It’s been awhile since I did any Latin American spirits taste test posts on here, so it’s time to pull out my reliable duty-free favorite Ron Zacapa. “Ron” is “rum” in these parts, but Mr. Zacapa is the king when it comes to Central America. You may see a local brand from Costa Rica or Panama here and there and Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana wins the prize for the best distribution. But if you’re going for quality, reach for the rum from—of all places—Guatemala.

I’m personally partial to the 15-year version, which seems to have the perfect balance of sweetness, caramel, butterscotch, and oak. It envelops you with the comfort of a warm blanket and a fireplace at the first sip and lingers on the finish like a night you never want to end. It’s smooth, warm, and elegant, with the complexity you would expect from something made well and aged well. There’s none of that typical rum “black strap bite” you get from its Nicaraguan counterpart and you can sip it neat all night long.

There’s a 23-year version as well, though for my taste buds it seems like too much of a good thing. The oak is much more prominent and it loses some of the character you can taste in the version that’s not almost a quarter-century old. For Scotch stored in cold climates the extra years can help, but in the hot tropics, there’s a limit to how long is too long.

The brilliant thing about this rum is the price: in duty-free shops you can commonly find the 15-year version for around $20, which is one of the world’s screaming spirits bargains. Even the 23-year version is often on sale for less than $35, fancy wood box included. If you’re heading home from Latin America and are looking for an appropriate gift, this one will elicit some appreciative smiles later. If you’re buying a gift for someone in Central America, this is a sure bet.

In the June ‘08 issue of Conde Nast Traveler there’s a rundown of the best golf resorts in the world, as chosen by subscribers. The very top spot goes to one in Mexico: Four Seasons Punta Mita.

In all fairness though, If you’ve ever actually taken one of those Conde Nast Traveler reader surveys, you must be someone with a lot of time and patience. Last time I tried it—in the interest of professional research even—I gave up halfway through. I had already spent 17 minutes on it, was 29 screens in, and looked like I was still only halfway done. (Who knows, there’s no indicator to tell you.)

So I’m always a bit skeptical of the results, since people who really travel a lot and get paid the big bucks aren’t usually very willing to give up an hour of their well-paid time to fill out a survey. That leaves the people who have nothing better to and the ones who are forced to do it by their employers. (Hey, get subscriptions for all your staffers, have them each go in and do the survey, and voila–you have a close to perfect score!)

But back to the results. Let’s assume anyone could argue about any of these since very few people have played and stayed are more than a handful, but here are the ones in Mexico that scored highly in addition to the Four Seasons near Puerto Vallarta.

Westin Resort and Spa - Los Cabos, Mexico
One & Only Palmilla - Los Cabos, Mexico

You can read about both these in our article on Golfing in Los Cabos.

That leaves out a lot of stunning places, like the Tamarindo golf resort between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo and a few others at Los Cabos, not to mention Llao Llao in Patagonia or, say, half of Scotland. But naturally, the problem with reader surveys is that places that draw the biggest crowds are going to get more votes. (Most of the resorts were in the U.S.)

We just posted a review of El Convento Boutique Hotel in Antigua, Guatemala. While Antigua is full of interesting hotels that are full of personality, only a few try to serve upscale travelers who are more concerned about service and pampering than the price. So El Convento, which just opened in February, is a welcome addition to the scene.

Like Antigua’s Lion’s Inn, El Convento was built from scratch rather than being a restoration job in a historic home. The architects and designers have done their best to give the illusion of gravitas though, with a strong attempt to make the structure blend in with the Convent of Las Capuchinas across the street.

On another note, we also just added two hotels in Guatemala City, the Vista Real Hotel and Westin Camino Real. Neither one has any chance of making a “best in the world” list anytime soon, but both are comfortable for anyone stuck in the capital for a night or two, especially if you pay the minimal premium to upgrade to a business class floor or a suite.

A while back I posted some pics and a quick description of the M.V. Discovery ship in Panama. Now we have the full feature story posted here: A Two-ocean Yacht Tour in Panama.

Even on the Web though, it’s hard to use even a fraction of the great photos that come out of a journey like this. So besides the ones you will find on the pages of the Panama boat trip story, here are a few more that didn’t make it in. I shot some video footage too and hope to have an edited version up in April, complete with dolphins, birds, and the Panama Canal in action.

We’ve got a few nice photos in our review of Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos, Mexico. If you really want to see what it’s like in a $3,000 ocean view luxury suite the size of a house though, gaze at this pic and then check out these photos from HotelChatter.com.

This shot is a view from the private infinity pool and if you follow the link above there are some others that will make you want to drop everything and head out, especially if it’s snowing where you are.

Speaking of HotelChatter, we also like how they call a spade a spade when it comes to hotel hype, as in this post and this one that explains why we don’t include a hotel like ME Cancun in our listings.