Don Papa Masskara Rum

The best Sugarlandia has to offer.

Among the numerous picturesque islands of the Philippines, there's Negros, the fourth largest of them. The tropical paradise was rumored to have the finest sugar cane in the world, which grabbed the attention of Remy Cointreau's executive Stephen Carroll. Filipino Rum had traditionally been distilled in other areas, but in 2012, Stephen founded the Bleeding Heart Rum Company and set up shop in Negros. The very same year, the distillery started producing the Don Papa Rum, named after Papa Isio, a leader of the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish rule. Don Papa Rum uses molasses from and old strain of Negrosano sugarcane. The locals call the milled molasses "black gold", while the distillate spends at least seven years in oak barrels at the foothills of Mount Kanaloan.

Don Papa Masskara is a lush and exotic fruit of a magical-realist world of Sugarlandia. It's inspired by the masked carnival called the Masskara festival, and it's pot-distilled and infused with calamansi, the native citrus hybrid between kumquat and mandarin orange. The incredibly tropical character bursts with citrus notes and honeyed sensations. The best way to enjoy Masskara is neat or on the rocks, although a Sunset by the Bay cocktail (with orange and pineapple juice, and grenadine) will definitely turn any day into a vacay in the tropics.