Places to eat
Engenhos da Calheta
A working 1930s sugarcane mill that still crushes cane into rum and honey each spring.
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The place
This is one of Madeira's last sugarcane mills still in operation, crushing fresh cane once a year after Easter to make agricultural rum and sugarcane honey the traditional way. Outside the crushing season the tasting room, small museum, and shop stay open daily, pouring free samples of aged rum and poncha.
When to come
Visit right after Easter to see the mill actually running; otherwise any midday for tastings.
Worth knowing
- Free entry, open daily 10:00-18:30
- Free rum and honey tastings in the shop
- On Avenida D. Manuel I in Calheta town
- Mill only runs a few weeks a year, post-Easter