The Finest Jamón Ibérico in the World

We needed to make a day-trip to Costco in Seville, so we decided to take a culinary detour on the drive back to Portugal.  The small Spanish village of Jabugo is about an hour drive to the west of Seville and is known for its signature ham, Jamón Ibérico.  The company Cinco Jotas has been making Jamón Ibérico in Jabugo since 1879, and its products are generally considered the best in the world.  

We arrived in Jabugo in time for a brief lunch at the nearby Restaurante Las Bellotas.  Then we took a very informative one-hour tour of the Cinco Jotas facility, learning about the company and the process by which Jamón Ibérico is made.  

We learned that each ham is graded (via a color code), based primarily on the breed of pig which was used and the process by which it was aged and cured.  Every Jamón Ibérico leg carries a color-coded bar code tag which, with an available app, will tell its grade and the history of its processing.  Even in restaurants, if the colored tag is not attached, the grade and quality of the Jamón Ibérico cannot be known.  

As we neared the end of the tour, we came across this "traveling locker."  It looked to us like luggage one might bring on a 1920s ocean liner.  But it was outfitted to carry a Jamón Ibérico, with all of the equipment needed to store, carve, and serve its precious cargo.  We learned that Cinco Jotas does offer a full-day course to teach buyers how to carve their Jamónes.  Perhaps this locker was offered for sale to those to attend the course.

After the tour, we had a tasting of three different cuts from a black-label Cinco Jotas Jamón Ibérico which had been aged for three years, along with a glass of dry white sherry.  It was so fantastic, we dove right in and forgot to take pictures of our repast.  But we were able to take some Jamón and sherry home with us, so we could enjoy it all again at another time.  It was a fabulous tour that we really enjoyed and a lovely day trip to Spain!