Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa Rum is Venezuela’s oldest and most storied premium rum producer, founded in 1796 amidst the lush Aragua Valley. The estate’s origins date back to Martín Tovar Ponte, a pioneering figure in Venezuelan history, before its acquisition by Gustav Julius Vollmer in 1826. Now in its fifth generation of Vollmer family stewardship, Santa Teresa stands as a paragon of heritage and family tradition, boasting more than 225 years of uninterrupted excellence in rum-making.
Estate & Denomination of Origin
All Santa Teresa rum is crafted at Hacienda Santa Teresa, a single estate where every step—sugarcane cultivation, harvest, processing, fermentation, distillation, and aging—takes place under one roof. This vertical integration guarantees unparalleled traceability and quality. Certification under the Ron de Venezuela (DOC) denomination, established in 2003, further assures provenance, minimum aging, and rigorous quality standards.
Production & Distillation
Santa Teresa uses only estate-grown sugarcane and molasses, underscoring its commitment to quality and control from field to bottle.
Distillation is an artful blend of methods—combining column stills, pot stills, and heavy stills—to create rums of varying weight, complexity, and character. This diversity forms the backbone of Santa Teresa’s house style.
Initial aging spans from 4 to 35 years, using hand-selected ex-bourbon American oak barrels. This extensive maturation imparts depth, complexity, and the signature structure of Santa Teresa rums.
Triple Aging System (Signature of Santa Teresa 1796)
Santa Teresa’s world-renowned flagship, Santa Teresa 1796, is celebrated for its singular triple aging process—an intricate journey that sets it apart in the world of rum:
Separate Aging — Each rum style is aged individually, allowing its unique characteristics to develop fully before blending.
Solera System — In a cascading series of barrels, older rums are continuously married with younger rums, ensuring a harmonious and consistent profile across vintages. Remarkably, the “mother rum” first created in 1992 remains a living part of every bottling.
Solera Vat Finishing — The final blend rests in massive French Limousin oak vats, never fully emptied, where it attains the signature balance, harmony, and smoothness that define Santa Teresa 1796.
Flavor Profile & Character
Nose: Rich toffee, Madagascar vanilla, supple leather, cocoa, dried fruit, and a lift of citrus peel.
Palate: Elegantly dry and silky, unfolding flavors of caramel, dark chocolate, fine tobacco, toasted oak, and warming baking spices.
Finish: Exceptionally long, warming, and elegant, with lingering notes of toasted nuts and subtle spice.
Unlike many competitors, Santa Teresa 1796 contains only minimal added sugar (about 3 grams per bottle), resulting in a drier, more sophisticated, and balanced rum profile.
Social Responsibility — Project Alcatraz
Beyond rum, Santa Teresa is internationally recognized for Project Alcatraz—a groundbreaking rehabilitation program for former gang members and at-risk youth started in 2003. Participants are reintegrated into society through structured work, rugby, education, and values-based training. This initiative has transformed lives, dismantled gangs, and earned Santa Teresa lasting global respect for its visionary social impact.
Recognition
Santa Teresa has earned over 100 international medals at the IWSC, San Francisco Spirits Competition, and numerous other world-renowned awards—a testament to its excellence and craftsmanship.
Critics consistently praise Santa Teresa 1796 as one of the world’s finest solera-aged rums, celebrated for its elegance, complexity, and signature dry style.
Today, Santa Teresa is recognized globally as Venezuela’s flagship rum—a proud ambassador of its terroir, heritage, and relentless innovation in both rum-making and social responsibility.
