drinking in Latin America

Here on this luxury travel blog we write about travel in Latin America, vacation or retirement real estate, plus wine and spirits from the region. We normally see that our readers gravitate to that last category a lot, but in a god-awful year where many countries closed their borders and it felt risky to even leave the house, it was all about the booze.

In a normal year, our top-10 posts could have three or four that are about rum, tequila, or wine. Looking back on 2020, “Cheers!” was the operative word. Over the whole year, 11 of the top-20 posts by overall traffic were about spirits, with that number jumping to 13 out of 20 if we look at April onward. Whether we were drowning our sorrows, celebrating dodging the virus, or making up for the lack of restaurant and bar visits, we definitely had the home bar contents on our mind.

Those top overall posts include some perennial favorites from earlier years you’ll find in the sidebar (or at the bottom on mobile), like the best rums from Central America, where to eat in Puerto Vallarta, and the swimmable beaches of Los Cabos. Our readers are always curious about good tequila, like Don Julio 1942.

But here are the top luxury travel and lifestyle blog posts that went up over the past year.

The Top Articles From 12 Months of Visits

Our #10 post of the year by traffic was about taking your taste buds on a journey, even if you’re stuck at home. Make These Dishes at Home for a Taste of Latin America.

The #9 one was on where the rich and famous have their eye on buying property. The Elite Real Estate Markets of Latin America.

Up a bit from that was a new trend we saw this year on taking over a whole hotel or resort, with some of our picks for places to consider. See Rent a Resort or Go for a Whole Hotel Buyout.

Playa Cativo Lodge Costa Rica

 

The #7 slot went to a related article: How Much Does It Cost to Retire in Style in Latin America?

Up next was one of several new tequila reviews that rose to the top: Cazul 100 Reposado.

We sampled another tequila brand that was new to us and were impressed by all three versions (plus the jalapeno-infused one that we covered in a separate review). See the rundown of Dano’s Dangerous Tequila.

In the #4 slot was a post about an updated review and a video tour of what is, in many respects, the best adults-only all-inclusive resortin Mexico’s most popular hotel zone. See our Live Aqua Cancun Update and Video Tour.

It was back to booze for the bronze winner, a surprising entry since it was about an obscure Mexican liquor from a state that doesn’t get many foreign tourists: Sampling Rum-like Charanda from Michoacan.

The silver slot for the year was also kind of a surprise, a travel resorts article in a year not many people were traveling, about an area we’ll freely admit is waaayyy overpriced. See 3 Luxury Tulum Resorts That Aren’t Just Hype.

best tequila brands

What 2020 past took the gold crown in the #1 spot this year? One about drinking, of course. It’s a round-up of award-winning tequila brands you’ve probably never heard of, with some gems that we’re still looking forward to trying. See our rundown of the 27 Best Tequila Brands You’ve Probably Never Heard Of.

So how about that photo from the top of this post? That’s from a city voted #1 in the world in many travel magazines, San Miguel de Allende, which almost made the cut but not quite. Take a break at one of the many rooftop bars there in between your browsing time to buy some cool gifts to bring back home. See A Top Mexican Shopping Destination: San Miguel de Allende.

Thanks for checking out the top stories on the only luxury travel blog covering Latin America in depth. Let’s keep the masks on so we can make it to our dream destinations in 2021! Subscribe to the monthly newsletter or follow us on social media to keep up on what’s new in the coming year as well!