In Bonaire’s Frontier Town, a Local Spiced Rum Just Might Make the Best Cuba Libre in the Caribbean

The road north from Kralendijk changes quickly. The coastline disappears, cactus fills the landscape and Bonaire begins to feel wilder. Then you reach Rincon, the island’s oldest settlement and a frontier town unlike anywhere else in the Dutch Caribbean.

This is where you find Rom Rincon.

The locally made spiced rum comes from The Cadushy Distillery, tucked into the center of Rincon in a leafy open-air setting that should be a required stop on any Bonaire vacation.

Rom Rincon is a very cool thing indeed: a pot-distilled rum made with molasses from Suriname and flavored with local botanicals, including yerba di holé and Bonaire’s ubiquitous kadushi cactus. It is sweet, smooth and unmistakably connected to the rugged island around it.

The rum was created by master distiller Eric Gietman, whose family founded the distillery in 2009. It is not chill filtered, preserving more of the richness and spice that make it such a distinctive expression of Bonaire.

You can drink it neat. You can have it over ice. But our favorite way to experience it is in one of the most delicious Cuba Libres you will ever have.

The combination is simple: Rom Rincon, cola and fresh lime. But the rum’s local spices add depth and character, transforming a familiar Caribbean cocktail into something entirely its own. It is sweet, bright, gently spiced and particularly satisfying after the drive into Bonaire’s northern interior.

Rincon was established in 1527, making it the oldest settlement on the island. It remains an essential counterpoint to the waterfront restaurants, hotels and dive shops of Kralendijk. If you want to understand another side of Bonaire, you need to come here.

The distillery is also home to Cadushy of Bonaire, the island’s famous cactus liqueur, along with several other locally produced spirits. We have long considered them among the best things to bring home from Bonaire.

But Rom Rincon is the bottle that captures the frontier character of this place most completely.

Come for the drive. Explore the old town. Sit beneath the trees at the distillery. Then order a Cuba Libre made with the local rum.

It may become your favorite drink in Bonaire.