Drinking In History With La Marielita Rum

Cocktails Distilled

Nearly 43 years ago, a mass immigration of Cubans travelled from Mariel Harbor near Havana to the United States, known as the Mariel Boatlift.
The exodus, which happened over several months, saw more than 125,000 Cubans make the journey across the Florida Straits.
One of those people was a six-year-old girl, Janet Diaz-Bonilla, who travelled with her parents towards a new life. But it was a journey that would impact not only Janet's life, but also, the fabric of her adopted homeland.
While many have looked back on these journeys to freedom through art writing, Janet, a writer herself, decided to tell her story through liquid, releasing La Marielita to rum at the end of last year.
To find out more, we talked to Janet about perception, legacy, and how liquid can really tell stories in a very new way.

Kapitler

1. Drinking In History With La Marielita Rum (00:00:00)

2. Now tell us a little bit about your family's life in Cuba before Castro. (00:01:43)

3. Now, as I mentioned in the intro, you were six at the time when your family was able to actually leave. Yes. How much do you remember of the boat lift? (00:04:49)

4. You talk about the boatlift being associated with the narrative that does not wholly represent the community in its entirety. What do you mean by that? (00:09:26)

5. How did you go from about it to creating a liquid dedicated to it? (00:14:44)

6. Do you believe that stories can really be told through liquid? (00:18:16)

7. Now the label that you've used for this has been created by a claimed Cuban American artist. Humberto Benita, I believe he also left Cuba as a child. (00:19:37)

8. Can you talk through some of the symbolism of the image? (00:20:39)

9. You've also enlisted the world renowned Cuban, Maestro Romero, Francisco, Jose Don Pancho Fer Perez. How did that come about? (00:21:56)

10. How long were you both in discussion about the rum (00:23:18)

11. Can you tell us a little bit about the flavours on the pallet and the finish? (00:24:31)

12. You are the first American Cuban woman to start a rebrand. (00:24:50)

13. What is the reaction to the rum been in the Cuban American community? (00:25:58)

14. Now on the website, you've presented a number of reefs on classic cocktails that have particular meaning. Do you wanna take us through a few of them? (00:27:01)

15. Having released this first expression, where does the brand go from here? (00:28:45)

16. And at the moment, where is the Rum available? (00:29:39)

17. What do you want people to take away from their experience with the rum? (00:29:58)