Lorena Vásquez. Photo courtesy of Diageo
For its return to the Philippines, Ron Zacapa invited guests to trace the journey of rum crafted in the mountains of Guatemala to an immersive dinner in Manila
When Lorena Vásquez, Ron Zacapa’s master blender of 35 years, recalls creating her first-ever rum blend, she describes it as two feelings: uncertainty and discovery. Speaking in Spanish, the Nicaraguan-born master blender recounts to Vogue Philippines how she poured her first barrel, waiting to see what would emerge from it.
“It was very epic,” she says with a laugh. “I put together rums from different barrels, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. For me, it felt like that moment you’ve been waiting for, almost like when a baby is about to be born.”
Her memory of her first blend mirrors Zacapa’s own origin story: from virgin sugarcane honey cultivated in the volcanic soils of Guatemala to the slow aging process that takes place at 2,300 meters above sea level, inside the “House Above the Clouds.”
In the Quetzaltenango Highlands, Vásquez shares what makes the guatemalteco rum unique: “Because we’re at such an altitude, there’s less oxygen, lower temperatures, and lower pressure,” she explains. “It slows everything down. That’s how we get balance, complexity, and layers of flavor.”
That sense of balance in flavors also found their way through a dining experience at Incanta Cave Bar, where guests including Sarah Lahbati, Nix Alanon, Rajo Laurel, Vanessa Matsunaga, and Jun Sunga immersed themselves in food and drink pairings made by Michelin Guide chef Frances Tariga with cocktails by Ralph Allen Santos, the 2025 World Class Bartender of the Year in the Philippines.
The menu created by chef Tariga was also a progression itself, a “tasting map of Zacapa.” Tea-smoked maya maya tiradito with scallions, puffed corn, and leche de tigre was paired with Zacapa 23 Highlands, whose notes of dried pineapple, apricot and vanilla lifted the citrus flavors of the fish. Pulpo frito with calamansi sofrito and pili gremolata followed, matched with a Zacapa Spiced Daiquiri. This is Santos’ play on acidity and warmth by bringing out the cocktail’s nutmeg and spiced ginger notes.
For the main course, costilla asada with polenta, mole negro, and ginger honey foam arrived alongside Zacapa XO Cloud Cradle, a blend aged up to 25 years with notes of toasted oak, burnt caramel, and dried mango. To close, chef Tariga served a Ron Zacapa caramel flan with burnt citrus and spiced almond crumble, paired with Zacapa XO neat, bringing out the rum’s candied orange, raspberry and roasted nut notes.
“I want people to be surprised by the complexity of aromas and flavors of the rum,” Vásquez says. “I love that with Zacapa, people can follow the journey: the discovery, the surprise, the understanding that it is easy to enjoy. Inviting someone to taste Zacapa is inviting them into a conversation.”
For Vásquez, inspiration is everywhere in Guatemala: in art, gastronomy (“every plate that the chef makes!”), perfumery, and even the play of shadows. She says “Hay mucha inspiración, hay mucho aprendizaje.” (There is so much inspiration, there is a lot of learning.)
Yet, every blend for her comes back to the same guiding thought: “What will they feel when they taste what I have created?”
After dinner, attendees ascended to the second level of Incanta, a room was transformed into a recreation of the sugarcane fields and the distillery where the Guatemalan rum is created. Led by brand ambassador Vanessa de León, the sessions unpacked the brand’s signature techniques, including its Solera System of aging.
“I always want people, when they discover Zacapa, to understand that it’s not just a rum, it’s a country. It’s Guatemala,” shares Vásquez. “It’s men and women working with passion and dedication, creating something exceptional.”
Zacapa is now available at Medusa, Incanta, and leading bars and supermarkets starting August 2025.
