Reviving historical crops to safeguard the agricultural heritage of Tenerife, once known as one of the sugar islands, on the brink of the year 1500 and a significant part of the century. This is the driving force behind the Nacho Zerolo project, the mastermind behind a group of entrepreneurial spirits from Tenerife, a blend of ethnography, initially, and current business prospects, with a long-term goal set for 2029.
From growing sugar cane to producing rum. This is the cycle now being repeated in a distinctive 21st-century distillery that emulates the model established in 1492, after the Conquest of Canarias by the Castilian crown. Back then, mills, refining houses, boilers, and beautiful manor houses were built. The refined sugars turned into a sweet bridge, with pillars firmly rooted in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, connecting the Canaries and the European continent, with nods to Africa and America.
Artisan Distillery
Zerolo prefers to refer to it as an artisan distillery rather than an ingenio, as it is “a bit too pretentious.” Situated in the El Amparo district of Icod de los Vinos, with its origins dating back to 1885 and spanning over 6,000 square meters. The rum headquarters are a twenty-minute drive away – guided tours have already kicked off successfully, with over 300 visitors since February – from the 2,500 square meter plantation in La Caleta de Interián, in Garachico.
Agricultural Heritage
Contributing to the recovery of the agricultural heritage for tourism purposes, precisely in the only area, the Daute region (referred to as Dante in some European literature), planted after the arrival of the Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo in Tenerife. A realm of cereals, wine, and sugar cane – of excellent quality – hence, Zerolo believes “we cannot speak of monoculture.” The cycle, originating from Papua and developing further in India, started in Madeira, where the renowned Henry the Navigator transported the product, eventually reaching the Canaries (Tenerife, La Palma, and Gran Canaria), sailing across the Atlantic to the Antilles and back to the Archipelago. Success awaited in the Caribbean with a laborious process that yielded significant profits, driven by factors impossible to replicate: intense heat, abundant water for extensive cultivation, a surplus of labour – predominantly African slaves – and Canarian Guanches for cutting and transporting the cane and wood – the cause of deforestation in Gran Canaria.
Sugar cane: back to the 16th century / José Domingo Méndez
The first harvest
The spokesperson acknowledges, “because they deserve it,” those who carried out the first harvest in April last year. Alongside him were Eloy González father and son, Manuel Marichal Padrón and Aarón Barreto. They brought sugarcane from San Andrés and Sauces (La Palma) to Tenerife, as there had been none since 1982, despite there once being 26 mills on the island – six or seven of excellent quality, particularly in the Isla Baja and Daute region, now undergoing revival. On his second voyage, Christopher Columbus took it to the Caribbean. Zerolo recalls the guidance provided by the retired History professor from the University of La Laguna, Ana Viñas.
The process
In the year 2000, they identified the areas where sugarcane was cultivated, with the first trials arriving in 2022. After numerous attempts, they located the land in 2023, 2.5 kilometres from the historic mill of La Caleta, and began planting sugarcane. The name Cañayron encapsulates the concept. On one side, the cane; on the other, the rum resulting from its process (to be named Ron 1500). With the original stamp from 1665 Jamaica and a previous source from Bermuda. The heir of the mill found in that La Caleta house in 1883. It was there, at the end of the 19th century, that sugarcane cultivation was revived. Once more in Daute, where Fernández de Lugo roamed, and the heart of the current plantation.
Another circle closes, one characterised by the chronological dates 1500, 1883, and 2023. The next link in the chain will be 2029: “This is a romantic investment looking five years ahead,” explains Zerolo. The first product from that initial harvest will hit the market then; thus, the rum will bear explicit traceability from harvest to bottle. The aim is to revive a traditional crop and commercialise an exclusive rum. The route can be followed in 40 minutes. From cane, the sweet fruit of Tenerife’s countryside eagerly awaited by the capital’s children when the truck distributed it in the sixties of the last century, to rum, the drink of privateers – better than pirates – and sailors, in general. The goal: to possess one of the world’s best rums by 2030, with limited production and a slow, professional, artisanal approach.
