Capirote; The Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
This is a small bird, with a sombre and discreet colour, pleasant song, agile flight, active and restless flight that feeds on insects and fruit. This subspecies is endemic to Macaronesia.
After the introduction of sugar cane to Europe by the Arabs, Macaronesia specifically Madeira and theCanary Islands, supplied a large portion of Europe with this product and provided a launching point to the new world together with Christopher Columbus.
The sugar cane also led to the tradition of rum in the Canary Islands. The first distilleries were installed by Flemish and Genoese masters at the beginning of the 17th century. Then, small agricultural distilleries started to appear, distilling the fermented cane juice to turn it into spirits. Unfortunately, due to the requirements of an increasingly demanding market, the rum producers started to become sugar factories and to produce rum using molasses, the main waste from sugar production.
Luckily, there are still small producers that continue to respect the direct distilling of the cane juice, such as the Aldea Distillery on the island of La Palma. Here, with the guidance of the Quevedo Family and the master Santiago Bronchales, our rums are born as a homage to the Canary Island rum tradition.
Photograph by Javier Mendia García
