“Puerto Rico is known as the rum capital of the world,” Eduardo Bacardi, member of the Bacardi family (yes, that one) and the sales and marketing director at Ron del Barrilito, tells me over the phone. It’s part of the island’s culture and history, as well as industry: the island produces more than 70 percent of the rum sold on the United States mainland.
Photo: J Duquette/Shutterstock
How to Taste Your Way Through Puerto Rico, the Rum Capital of the World
That makes it “a great place to come learn about rum,” he continues. At formal tasting rooms, but also in hotel bars, restaurants, neighborhood cocktail spots, and roadside stops. “Pretty much anywhere you go,” Bacardi says, whether it’s “someone behind a bar or someone in a restaurant,” they’ll want to tell you about rum.
Eduardo Bacardi. Photo: Ron del Barrilito
Bacardi is an unusually good person to make that case. He’s a sixth-generation member of the Bacardi family, and, by his own telling, someone who grew up with rum as a sort of inheritance. “I can almost say that I have it in my blood,” he says. His father, grandfather, and generations before them all worked in the industry. Now, instead of representing one of the world’s biggest rum names, he’s focused on telling the story of Ron del Barrilito, the historic Hacienda Santa Ana rum house that traces back to 1880. It’s the island’s oldest rum still made in the same place and in the same way.
When I asked Bacardi about the ethos that has carried the brand for nearly a century and a half, he brings up one of his favorite stories. Years ago, he says, a high-profile global spirits executive visited the Fernández family, who had long run the company, to tour the facilities and sample the rum. The family walked him through production and sat at a table, where the executive revealed he had come to try and buy Ron del Barrilito, not just learn more about how the rum was made. According to the family story, the man signed a blank check and slid it across the table, telling Fernando Fernández to fill in whatever number he wanted. Fernández responded by pulling a revolver from a drawer, setting it on the table, and telling him to get off the property.
Photo: Ron del Barrilito
Confirming all those details is as hard as confirming any local lore passed down through a household. But it rings true to Bacardi. As beloved as the rum was on the island, the business side of the operation was run more by feeling than strict bookkeeping. Eventually, when the time came to pass on Ron del Barrilito’s operations, they wanted it in the hands of another rum family. That’s when Bacardi stepped in to continue the brand’s legacy — each bottle still has the name Edmundo B. Fernández, the son of the founder, on the front label.
Casual visitors to Puerto Rico may not hear these family stories, but they will see and taste plenty of rum. Rum threads through parties and nights out, especially during the holiday season and the many festivals through the year. Then there’s chinchorreo, the mountainside bar-hopping tradition of piling friends into a bus or car, driving up the hills, and making frequent stops at chinchorros, the humble roadside bars with open views, live music, fried snacks, and drinks. You have a round, climb back in, keep going, and eventually end up at the same stop as everyone else. “Lots of music, lots of drinking, lots of food,” Bacardi says.
The historic Hacienda Santa Ana rum house. Photo: Ron del Barrilito
Clearly, you don’t need to look far to dive into Puerto Rico’s rum culture. But to really understand it, Bacardi says, ask local bartenders and waiters and rum staff questions, then follow the answers. And to go to Hacienda Santa Ana in Bayamón, about 15 minutes from San Juan — Bacardi may be biased here, but the reasoning is sound. Ron del Barrilito’s visitor experience combines a historical walk through the hacienda with either a guided tasting or a mixology session.
Outside of the Hacienda, these are Eduardo Bacardi’s suggestions for some of the best places to experience rum in Puerto Rico.
Restaurants
Bacardi notes that restaurants are often where travelers first understand how rum fits into the island’s hospitality. When visitors ask for something local, he says, that’s usually when the real conversation starts.
- Cocina al Fondo: Puerto Rican cuisine with a focus on local farmers, fishermen, and producers (naturally, meals best started with a rum cocktail).
- Casita Miramar: This longtime Miramar favorite serves authentic Puerto Rican food with local products and ingredients from the family’s farm in Manatí.
- Casita Blanca: Located in a 1920s house in Santurce, Casita Blanca leans fully into the flavors of Puerto Rican home cooking and the kind of old-school atmosphere that makes an aged rum after dinner feel especially right.
- Vianda: Vianda’s small, constantly evolving farm-to-table menu focuses on local ingredients and local agriculture.
- Lala: In The Mall of San Juan, Lala offers upscale contemporary cuisine and a dressed-up, nightlife-adjacent dining experience for travelers who want a sleek dinner before moving on to cocktails.
- Bottles: What began as a wine shop has grown into a broader food-and-drink institution with bars, private dining rooms, and one of the widest wine selections in Puerto Rico, making it a good stop for travelers whose group may not all be drinking rum at the same pace.
- La Central by Mario Pagán: La Central frames itself as a modern tropical steakhouse inspired by Puerto Rican cuisine, with fire, sugarcane, and rum baked directly into the concept.
- MĀRO: Chef Mario Pagán’s Santurce restaurant blends Latin American and Pacific Rim influences in a design-forward room where the bar program also draws on Caribbean botanicals and house-made infusions.
- Andaluz: Inside Alma San Juan, Andaluz builds its identity around the historical ties between Andalucía, Spain, and Puerto Rico.
Bars
For Bacardi, Puerto Rico’s best bars share one thing: the person behind the bar wants to teach you something. That might happen in a salsa room, in a serious cocktail den, or in a scruffy dive.
- La Factoría: Bacardi’s top pick for dancing, La Factoría pairs acclaimed cocktails with El Shingaling, its salsa room, where live music and dancing keep Old San Juan’s nightlife energy very much alive.
- Antiguo 26: A high-end cocktail bar in a historic building once tied to one of Puerto Rico’s earliest soda factories, Antiguo 26 is one of his best bets for polished drinks and a bar team that can talk intelligently about rum.
- 173°: Bacardi describes 173° as education-first, the kind of place where you might find serious drinking or a seminar-level deep dive depending on when you show up.
- Bar Bero: A sharp contemporary cocktail stop in San Juan, and one Bacardi flags as a standout for travelers who want a bar with real local credibility.
- Identidad Cocktail Bar: A worthwhile addition for travelers interested in a cocktail menu shaped by Caribbean and Latin flavors rather than generic luxury-bar formulas.
- El Batey: The classic Old San Juan dive, with graffiti-covered walls, a pool table, and drinks that speak for themselves in a casual atmosphere.
Hotels
Photo: La Concha Resort, Puerto Rico, Autograph Collection
A good hotel bar can function as a first lesson, a tasting flight, and a planning session for the rest of the trip, all before you’ve figured out tomorrow’s dinner reservation.
- La Concha Resort: On Condado Beach, La Concha pairs the usual resort glamour with multiple dining and bar venues shaped by Puerto Rican flavors and a nightlife-friendly energy.
- Condado Vanderbilt: Bacardi highlights the Vanderbilt for its cocktail culture, and the hotel’s VC Lounge leans into that with handcrafted drinks in a polished, old-money-meets-modern setting.
- Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve: In Dorado, Bacardi points to the Ritz-Carlton Reserve as an experience-driven luxury stay that works closely with Ron del Barrilito and fits travelers looking for a more secluded, high-end base.
- Four Seasons Resort Puerto Rico at Bahía Beach: Another of Bacardi’s outside-the-metro picks, recommended for travelers who want a resort experience that still makes space for local rum culture.