under the name "Café Coloma." However, my father had the idea of making a coffee liqueur with the help of two young Colombian women, Sandra Reateguí and Judith Ramirez, who are rare in the world of master rum makers (since the base of the liqueur is rum, which starts aging at the Hacienda). A few years after my father passed away, without thinking too much about it, Sandra emptied a barrel of 5-year-old rum into a barrel that previously held our coffee liqueur. A few weeks later, realizing this mistake while tasting the result, she found that the rum had completely changed its character in that short time, gaining very Colombian qualities: tenacity, voluptuousness, and charm.

How is your rum made? Where does the molasses come from, and what distillation equipment do you use?

Made from molasses distilled in a continuous column, Ron Coloma is then aged in used American oak barrels and later "refined" in barrels that have been used for coffee liqueurs. Coloma is always blended by Sandra Reategui and Judith Ramirez.

How do coffee production and rum production work together at the Hacienda?

Coffee production has become smaller compared to liqueurs and rum. We've increasingly turned into a rum-producing house. Coffee remains a part of our story, and our rums age very close to the coffee roasting, so the two productions are very closely linked. Moreover, the Hacienda is open to the public, and we welcome tourists every day who come to learn about our products and the Hacienda.

What is the production volume of rum from Coloma? How many barrels do you have?

We're expanding, but we're still a small company, producing just a few tens of thousands of bottles a year and a few hundred casks.

Coloma Ron
Coloma ron
Coloma Hacienda
Hacienda Coloma
The Team from the Cellars of Hacienda Coloma
The Team from the Cellars of Hacienda Coloma

Can you please introduce us to your range of rum?

Aside from our limited edition rums, we have 3 permanently available rums: Coloma 8 Year, Coloma 15 Year and Coloma Single Cask. The 8 and 15 Year rums will be aged in ex-bourbon American oak barrels, following Spanish tradition, and at the end of the aging process, they will spend 2 and 4 months respectively in oak barrels that were used to produce coffee liqueurs made by the House. Our Coloma Single Cask comes from a unique barrel, and we produce 6 to 8 barrels each year, always with a final aging in an ex-coffee liqueur barrel, but this time for a shorter period (4 to 6 weeks).

Can you tell us about your latest release, the "Coffee Smoked"?

One day at the Hacienda, we noticed that the smoke from the coffee roasting was quite strong and dense, with really nice and lingering aromas. Using pipes, we channeled the roasting smoke into barrels and “smoked” them before filling them with our 8-year-old rum. The result of this rum (still to see if it's a limited edition or not) is totally different from other Coloma rums, with sweet notes of roasted coffee and smoky oak blending into a velvety texture full of flavor. Its lingering smoky moka aftertaste is a true revelation of a one-of-a-kind finishing method.

To keep reading, I suggest that you...

Discover all the rums of Colombia

Proposals received by

Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor