Some 25 minutes by car from Cortijo las Rosas Rute overlooks the Iznájar reservoir and is backed by the Sierra de Rute that looms above it.  It is best known for its manufacture of aguardiente de anís, an aniseed-flavoured liqueur, an industry that has been thriving in Rute since the 19th-century.  Try it at any of the town´s bodegas where it is produced, or see the Museo Anís on the Paseo del Fresno to find out about how anís has been produced through history and today. You can also sample this potent firewater for yourself.

 

But Rute´s gastronomic delights do not end with anís; to accompany it, Rute also produces its own celebrated cured ham and delicious – and typically Spanish – sweet treats. Visit the Casa-Museo del Jamón on the Plaza de Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, close to the anís museum, to find out more about this delicacy from the museum´s butcher-turned-curator.

The Museo Artesanal del Mantecado, Turrón y Mazapán offers a guided tour of the museum, with displays on traditional methods of manufacturing sweet delicacies traditionally served at Christmas such as nougat and marzipan and some old-fashioned equipment for doing so. A visit includes seeing the factory where these sweets are still produced today and the factory shop, where you can buy them.  At Christmas the town produces Spain’s largest nativity display created in chocolate.  The lucky school children of the area benefit every January when the display is dismantled!

If all this was not enough for a short visit, the town also has a ruined Moorish castle and a fine Baroque church.

The town has a Mercadona, the nearest large supermarket chain, which is a good place to stock up on food supplies.