The Story Behind the Names

At Montanya, we celebrate being an American rum, a Colorado rum and a mountain rum—yet you might notice that our name and the names of our rums have a distinctive Spanish feel. That’s because they’re Latin and Spanish in origin.

We have sometimes been known to say that Montanya is locally made and globally inspired. Our founder and owner Karen Hoskin discovered rum abroad and came across the mountain tradition of making rum in Spanish speaking countries like Guatemala, Panama, and Colombia. Discovering that tradition helped convince her that it was possible to make rum in the Colorado Rockies, so drawing on the Spanish language to name the distillery and our rums felt like a fitting tribute.

Here’s a closer look at what each of our rums’ names mean:

Montanya

The name Montanya (mohn - tahn - yah) is a nod to our mountain origins and the mountain tradition of distilling. It’s based on the Spanish word for mountain—montaña. (The tilde, or squiggly line, above the letter n indicates a sound much like ny or ni in English. Think words like canyon or onion.) Although in truth, every romance language has a similar version of mountain: montagna in Italian, and montagne in French. We used Montanya so English speakers would find it easier to pronounce on the first try.

You can also see a nod to our mountain origins in the logo.

Platino

Platino (plah - tee - noh) means platinum in Spanish, a silvery/white precious metal that felt like a good representation for a premium silver/white rum. (The Platino has been known to stand out from its competition by being aged for a year and often longer—something rare in white rums that creates a unique and complex flavor profile.)

Oro

In Spanish, Oro (or-oh) means gold. Montanya’s first dark rum, aged for a year or more like the Platino, has a medium amber color that could also be described as gold.

Exclusiva

This Montanya expression is a double maturation rum that ages for three years total: two and a half in an American White Oak barrel and six months in a Port and Cabernet Sauvignon barrel. Exclusiva (ex-cloo-see-vah), which means exclusive in Spanish, is a nod to this longer aging process and the resulting flavor profile, which has a dry, tannic finish that is very rare in aged rums

Valentia

Valentia (val-en-tee-ah, with the emphasis on tee) means bravery, grit and courage, a fitting ode to women who have forged a path in craft rum distilling. This rum was distilled by women, and celebrates the progress they have made in craft distilling.

Aniversaria

We released this rum in celebration of Montanya’s 10th Anniversary—hence, you might not be surprised to learn that Aniversaria (an-ih-verr-sar-ee-ah, emphasis on sar) is the feminine form of the Spanish word for anniversary. At Montanya we tend to favor the feminine forms of Spanish words, as you might notice in many of our names. (One note on Aniversaria, the rum: it was a limited release for our anniversary and isn’t available at the moment, but we may release it again to celebrate future milestones.)

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