Rum’s Birth Certificate

by ,

Rum’s Birth Certificate

Political campaigns and the people behind them are often smeared in accusations of bribery, illegitimacy and other scandalous activities, with much effort being spent on political spin, smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, this reminds me a lot of our beloved rum industry, which has its shares of headline-grabbing incidents, among them:

• Scrutiny over subsidies given to only a few rum producers 

• False or misleading advertising (including blending methods or ages)

• Lack of disclosure regarding additives (caramel, sugar, etc.)

• Inadequate social responsibility plans

• Environmental impact of rum production

And just like in politics, where some candidate’s country of birth is called into question, the world of rum has seen its share of products whose place of origin – at least as far as the label on the bottle is concerned- does not match the birthplace of its raw materials. I am talking about rums that are distilled and aged in one country, but whose molasses come from another. How far back does one need to go, in order to say that a rum is the “product of xyz country”? The answer, not surprisingly, depends on who you ask: companies in countries where sugarcane is grown abundantly will stand firmly by the notion that the cane must be grown domestically. Those in countries with limited or nonexistent sugar milling capabilities will put forth very intelligent arguments to allow for the importation of the raw materials.

Does any of this matter? Can a rum fermented from imported molasses, with imported yeast, aged in imported barrels, bottled in imported glass bottles, ever be considered a local product of the country where all the previous items came together?

The politics in the world of rum are –unfortunately- a reflection of the fragmented industry behind its production. To suggest that a rum can or cannot be given the birth certificate it wants in order to parade with the coat of arms of its “house” requires a willingness to define how much purity should be acceptable for a blood line to be regarded as “pure,” a potentially-divisive and controversial idea, to say the least.

Is your favorite rum a legitimate “heir” of the country where it was bottled? Should you care? Drop me a line with your thoughts.

Cheers,

Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher