Exclusive Interview with Mr. Alexander Gabriel, President of Cognac Ferrand

Exclusive Interview with Mr. Alexander Gabriel, President of Cognac Ferrand

Q: What is your educational background?

A: I grew up in a farm in Burgundy France. I learned how to make wine from my Grandfather and have been harvesting every year since I can walk. My dream was to run my own spirit company (my feeling was that most technical progress for wine was done but far from it for fine spirits where I could make a difference). I don’t handle autocratic authority well so I knew I had to rum my own little shack. This is the reason I decided to study business which I did in a French Business School with assignment in NY and Tokyo. I felt this would give me the tools to run my own business. I love production and found that this is where I belong. However, without a good sense of finance there is no good spirits because it’s expensive to produce the best and to keep doing so.

Q: In addition to your Cognacs, Mathilde Liqueurs and Citadelle Gin, you also carry Plantation Rums in your portfolio. Why did you decide to add Plantation rums to your portfolio and when did this occur?

A: Cognac Ferrand is run like a farm in many aspects. In a farm you “make do” and you have to be savvy. Traditionally, At Cognac Ferrand we make Cognac. The Ferrand family has been doing so for at least 3 centuries. Naturally, we have many good quality casks (a new cognac cask costs around 1000 US$ and is built like a piece of furniture). When these casks need to be changed, we have to find a new life for the cask. We also made a lot of barbeque with these casks (tastes pretty good….but what a waste of good casks). One day I thought that there would be much better things to do with them. They were still good and the staves gorged with good Pierre Ferrand Cognac. So I started to contact distilleries in the Caribbean. I had immediate interest and to my surprise good respond to the fact that they were actually FERRAND casks. We shipped these casks to different islands and rum distilling countries. I must admit that, when you are a Cognac producer, you think that Cognac is the king of the hill and the other spirits are trying to be. Well, I got to taste wonderful rums. I fell in love for the second time (my first love being Cognac). One day, one of our customer had problems to pay us so we swapped Casks for Rum. I shipped it back to Cognac and our cellar master and I started to work with this rum the way we would with a fine Cognac. There is a 500 year old tradition of aging in Cognac so we know a thing or two about the technique. It is fair to say that in the Caribbean, generally, cask aging is a relatively new thing while in Cognac cellar masters have been passing secrets and techniques for centuries.

This is really when the style of PLANTATION Rums was defined. Fine hand-picked rums finished in a Cognac Cask with the “elevage” method.

Technical note en “Elevage”: In French, we have 2 terms for saying “aging” a spirit. There is “veillissement ” which literally means “aging” but we also have “elevage”. Veillissement ” is when you just put a spirit in a cask, shut it close and wait 5 years (or whatever is your goal) then open the casks, blend, reduce with water and bottle. For us it’s a brutal way. “Elevage” would translate to something like “nurturing”. This is when you look at every stage of the aging very carefully. This means that we choose each cask in connection with the rum it is going to receive (either a new cask for more tannins or an old one for aging with lighter tannins or a restaved cask that has new and old staves for medium tannins). When the rum is barreled then we are going to taste it every 2 months to make sure it evolves well. If it needs a bit of spice notes we transfer the barrel from a humid to a dry cellar (we have 8 different cellars for this purpose). On the contrary, if it’s a bit too snappy then we take it to a humid cellar. If it needs more tannins then we transfer it to a restaved cask. Also, like any other fine spirits, the hydration of rum is a very important thing. Most often it is done too fast sometime in one pour!!! For Plantation it is taking months if not years, 2 to 3% at a time with water that is totally pure and also aged in a cask in order not to have any shock to the rum so it remains intact in its flavors. You can’t do all of this in a normal aging cellar. In fact, you can tell right away when you enter a cellar. If the casks are standing and shut close (of ten 4 to a palette), there is no way that you can do “elevage”; it is a simple aging. If the casks are laying on their side and the “bonde” (the hole of the cask) accessible then, chances are the cellar-master in charge is doing “elevage”. It is much costlier in time, space and know-how but the difference is tremendous. It is like raising a child. You take care of the child, do the home work, take him/her to the game, give him/her lessons on different field etc…

Q: How many types of rum are in the Plantation Rums category and could you list them out for our readers? Of this list, is there one in particular that stands out to be recognized? And if so, why?

A: There are many PLANTATION rums. To me I live this as a rum adventure. It’s a range that is alive and growing. We have 3 categories:

• THE BLENDS: Here we not only apply our technique about aging, we also use our blending

know how; It is fair to say that Cognac has mastered the technique of blending and we use this here:

- PLANTATION GRANDE RESERVE 5 YEARS, a blend of Barbados rums aged a minimum of 5 years

(plus one year in Cognac).

- PLANTATION GRAN AÑEJO: it’s a blend of Guatemala rum. I love Guatemala rum and wanted

to show our take on it.

- PLANTATION ORIGINAL OVERPROOF, 73%alc. It is purposely from Trinidad because when you have a higher proof you intensify the taste experience. So if you choose a BIG rum like a Jamaïca high esters and you drink it overproof you need a fork and an knife to drink it. I always explain that intensity of taste is the taste elements of a spirit (in %) times the

proof. If you have a totally neutral spir it, whatever is the proof the result will be neutral. If you have a spirits with a lot of taste elements then each % of alc more will show important concentration. So the art of the cellar master is to find the right balance. At Plantation we are not interested in the neutral rums. For us a rum has to have flavors and taste. The most delicate we have is Trinidad so it handles well the concentration of a higher proof. 73% is strong but, even if you try it neat it should be balanced and good.

- PLANTATION 20th ANNIVERSARY: this rum is the only one that I did not blend myself. It was done as a surprise by our cellar master for the party of my 20th year at the helm of Cognac Ferrand. One cask. It’s a rather exuberant rum (in retrospect, I am still trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me with this rum…). It’s a rum that requires a lot of work

from the cellar master; It was a good surprise and a great gift. I told Fred, “ I hope you kept all your notes, we are going to make this rum again.” He was proud and he should be. I liked it so much that I decided to include it in our range.

- SURPRISE: we are now launching a PLANTATION 3 STARS which is a white rum blend of 3 islands.

• THE PLANTATION VINTAGES (we call it the Yellow label because of the color of the label): There are a range of 9 rums that are all a single vintage from a single island or a single country. When a vintage runs out we go to the next good one. When there is no next good one in a particular country we simply stop. It’s either great or it’s not. For the full range

please check our website.

• THE PLANTATION SINGLE CASKS (the black label): It’s a collection of VERY limited offerings, usually no more than a cask each. We release it once a year. Also, while all Plantation rums are double woods (bourbon cask aging in the Caribbean and Cognac cask aging in France), some single casks are triple wood aging. For instance a Trinidad aged in Bourbon, Cognac and Calvados cask that we are releasing this year in Europe. We usually

do 15 different casks a year here in Europe. Due to the fact that we are not really equipped for having a label approved in the USA for such a small quantity,unfortunately there are not many single casks making it to the USA. We are trying our best to have more.

Otherwise you will have to come and see me here to taste it!

Q:  Thus far, has the addition of Plantation rums in your portfolio been a successful move on your part?

A:  It will probably sound naïve but we did not create PLANTATION as a business move. It was out of sheer way of life goes and passion. Once we started, we poured ourselves into it. We wanted to make the best rum in the world that’s all.

We got lucky and have a nice cult following for Plantation. I often meet passionate people at tastings coming to me eagerly, telling me that they have close to the whole collection of Plantation looking at each new batch; I recently met someone in Denmark who actually has more historic Plantation rums than us at the estate! I love these people, I think that we are from the same “tribe”. There appreciation is a big pat on the back to me and also one of the things that keep me going. The best there is. We usually end up talking for a long time.

Thanks to all these passionate people Plantation is doing very well.

Q:  What has been your perspective about the rum industry and has it changed since adding rums to your portfolio?

A:  More and more people are interested by fine rums. This was not true even 5 years ago. I know because we have been at it with Plantation for more than 15 years.

It is an exciting time.

Q:  Have you seen any changes in consumer palates over the years? Have you had to adjust your rum lineup to keep up with changing patterns in the market, or has your target market remained unchanged over the years?

A:  I am a “one trick pony”. I do what I think I do best and I stick to it. I sometimes say that we are the jewelers of fine spirits. Luckily, the market has gone that way. It is sheer luck but we take it. Not all the market is going this way but the better rum drinker is a special drinker and he is out there. It is great because we can do what we love and make a living while doing it.

There is definitely a desire to have rum with taste and style. Of course the “vodka rums” the ones with not so much taste are still successful and we respect this. This being said, we see a market of discerning drinkers who want to enjoy rum to the fullest. This means full bodied rums and not as sweet. There is a quest for complexity and style. This is what we are about.

Q: Could you describe to our readers your everyday activities? In other words, how much time do you dedicate to product development, research, marketing, etc.?

