128: Uruapan Charanda: 100+ Years of Making Mexico's Other "Rum" with Miriam Pacheco
You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.
In this episode, after a quick discussion of potential bottles for our Rumcast Single Cask Project, we dive into all things charanda with Miriam Pacheco, the general manager of Uruapan Charanda.
If you're familiar with the aguardientes de caña from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, think of charanda like their cousin from the state of Michoacán — a similar Mexican cane spirit that is often made from fresh sugarcane juice, but can also be made from molasses or piloncillo. Once among the hundreds of charanda producers in the state, Uruapan is now one of only two or three remaining. Miriam talked us through the distillery's 100+ year history, including:
What separates charanda from other Mexican cane spirits
Why they put "rum" in quotation marks on their label
Why the number of charanda producers has dwindled over the years
The range of distillates they produce from their collection of pot and column stills
Their newer line of single cane varietal rums
What you might find aging in their warehouse of 400+ casks
And much more!
As we've said before, there's no shortage of interesting cane spirits coming out of Mexico these days. Uruapan is definitely one of them.
Check out these links to learn more:
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