Luis Ayala, Editor
Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher of "Got Rum?" magazine, Rum Consultant and founder of The Rum University.
Micro Still, Mega Plan
Small distilleries (“micro,” “craft” or “artisan” in the industry lingo) often make the mistake of scaling down their business planning along with their production capacity. In the business world, nothing could be more devastating than lack of planning, especially so for small business that are error-prone and whose owners operate with very narrow economic margins.
One of the more common mistakes we see among entrepreneurs in this industry is that they purchase their stills before they understand the organoleptic characteristics between rums, before they even understand the particular style of rum they want to produce. These people are then forced to sell the rum they are able to produce, instead of the one they wanted to distill. Pot Still manufacturers often compound the problem, by being blissfully ignorant about the exact type of rum their clients are trying to produce.
All of these potential problems can be identified and overcome during the business planning phase, but I am not here to promote the virtues of planning, only to remind those ready to embark on a rum-related project, to truly spend time educating themselves prior to purchasing equipment.
The results of well-devised and well-executed plans benefit everyone: the distillery owner enjoys healthier margins, the distributor is always happy to handle a rum that falls within the purchasing trends (cost-wise), and consumers are able to enjoy rums with a good balance between presentation (bottle, labels, corks, etc.) and the quality of the rum contained therein.
Whether you engage our consulting services, attend our Rum University classes or use other resources, please take the time to understand rum better before attempting to distill it yourself.
Everyone will be glad you did!
Cheers!
Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher