Five years after Panama seceded from Colombia, Don Jose Varela a young Spanish entrepreneur opened the first sugar mill in Pes, a small city situated in southern Panama. Thirty years later, Varela began distilling the excess sugar cane that he harvested into rum. While rum has traditionally been associated with the Caribbean islands, the rum matured in Pes is uniquely flavorful due to Panama's climate. The tropical rainfall, humid days and breezy nights produce incredibly ripe sugar cane, and add character and personality to the rum as it matures. Today, Luis J. Varela Don Jose's grandson represents the third-generation of master distillers in his family. "Our brand is the expression of our long and passionate quest to produce the finest aged rum in the world,"Varela says. Ron Abuelo Centuria Rum is a limited-edition rum crafted exclusively from sugar cane harvested on the Varela Estate. While many sugarcane farmers burn their fields prior to harvesting their plants (burning enables faster cultivation), Varela refuses to use flame-harvesting due to the detrimental effects it has on the sugars residing in the base of the cane stalk. Rather, when the sugarcane reaches its peak of maturity, expert farmers at the Varela Estate tenderly harvest the crops by hand. Once the cane has been harvested, it is shredded at the distillery before being fermented and distilled. Following distillation, the rum is solera-aged for up to 30 years. Solera aging is a process that has generally been reserved for aging cognacs, ports and sherries. It involves filling a series of casks at different intervals over a long period of time. As rum from the oldest cask is emptied and bottled, the cask is re-filled with an equivalent amount of rum from the second-oldest cask in the solera. This cascading effect continues until the youngest cask in the solera is filled with new rum. As a result, no cask in the solera is ever fully emptied. In addition, as the younger rum cascades through the solera, its average age and complexity gradually increases over time. Ron Abuelo Centuria Rum was crafted to celebrate the distillery's 100th anniversary. The rum has a dark caramel color, along with an aroma of sweet vanilla, toffee and chocolate. The aroma gives way to notes of crme br?le, molasses, coffee and dark tea on the palate, and finishes with a touch of sweetness. The rum was named one of the top 10 rums by Gayot, and was rated one of the Top 50 Spirits by Wine Enthusiast, which gave it a score of 97 points. In addition, it earned a score of 96 points from the Beverage Testing Institute, which said that it was "a fantastically flavorful and balanced sipping rum." 

In 1908, Don Jose Varela Blanco, a young Spanish entrepreneur, opened the first sugar mill in Pes just five years after Panama seceded from Colombia. With the encouragement and help of his three eldest sons, he began distilling spirits in 1936 in the same town where it all began. Today, Luis J. Varela, Jr. is the third generation of the Varela family running the company. "Our brand is the expression of our long and passionate quest to produce the finest aged rum in the world," Varela says. While rum is aged across different regions of the world, the rum distilled in Pes is uniquely flavorful due to the climate in Panama.The tropical rainfall, humid days and breezy nights add character and personality to the development of the rum.In addition, the Varela family controls the entire rum-making process from grain to glass they grow, hand-pick and hand-harvest their own sugar cane, distill it into rum and age it in used, bourbon white oak casks in Pes.Their commitment to making the finest rum in the world earned them a gold medal at the 2009 Ministry of Rum Tasting Competition and a double gold medal at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Distilled in a four-column still and aged for a minimum of seven years, Ron Abuelo Anejo 7 Aos has a nose of toffee and butterscotch and notes of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and oak. "Abuelo means grandfather in Spanish, and the old man image on our labels reflects the essence of this brand: heritage and tradition," says Varela Jr.