A:  It’s very simple. We are a family business centered on production. I live at the house in the center of the estate. My “commute” to the office is none because home and work is the same. For instance, our blending hall and rum aging cellar is 10 yards from the house. It happens that I have an idea at night and I wake up and go to the blending hall and try something.

The day usually starts with a tasting session of about 70 Rums or Cognacs (remember, we are nurturing these casks!). Then a full review on the day’s blending work. Then every day issues depending on the season. If it’s distillation time, we have to cut the heads at 8H00 am sharp. We usually bring coffee and croissants for right after it is done. If it’s harvest, it starts very early in the morning (4 or 5am). Then some office work, answering emails, meeting with our team etc... Like many others, I am also part of the local life. I am elected at the Syndicate of Cognac Houses. I often welcome a friend at the estate, an importer, a retailer or bartender from France or another country and we spend some time together. Lunch and dinner at the local restaurants, I like to eat out. It’s a village, we don’t have so many restaurants here and I know them all.

Our products are sold to connoisseurs in 50 countries some days start early with calls to our partners in Asia and finishes late with calls to the USA.

In the spring and summer the days are long so I like to finish the day rowing on the Charente river with a few friends. Not with the Cognac City rowing team because they are young and sporty but with a few friends at the Jarnac team. We like good sport followed by a good meal.

I also travel in other countries for presentations of our products or lectures at certain shows and conventions on the subject of Rum, Cognac or Gin.

Q:  Do you have any plans of expanding your portfolio with other rum products?

A:  Of course, Plantation is a collection. We do single vintage rums and single casks as well (what we call the yellow labels and the black labels). So the feast never stops…

Q: In all of the years you have spent in the industry, what are some of the biggest changes (good or bad) that you have witnessed?

A:  Oh boy, I have been at it for 23 years. Many changes in many countries. Overall,  I can say that on the consumer end there is a search for Rums and spirits in general with more taste more style. Spirits that are one of a kind and that are produced with greater care. It is becoming meaningful and I like this. 20 years ago, you had the scotch drinker, the bourbon drinker, the pastis drinker, the gin drinker. One person usually always ordered the same drink and the same spirit. Must have been boring. Now people are exploring with their palate. It’s like re-discovering one of the senses we always had. Good rum is definitely benefiting from that.

In a sense, it is a paradox because on the production end, there is more and more concentration as well as on the distributor end. 20 years ago I was wondering if passionate guys like us, living next to a few pot stills and a (whole) bunch of small casks were not a disappearing breed. Were we the last of the (spirited) Mohicans 20 years ago it was not an easy call to make. Fortunately the consumer has decided otherwise. Now there is a craft distiller born every day. I love it. I was invited to speak at the last AMERICAN DISTILLING INSTITUTE event in the USA last year and I loved the energy, the desire to create. This is wonderful. When I started we were no more than a handful of guys scattered in different countries. Like my good friend Hubert Germain-Robin in California.

It’s a good feeling to go from being the last of the Mohicans to be the first of a new movement.

Q: What has been your greatest challenge/obstacle you have encountered thus far?

A:  Challenges are every day. I started doing this I was 23 passionate and, in retrospect “a bit” adventurous. I grew up at production so I knew that equipment and technique was key for production so we did invest a lot and probably too much too fast. Now we are happy we did it but we had some sleepless nights. Now we re-invest every penny we make.

On the technical front I always like to push the limit for me and for my team. They really are good sports to be putting up with me all these years. I admit, I am never totally satisfied.

I will give you a secret, I have been working for 5 year on a smoky rum. I have the exact taste in my mind. It is stuck there. I won’t be totally happy until it is made. We have tried and tried again and again. I know the techniques, of course, but I want this taste and no others. We will get there, even if it takes another 5 years of work and research.

Q:  If I came to a party at your house and ask for a rum-based cocktail, what are you likely to offer me?

A:  It really depends on the day and time of the day. You would probably start with a flight of 20 to 25 rums and cask samplings. After that, an authentic Mai Tai maybe. Or an old one on the rocks. Right now my wife Debbie is reading David Wondrich book “Punch” for the second time so we drink a LOT of great punches, believe me (thank you David, you are the best). Last week-end she organized at the house a fundraiser for a school in Niger. It went really well, (we helped finance 3 teachers and 9 students). I think that the punch Debbie served that night was instrumental to the success….

Q: Is there a particular message or comment you would like to share with our readers?

A:  Life is short especially when you enjoy it so, keep drinking good rum. NEVER compromise to a bad one. And if you have not tried Plantation, try one and let me know what you think.