Santiago de Cuba and its Teacher
On the 4th of February of 1862, Don Fernando Bacardi gave birth to what I consider the revolution of Ron Ligero Cubano, in the extreme south of Cuba. Here, there is a city called “La Cuña” where Tranquilino Palencia Estruch comes from. Tranquilino is a very important figure in the story of Ron, and I had the opportunity to meet him in October at the “ShowRum” festival in Rome. He is known as Tano and he is the creator of the Ron Santiago de Cuba’s style.
In the city which is geographically opposite to Havana there are the most ancient distillery near the train station in Paralejo 103 street –between San Antonio and San Ricardo- and the Nave Don Pancho, situated in an extended area which includes the distillery where 250 people work.
Nave Don Pancho is a historic storage and aging warehouse also known as “La catedral”. Within it there are more than 90 years barrels rigorously made of white oak which, combined with the latest ones, guarantee the quality and the maintenance of the Cuba Ron’s culture. The legend tells that also the passage of the trains shaking the barrels influenced the process of aging and confined the distillate molasses in a magical component.
Tano was born here in 1947 from a very patriotic family with a strong link to the historical and cultural background of the country. After having concluded the primary education in “De la salle” school –whose maxim was: “ God, Country and Family”- he graduated in chemical engineering at the University of the East in 1972 and then he began to work at the Company’s Nickel Pedro Soto Alba. This experience allowed him to learn about the technological complexity of the industry, contributing to form the human and industrial qualities of the great teacher that now he is.
Thanks to the commitment and to the skills that Tano – a very quiet person- acquired during his academic experience , he managed to fill a lot of technical roles in the society and to become a member of the “Rama Minero Metalurgica de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba”. He also took part in some international events which allowed to travel around the ocean in such places as Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania.
“After the European experience, in 1983, I came back to Santiago and thanks to a richer cultural baggage and to a stronger personality I started working for the “Empresa de Bebidas Y Licores” as person in charge of the quality control department. Here I fell in love with the Ronera industry, a voyage that during the last thirty years have brought me to know and discover all the secrets of the ron ligero cubano” Tano told me.
In 2003 the “Corporación Cuba Ron” elected him as Maestro Ronero, for the result of the work made during the “Defensa de la Tradicion Ronera” and for the cultural and historical contribution that he made to the city of Santiago de Cuba.
From there onwards, he dealt in the Ron Santiago section, starting from Carta Blanca and Añejo, Añejo Superior11y and Ron Extra Añejo12y to the most important products: the 20y and the 25y created intentionally for the 495° anniversary of the city foundation. It was exclusively used by Fidel Castro as a tribute to the important personalities which were visiting the island.
“ The value of man –he told me with that charisma which characterised him- comes before the capacity to create and manage a winery. During all my life I’ve never stopped learning and studying deeply the story of Santiago, where the romera tradition is such ingrained that it joins everyone of its “sons”. The aging Nave “Don Pancho” –he explained me with great emphasis- has historical, cultural, technical and scientific qualities of a priceless value for the whole Cuban people.
The link which exists between any Maestro and his barrels is unbreakable; everyone of us discovers and assigns to the barrels the unique and specific characteristics that will contribute to the final product. Without these parts – he ended smiling – it wouldn’t exist any Ronera tradition”. Tano’ s words and the Santiago 12y and 11y that we taste slowly, allow me to understand the greatness of the island’s tradition and the importance of the Biblioteca des Maestros, a place where the work diaries are achieved, from 1862 to nowadays, that is like a temple only accessible to the teachers which succeeded to Don Facundo Bacardi. In spite of a single year of difference written on the label, the two ron are different in their essence, as if they came from two different distilleries. As a matter of fact, Tarquilino explains me how he recreated the Santiago 11y using the Matuzalem tradition and the 12y following the Bacardi’s style.
One month after this meeting – which it was made possible by Alex Bombardelli, the Italian exchange importer- I can still feel the emotions that I discover in front of such a considerable figure, who has contributed to tell the world the tradition, the story and the culture of Cuban people through the Ron.
Marco Graziano
