Ron Matusalem partners with Marc Álvarez
Cuban rum Ron Matusalem has teamed up with Sips co-founder Marc Álvarez to create a collection of seven cocktails that reinterprets the brand’s core range.
Álvarez is the co-founder of Sips in Barcelona, named as the World’s Best Bar at the Spirited Awards in 2023.
To bring Ron Matusalem’s The Cocktail Collection to life, he spent a year immersing himself in the DNA of brand, from its warehouses in the Dominican Republic and days spent alongside the rum’s master blender, Cynthia Vargas.
Álvarez then translated the year’s exploration into the brand into seven cocktails that he says blend ‘elegance, depth, and a sense of history’.
Álvarez said of the project: “When you work with a rum like Matusalem, whose very essence is defined by that meticulous ageing process and the aromatic richness moulded by the wood used, creativity in cocktail design can’t come from artifice. Only from respect.
“This project wasn’t about invention, but rather about discovering ways to amplify what’s already contained in each drop. That’s the spirit behind this drink list. It’s not about showing off with excessive acidity or straightforward sweetness; it’s about complementing and showcasing a rum profile that speaks for itself.”
Matusalem is looking to drive premiumisation in the rum category and considers itself a ‘specialist’ in wood and the ageing process.
The Cocktail Collection showcases the brand’s rums, ranging from Insólito, ‘the world’s first’ rosé rum aged in red wine barrels, to the Gran Reserva 15 and the Gran Reserva 23.
Each rum is presented in two levels of complexity: an accessible, intuitive version that can be adapted to various contexts, ranging from high-volume bars to at-home consumption, and a more technical, avant-garde version designed to elevate contemporary mixology.
The magical seven
The first of the cocktails, Insolita Paloma, combines Matusalem’s Insólito rosé rum with clarified grapefruit and honey syrup with a hint of basil. With its balsamic and refreshing profile, the cocktail can be enjoyed as an apéritif or digestif.
For a more experimental approach, Plum is said to bring out the wine notes in Insólito with a mix of Palo Cortado Sherry, bitter orange, and clarified plum juice simmered at a low temperature, topped with a liquorice butter Sherry rim.
Black Oak highlights Ron Matusalem’s flagship rum, Gran Reserva 15, by exploring its toasted notes alongside coffee liqueur and cold brew. The cocktail glass is garnished with liquid caramel and Maldon salt, which ‘adds an extra sensory layer that evokes flavours of toffee and salinity’. The cocktail is said to be perfect for unwinding after work or enjoyed with dessert.
In contrast, Lignos reimagines the Manhattan with tropical airs, blending semi-sweet white vermouth and roasted pineapple water with a garnish of sandalwood.
Nut then blends Ron Matusalem’s premium expression with Pedro Ximénez Sherry and a golden syrup reduction, served with a caramelised pecan.
The sixth cocktail, Comb, aims to highlight the rum’s purity. It is made with Gran Reserva 23 and chilled to red-wine temperature, topped with a spiced honey air and a piece of roasted apple with
crystallised honey.
Lastly, Closing The Cocktail Collection, Oxid is said to take a drink poured neat into designer territory: served in a Burgundy glass and topped with a line of salted pistachio praliné on the rim.
Ron Matusalem hosted its inaugural cocktail competition The Golden Master.last year with Eduardo Sánchez crowned as the winner.
In October, the brand unveiled Lefebre as the first release in its Tributes Collection, which Ron Matusalem Group’s CEO Yoze Torres said was inspired by Claudio Álvarez Lefebre, great‐grandfather to the fifth generation of the brand’s founding family.
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