San Juan Sightseeing Activity End With Free Rum Drinks
With all those bars serving fresh mojitos and the flavor of Caribbean rum in the air, it’s almost a given that a tour of the Bacardi factory is in order for any visitor to San Juan.
The company is an amazing success story, a family-run business that has become the world’s #1 producer of rum. The tour traces the history to the present and ends with a complimentary tasting of drinks featuring Bacardi products.
At each stage, a cheerful tour guide explains everything about their particular area. This continual changing of the guides is like a baton hand-off at a track meet.
It begins with a tram ride that gives the mistaken impression this will be a Disneyland-type experience. The tram ride, tho, ends at the first stop, a movie theater featuring an 8-minute, fast-paced film that makes single people want to sprint to the nearest nightclub.
From there it’s off to a replica of second-generation Emilio Bacard’s office – his reading glasses are glued to his desk, discouraging a goofy photo op – adjacent to a room stacked to the ceiling with rum barrels.
At the next stop, the “sniffing stations” are unique and insightful. Small barrels of various rum samples – some at various stages of development – are in small rooms; pull up the lid to smell the rums. A few make you want to crush some mint leaves and take a taste.
Another room features a bartender explaining – but not actually making – various rum drinks. The grand finish is a club-like room with an intoxicating stack of Bacardi bottles and wrap-around screens showing high-energy videos. A very cool feature is the ability to create a short video and e-mail it to friends.
It begins with a tram ride that gives the mistaken impression this will be a Disneyland-type experience. That ends at the first stop, a movie theater featuring an 8-minute, fast-paced film that makes single people want to sprint to the nearest nightclub.
From there it’s off to a replica of second-generation Emilio Bacard’s office – his reading glasses are glued to his desk, discouraging a goofy photo op – adjacent to a room stacked to the ceiling with rum barrels.
At the next stop, the “sniffing stations” are unique and insightful. Small barrels of various rum samples – some at various stages of development – are in small rooms; pull up the lid to smell the rums. A few make you want to crush some mint leaves and take a taste.
Another room features a bartender explaining – but not actually making – various rum drinks. The grand finish is a club-like room with an intoxicating stack of Bacardi bottles and wrap-around screens showing high-energy videos. A very cool feature is the ability to create a short video and e-mail it to friends.
By this time, you realize that is missing is an actual tour of the distilling process; rather, screens show the process in short film segments.
The final stop is a return to the starting point but it’s not straight to the bar for the two 6-ounce drink samples just yet. The tram pulls up to the door of “Casa Bacardi” which is a fancy way of saying “gift shop.”
Let it be noted that while all the rums are available for purchase, some of the same bottles are significantly cheaper at the airport’s duty free shop. A bottle of 8-year-old, for example, sells for $19 at Casa Bacardi and $12 at the airport (duty free purchases are allowed when flying to the States).
The end of the tour means it’s onto tasting the rum! They give you two 6-ounce drinks of your choice.
BACARDI RUM TOUR FACTS, TIPS & TRANSPORTATION:
• The tour is free and includes two tickets for drink samples.
• The last tour is at 4:15 p.m., 3:45 on Sundays.
• It is located across Cana de San Antonio bay, about a mile from the ferry terminal. The ferry, located across from the Sheraton in Old Town, runs every half hour, takes 15 minutes and costs just 50 cents.
• From there, turn right to catch a taxi ($3 per person, each way) or a city bus ($1.50 each way) for the 10-minute ride to Bacardi. Note: Waiting for the bus can cost more time than the actual wait; you may arrive too late to take a tour and have to wait for the next one (45 minutes).
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