La Bendición

When Bobby Ulloa Rusconi got married a few years ago his father, Roberto Ulloa (of La Divina Providencia) gifted him 4.5 hectares of land – La Bendición. La Bendición (The Blessing) was already planted with SL28, locally known as the Kenya varietal and Bourbon. Over the next few years, with guidance from his father, Bobby will replace the Bourbon with SL28 using seed stock he has selected from his trees. This process is scheduled to take two years. The SL28 cultivar was developed in Kenya (hence its El Salvadoran nomenclature) and while widely grown there has now started to be planted throughout Central America. It can do well wherever Bourbon typically does well but does need the cooler temperatures that come with higher altitude. Bobby is planning to manage the trees with parras, a local pruning and training technique, to maximize the use of the space and the productivity of the plants. This is just our second year with La Bendición on our counter and we’re delighted with its fresh citrus and sweet spice notes.