That’s the Spirit - Dos Maderas Rum

A Versatile Luxury Rum Experience

DOS MADERAS RUMS AGING PROCESS YIELDS UNIQUE AND EXCLUSIVE SPIRITS

By Christina Staalstrom

COMBINE AGED CARIBBEAN RUMS WITH

150-years of enduring tradition and art of blending sherry and brandy at Bodegas Williams & Humbert in Spain’s Jerez region, and you get very compelling rums. Add to this perfect composition the awardwinning and passionate Paola Medina Sheldon, winemaker and master blender, and you get a unique and exclusive rum.

Paola joined Bodegas Williams & Humbert in 2010 as its technical director and winemaker after creating wine for Ciudad Real. She belongs to the second generation of the Medina family, which owns Bodegas Williams & Humbert. She grew up in the business surrounded by butts and barrels filled with vintages ready for blending, as is called for in the classic Solera aging system. So, it is no wonder that Paola turned to barrels when putting her blending and tasting skills into producing the unique Dos Maderas Rums.

Dos Maderas, meaning “two woods,” is a reference to the rums double aging process. A blend of Guyanese and Barbados rums age in the Caribbean in American oak casks in their respective production countries. Afterward, the rum travels to the Williams & Humbert bodega in Jerez de la Frontera, where they are blended and age further, solera-style, in ex-sherry casks, making for a rum with tremendous character and balance of flavor. Paola tells us that she aims to achieve two flavor profiles by selecting aged Caribbean rums and unique aging processes. Dos Maderas is aged using the criaderas and solera systems whereby the rum is aged in casks, which have been previously aged with its 20-years-old Palo Cortado “Dos Cortados” and the 20-years-old Pedro Ximénez “Don Guido.” “These casks, like no others, contribute their unique characteristics and define the organoleptic expression that becomes Dos Maderas.”

Paola Medina Sheldon

WINEMAKER & MASTER BLENDER

Considered the largest aging facility in Europe, the Bodegas Williams & Humbert building covers about 750,000 square feet or the equivalent of approximately 15 football fields. It is the largest single winery under one roof, holding 60,000 American oak aging casks used for aging its brandy, rum, and sherry.

As the first and only woman in the Jerez region to be named cellar lead, Paola’s award-winning blending prowess is a testament to her philosophy that “the protagonist should be the wine and spirits regardless the gender.” Paola shares that now, more than ever, skill and know-how are essential to creating the right team. For her, the wine and spirit is the focus, and the word “diversity” we so often hear in our industry points her mind and conversation focus to the values of the rum category and its incredible versatility. Not only when it can be consumed but the different ways to do so.

“In my opinion, consumers are discovering that rum is more versatile in its uses than any other spirits. You have light, heavy, white, gold, extra-aged, flavored. No other spirit is used the way rum is. Mass consumption of rum is here to stay, and it will continue to grow as more and more consumers discover that rum is not only a party drink. Rum can be sipped, it can be premium, it can be luxury, and it tastes great too.”