Dominican Republic » Punta Cana

Punta Cana: Oliver Rum Tasting & Taino Store with Pickup

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/12

Duration1h 15m

GroupUp to 18

LanguagesEN · RU +2

PickupAt your hotel

Dominican rum tasting in Punta Cana with hands-on sugarcane and Taino flavors

You’ll press fresh sugarcane with your own hands in Punta Cana, taste rare Dominican rums aged for decades, and snack on local bites while guides share stories behind every bottle. With hotel pickup included and an easygoing vibe throughout, this day trip lets you feel part of island life for a few hours.

1h 15m

Step-by-step itinerary

Hotel pickup and round-trip transport
Introduction to rum history and Oliver House
Learn about Solera Method
Make rum sugar juice from sugar cane
Taste molasses and sugar juice
Sample premium rums aged 25+ years
Enjoy finger food international cuisine

The Experience

“Try this one — but sip slow,” our guide grinned, sliding a tiny glass across the table. The room smelled like caramel and something deeper, almost smoky. We’d just arrived at Oliver Lab by Taino Gourmet after a bumpy drive from our hotel (pickup was right on time, which honestly surprised me — I’m not used to that). The place felt more like someone’s living room than a shop, with old bottles lined up and bits of sugarcane stacked in the corner. I didn’t expect to actually make sugar juice myself, but there I was, hands sticky and laughing as I tried to work the old press. My first taste was grassy-sweet and weirdly refreshing.

Li, our interpreter, kept switching between Spanish and English — sometimes both in the same sentence — while explaining how rum is basically the Dominican Republic’s history in a glass. She told us about the Solera Method (I had no idea what that meant until she showed us the barrels stacked like a pyramid) and how some of these rums have been aging longer than I’ve been alive. We tasted molasses too — thick, dark, nothing like the syrupy stuff back home. There was finger food on little plates (I’m still thinking about those tiny empanadas), but honestly it was the way everyone lingered over each sip that stuck with me.

At one point someone asked about Cubaney Centenario and Li laughed because apparently my pronunciation was way off (“Don’t worry,” she said, “everyone does that”). The whole thing felt relaxed — nobody rushing you or talking down to you if you didn’t know your rum facts. By the end I’d learned just enough to feel smug ordering rum back at my hotel bar later that night… but mostly I remember the warmth of it all: people sharing stories, sticky fingers from sugarcane juice, sunlight slanting through dusty windows. If you’re even half-curious about Dominican rum tasting in Punta Cana or want something more than just another resort drink, this is worth an afternoon.

What’s included

Your day includes round-trip hotel pickup and drop-off in Punta Cana, a guided rum tasting session with premium aged rums at Oliver Lab by Taino Gourmet, hands-on sugarcane pressing and molasses tasting with an interpreter present throughout. Bottled water and international finger foods are served during your visit before heading back to your hotel relaxed (and maybe a little buzzed).

Good to know

Wheelchair accessible

Operated by Oliver Lab - Rum Experience, by Taino Gourmet