El Ron de Venezuela : A national culture

3 October 2023 | Discover
El Ron de Venezuela : A national culture

It has been over 20 years now that Venezuelan rum has been granted a DO and then a DOC, a Controlled Designation of Origin. It was in 2000 that the state launched a policy to protect local and national productions. In 2003, when Ron de Venezuela obtained this Designation, only Chuao cocoa and Pecaya cocuy (Agave liqueur) had this protection. It was then the first molasses rum in the world to establish a DOC.

Rum: A Popular Beverage

Ron is an intrinsic part of Venezuelan culture. It is one of the Latin American countries where rum is most present in daily life. Fernando Ochoa, the general director of the Venezuelan Rum Promotion Fund (Fonproven) aptly reminds us: "We were producing rum well before we were called Venezuela."

The political fluctuations of recent years have strengthened the position of rum in Venezuela. Indeed, while the country was the second largest consumer of whisky on the continent, behind Uruguay, the increased cost of imported products has enabled producers to promote to the Venezuelan consumer a product that has been continuously improving since the 1990s, at a reasonable price.

Furthermore, the DOC that Venezuelan rum benefits from includes about a dozen companies located in the states of Aragua, Barinas, Carabobo, Cojedes, Lara, Miranda, Monagas, Portuguesa, Sucre, Táchira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, and Zulia, which covers 13 of the 23 states in the country. This gives a broad national base to rum production. For example, Ron Santa Teresa operates in the state of Aragua, Ron Carupano in the states of Yaracuy, Sucre, and Lara, Destillarias Unidas (Diplomatico) in the states of Lara, Portuguesa, and Aragua, and Diageo Venezuela CA (Pampero and Cacique) in the states of Portuguesa, Lara, and Yaracuy

More broadly, the economic weight of rum in Venezuela contributes to its popularity.

A rapidly growing economic sector

Rum is part of the prestigious industries of Venezuela. Rum producers are grouped in the Fondo de Promocion del Ron de Venezuela (Fonproven), founded in 2008. The Fund includes thirteen distilleries from Venezuela such as Santa Teresa, Destilerías Unidas, Complejo Industrial Licorero del Centro, Destilería Carúpano, Destilería Veroes, Rones del Caribe, Corporación Alcoholes del Caribe, Alcoholes y Añejos Monagas, Industrias Bravo, Celiveca, Alnova, and Diageo Venezuela. Together, they represent over 90% of the production and create 2500 direct jobs and more than 9000 indirect jobs.

The rum industry is among the sectors that have seen the most significant growth in recent years. In 2022, the market generated sales of over 9 million liters. Today, the rum sector accounts for 3% of the national GDP.

The premiumization strategy of Venezuelan rums that began in the late 1990s has led to an increase in medals at international competitions. About 30% of Venezuelan production is exported to around a hundred countries.

A Controlled Designation of Origin

After years of working on the quality of Venezuelan rum, on August 15, 2003, the Autonomous Service of Property, through Resolution No. 798, recognized the Denomination of Origin (DO) of Ron de Venezuela.

In 2019, the standard was revised to harmonize productions, assess the maintenance of quality over time, and strengthen technical characteristics. The Denomination of Origin was then upgraded to a Controlled Denomination of Origin. Quality is now monitored by state agencies.

The main rules of the DOC are as follows:

- The rum must be exclusively distilled from sugarcane products. While the production of molasses rum is significant, it is possible to produce rum from honey or pure sugarcane juice. This raw material must originate from Venezuela.

- The must resulting from fermentation must measure between 7 and 9 degrees. Regarding molasses, it must be diluted in about four volumes of pure water. The fermentation process includes certain controls, such as temperature and acidity.

- Distillation can be done in a column or pot still. It should not exceed 96%. The Venezuelan classification distinguishes between heavy and light rums.

- Rums are casked at between 50 and 80%, in oak barrels of at least 150 liters. The rum must age for at least two years to qualify for the DOC.

- It is then up to the Maestro Ronero to select the barrels of his choice, which will subsequently be blended.

At each stage of production, a series of chemical and sensory analyses is conducted to ensure compliance with established standards.

If Venezuelan rum is today overrepresented in Europe by the brand Diplomatico, it nonetheless brings in its wake a myriad of Ron that we only know through certain references. Venezuelan Ron has a richness that is still hard to imagine in our European lands. The Maestro Ronero have been working for several years now, to elevate the quality of Venezuelan Ron, thereby continuing to promote this national product on the global stage.

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Written by

Matthieu Lange conseiller en spiritueux
Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor