Live Visit To The Tarlac Distillery: In The Plains Of Central Luzon, Luisita Rum Leads The Philippines Rum Revolution
Nestled in the heart of Central Luzon’s sugarcane plains lies one of the Philippines’ largest and oldest rum distilleries — the Tarlac Distillery Corporation (TADISCO), perhaps more commonly known by the rum it produces, Luisita Rum. Its roots can be traced to the year 1881 when the estate, Hacienda Luisita, was founded by the Compañía General de Tobacos de Filipina. Initially dedicated to the cultivation of tobacco leaves, the estate, with the guidance of a certain German consultant, eventually unveiled its latent potential as a sugarcane farm. This transformation was accompanied by the installation of a copper column still in the year 1928 that remains in use to this day.
It was not until 1958 that the Cojuangco family came into ownership of the estate, and with it the sugar mill, Central Azucarera de Tarlac, and the distillery. This was the moment that established TADISCO as the first of a handful of Single Estate Rums one can find in the Philippines, exemplifying the very notion of “farm to bottle” where cane is grown, milled, distilled, and matured, all within that one singular estate. Yet the brand Luisita only came into being in 2016, when siblings Paco Cojuangco and Annika Cojuangco assumed the helm of operations at TADISCO. This pivotal moment arose from the acquisition of the mill and distillery from their extended paternal family, orchestrated by their father and his business partner.
Fast forward to today, Luisita has undoubtedly become a leading figure in elevating the Philippines as an origin in the category of sophisticated and high-quality rums. It was a calculated decision to move TADISCO away from the bulk rum market, and instead focus their efforts to springboard Luisita into the fast-growing premium rum market. It all begins with the cultivation of cane, selecting varietals that yield high sugar content, a key to producing treacly, rich, and sweet molasses with a higher content of fermentable sugars, unlike blackstrap molasses which are usually intense and taste predominantly of liquorice.
Fermentation takes place in large 800,000-litre closed vats over a period of approximately 24 hours, utilising a particular strain of yeast that has been with the distillery for several decades, which Paco explains in an interview with 88 Bamboo is merely basic brewer’s yeast that has been carefully cultivated over the decades, extracted from some of the best production years. That said, Paco had also let on about his experiments with wild fermentations too, though used only for a fraction of the rums they produce, and primarily for experimental rums distilled on their newly acquired 400-litre pot still. The overwhelming majority of their rums are instead distilled on their heritage copper twin column still, which in a year or two would be marking a significant milestone in Luisita’s history by celebrating its centenary.
Maturation then takes place mainly in ex-bourbon or ex-sherry casks, both Oloroso and Pedro Jimenez, as the avid Luisita rum fans would have already discovered from their single-barrel releases. Even their choice of ex-bourbon casks is a considered one, of which Paco revealed to be from only Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey because of how Luisita’s distillates meld perfectly with these casks. In a mere two to three years of tropical ageing, these rums develop some rather delectable flavours, but most unique of them all is that particular note of candied bananas that one can pick out and immediately recognise its pedigree. That to me is the mark of an excellent Luisita rum, and it is simply bewildering how people in the past had asked for that banana-esque note to be removed completely.
All in all, it was an excellent trip to TADISCO, despite the not-so-welcoming weather that forestalled our visit to the cane fields. Nonetheless, I was very grateful to Paco, Annika, Andrea Cojuangco, and the rest of the TADISCO team for being so warm and inviting, and taking the time to host The Rum Cartel on a weekend. Cheers!
