The Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao is open for tourism once again, Caribbean Journal has confirmed. 

On Jan. 1, Curaçao officially reopened to all international travelers, following a limited reopening. 

“Our borders are now fully open #WelcomeBack to our global visitors,” the Curacao Tourist Board said in a statement. 

And yes, that includes travelers from the United States. During its phased reopening, the island had only been allowing travelers from a handful of U.S. states. 

Now, it’s open to everyone who complies with the island’s entry protocols. 

So what does that mean for travelers?

All travelers to Curaçao have to complete a digital immigration card that can be found here. 

Within 48 hours before departure, each visitor needs toil out a {passenger Locator Card, and carry a printed document as proof. 

Each visitor has to also show a negative result from a PCR test (nasal only, not saliva) within 72 hours before departure and carry printed proof with them. 

Children six years and younger without symptoms, whose parents both have proof of a negative test, do not need to take a PCR test, according to tourism officials.

All travelers to the island need to be “adequately insured for medical care” and additional costs of travel; all visitors who have been in contact with a person who tested positive within 14 days of their trip will be placed in mandatory quarantine. 

The Dutch Caribbean island has implemented a series of guidelines for the tourism industry called “A Dushi Stay, the Healthy Way” that cover all aspects of the tourism and on-island experience.

As for the island’s hotels, the vast majority are opening and operating, from the island’s leading luxury hotel, the Baoase Luxury Resort, to the new Dreams Curacao Resort, among others. 

For more, visit Curaçao. 

— CJ

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Bermuda has expanded its pre-testing options for travelers to the island. 

The Atlantic island has launched a program with Costco that offers in-store PCR saliva test kits, along with an OpenClear testing service in Midtown Manhattan. 

The Costco program is now accessible at more than 120 locations across the United States. 

The New York program, which launches Jan. 5, is an alternative to the existing PCR nasal swab tests, offered by appointment every Tuesday from 9 AM to 3 PM. 

New York is one of Bermuda’s prime source markets. 

“Costco and OpenClear tests are part of Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) collaborations and meet Bermuda Ministry of Health pre-travel turnaround time requirements,” the Bermuda Tourism Authority said in a release. “In fact, the in-store option at Costco is expected to further shorten turnaround times, because shipping schedules are susceptible to delays as a result of holiday demand or weather—priority given to the movement of COVID-19 vaccines is also creating a bottleneck on deliveries.”

The BTA said visitors would be required to secure pre-testing ahead of travel to the island “for the foreseeable future.”

For more on Bermuda’s travel protocols, see here. 

– CJ

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There’s a pantheon of “overproof” rums across the Caribbean, a fiery group of sought-after expressions like Grenada’s Rivers Rum and St Vincent and the Grenadine’s aptly, wonderfully named Very Strong Rum. 

In recent years, the overproof category has seen a degree of premiumization, as more producers have begun releasing cask-strength expressions of their aged product, and, ultimately, more overproof rums. 

More recently, distilleries like Guadeloupe’s Longueteau have launched ultra-premium overproof rums, most notably the lovely Genesis series. 

So yes, there’s a level of demand for these rums, and it seems to be growing. 

The natural question, of course, is when do you actually drink them? 

Within the region, while some true believers drink them neat, there’s always some level of disagreement. 

Very Strong Rum and its ilk can often be found with coke; the natural habitat of the high-proof white rhum agricoles of the French Caribbean is always inside of a ti’ punch. 

These extremely potent rums will turn an average cocktail into something far more interesting, adding personality, power and pure punch. 

(There’s of course another use — overproof rum as a bush remedy for aches and bugs, one that certainly seems compelling in the current age.)

The most recent addition to the Caribbean’s overproof portfolio comes from one of the region’s hottest rum brands: Puerto Rico’s Ron del Barrilito. 

It’s called Ron Hacienda Santa Ana, and its named for the site of what remains the oldest rum company in Puerto Rico, one that has been finding increasing renown in recent years (and took home a pair of Double Golds at the 2020 Caribbean Rum Awards in St Barth). 

Santa Ana, which calls itself a cask-strength rum, is bottled at 138 proof, or 69 degrees ABV. 

While anything over 66 degrees usually gets the overproof label (although there’s naturally disagreement on that, too), what makes this rum, at this strength, unique, is that it’s not an unaged expression — it’s actually aged for two years in American white oak. 

Either way, this rum is strong. And serious. 

So what’s it like?

Santa Ana has an aroma of vanilla, almond and a hint of pure cane. 

The flavor profile is marked by spice, citrus peel, oak, toasted baguette; brown sugar, cinnamon and creme brulee. 

And while it’s unmistakably powerful, it’s also wonderful. 

There’s an immense balance here, meaning the fire is always controlled, delivered smoothly. 

This would like make a spectacular Pina colada.

But it’s also eminently sippable. 

Because there’s something the uninitiated soon realize when they enter the rarefied realm of overproof rums: very strong is often accompanied by very good. 

And this is definitely the latter. 

Rum Journal Review: 

Ron Santa Ana

93 Points

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