Ron Abuelo means "grandfather's rum," and the grandfather in question is Don José Varela Blanco, an 18-year-old from Galicia who sailed for the Americas in 1891 and settled in Panama two years later. In 1908 he founded the San Isidro Sugar Mill in the town of Pesé — the first sugar mill in the newly formed Republic of Panama — and distilling followed in the 1930s. Varela Hermanos is now run by the third generation of the family, remains 100% Panamanian, and produces roughly 90% of the spirits consumed in the country, including Panama's national drink, Seco Herrerano. The operation controls its entire supply chain: over 1,600 hectares of estate sugarcane at Hacienda San Isidro in Herrera Province, pressed, fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled on site, backed by one of the largest and oldest aged rum reserves anywhere — more than 120,000 American white oak barrels. The classic range runs Añejo, 7 Años, 12 Años, and Centuria, a solera-aged family reserve launched to mark the company's 2008 centenary. The adventurous side is the Finish Collection, which gives the rum a second maturation in Oloroso sherry, Napoleon cognac, and Tawny port casks, plus Two Oaks and Three Angels, finished in first-use extra-charred barrels commissioned specifically for the house.

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