Seco

Seco is distilled from sugarcane juice, like rhum agricole rather than molasses rum, but it is triple distilled and unaged, which leaves it clear and clean and quite unlike either rum or aguardiente. It has been made at Pesé in Herrera since 1936 on cane grown around the distillery, and it is the national drink by a wide margin. The standard way to drink it is seco con leche: seco, milk and ice, sometimes with a splash of soda, which sounds unlikely and works. At the Azuero festivals it is drunk more or less continuously. The distillery at Pesé takes visitors by arrangement.

What you actually see

• The Pesé distillery - making seco from local cane since 1936.
• Seco con leche - the standard mix of spirit, milk and ice.
• The cane fields - grown around the distillery on the Azuero.
• The Azuero festivals - where it is drunk in quantity.

When to go

Year-round. Distillery visits at Pesé need arranging in advance and run on weekdays. Carnival and the Azuero festivals are when the country drinks most of it. It is sold in every shop at very low prices.

Honest expectations

It is strong and cheap, which is a combination that catches visitors out, particularly at carnival. Seco con leche divides opinion sharply on first taste. The distillery is not set up as a tourist operation and visits must be arranged. Road accidents over carnival are heavily associated with it.

Nearby

Pesé is 40 minutes from Chitré; the Azuero towns are around it.