Postcard from Guatemala (delayed)

I just finished up a week traveling in the Guatemalan Highlands on an assignment – alas, one that did not involve rum, at least not in a professional sense. But I consumed much, and was surprised at the wide availability and popularity of caipirhinas in gringo bars in even the smallest of villages around Lake Atitlan.Of course, limes are cheap, sugar plentiful, and Botran XL white rum – which is the standard pour in gringo bars, it appears – is harsh. The outcome can hardly be a surprise. It's visiting history all over again.

Among the pleasant surprises was the duty free shop at the airport – because of vagaries of Guatemala City traffic, I ended up at the airport nearly four hours before my flight. And that turned out to be OK. The rum selection has improved much in the airport since my last trip two years ago – there's now a pretty decent stock, with the Barbancourt 15-year-old from Haiti, several varieties of Flor de Cana from Nicaragua, and a variety of Zacapa rums that I haven't seen in the states, including the 25-year-old, and a special edition deeply aged rum released for the 30th anniversary of the brand. It's priced at $105, which includes two custom Riedel glasses, crafted on comission from Zacapa. (More on those in a few days.)

I didn't break out my wallet for this, but was nicely surprised when the sales clerk pointed to the bottle and asked if I'd like a sip. Um, well, yes. And it was delicious – slightly more woody, less sweet than the 23-year Zacapa Centenario that I'm so fond of. I fell in to sipping with a surgeon from Portland, Ore. named Brian, and after we finished he was good enough to chase the clerk around and explain in his imperfect Spanish that we hadn't quite made our decision to buy yet, and was muy importante that we have a second sample. Guatemalans are polite and gracious to an extreme, and she was very accommodating. And we felt a little bad about not buying.

We both did end dropping some dollars -- Brian bought two one-liter bottles of the 23-year-old Centenario for $65, including tax. It's usually priced at $35 to $40 in the U.S. for 750 mls, so he got a deal. He also got a Havana Club and, I think, a Flor de Cana.

Me, I went with a cask-strength Havana Club ($27 for a liter), which I had heard about but hadn't yet tasted. (No samples, alas.) I'll report on that in due time.

But now: I'm in Tampa. I just got in an hour ago. Tomorrow is the start of the International Cane Spirits Festival, where I'm judging. So look for more reports and photos on that in the near future. Like, with some luck, tomorrow.