Rum in the News Image Title.
BACARDI
Bacardi has announced Astrophel “Troy” Arquiza as the new Global Master Blender for BACARDÍ rum (the “Maestro de Ron”). Troy, who is originally from the Philippines, has spent more than two decades with family-owned Bacardi, honing his craft as a rum blender and training for many years under industry-legend, José “Joe” Gomez, who is retiring after 41-years with Bacardi and who Troy now succeeds in the prestigious role. With the coveted title of Maestro de Ron, Troy will continue the legacy of his predecessors, following the same exacting standards set forth in Santiago de Cuba almost 160 years ago when Don Facundo Bacardí Massó created BACARDÍ Carta Blanca, the first mixable rum, and changed the way rum was made forever. “Troy has everything it takes to be a truly amazing Master Blender, an eye for quality, deep knowledge and love of the rum-making process, respect for the past and a vision for the future,” commented Jean-Marc Lambert, Senior Vice President, Global Operations for Bacardi. “It’s an exciting and historic moment as he becomes the Maestro de Ron for BACARDÍ.” Arquiza will be based at the largest premium rum distillery in the world, Casa BACARDÍ, in Cataño, Puerto Rico, Troy will head up a team of rum blenders with responsibility for protecting the integrity and quality of every drop of BACARDÍ rum enjoyed around the world. He will also oversee the distillation and aging of BACARDÍ rum, help develop new innovations that continue to lead the dynamic rum category and share his passion and skills to nurture a future generation of Master Blenders. “It is truly and honor and privilege to become the Global Master Blender for BACARDÍ rum,” said Troy Arquiza. “Rum making is an art as much as it is a science, and it is a dream come true to be able to spend every day practicing that art as we create BACARDÍ rum under the Caribbean sun. I have the world’s best job!”
In other news, from now through January, BACARDÍ will be rolling out a new campaign entitled “Winter Summerland,” to invite people to elevate with the unexpected and take a “holiday from the holidays.” To kick off the festive season, BACARDÍ has released a series of “Winter Summerland” spots, marking the brand’s first holiday campaign in years. Comprised of three: 15 vignettes, the campaign conveys how sipping on a BACARDÍ cocktail inspires a Caribbean summer state of mind, no matter what time of year. All of the films within the “Winter Summerland” campaign will share one common character: a stylish and vibrantly dressed local who pedals his colorful cocktail cart meets Caribbean sound system. Using his powerful, block-rockin’ beats, the bartender/DJ shakes up the season and reveals playful, tropical “Winter Summerlands” hidden beneath what appears to be cliché snowy holiday scenes. When the unveil takes place, viewers will see tropical locals engaged in spontaneous island revelry with a summer state of mind inspired by BACARDÍ. www.BACARDI.com.
SAILOR JERRY
Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum announced a partnership with film and photo company, Manual NYC to present “UNBOUND,” a cultural content series and exhibition that champions a community of renegade creatives in the spirited city of Austin, Texas. UNBOUND marks the beginning of a focused cultural marketing and experiential campaign in Austin, Texas by Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum to build brand affinity and connect with a new generation of consumers through disruptive and surprising actions in culture and content. A selection of photographers whose distinctive styles echo Sailor Jerry’s passion for creative curiosity have gathered to scan the outer edges of their own creative boundaries and showcase their expressions of ‘UNBOUND.’ Gemma Kane, Sailor Jerry Global Brand and Cultural Ambassador, comments: “Sailor Jerry has long celebrated the creatives with a rebellious nature that coalesces the culture of communities against the backdrop of mainstream homogeneity. The partnership with Manual NYC communicates these beliefs through the figurative and literal lens of creatives who carve their own path and have established their roots in the communities of Austin and Houston.” The selected works for UNBOUND exemplifies a rebellion against limitations. How can we go beyond what we are told and beyond what we are given? How do we break through the barriers of what we know to discover what is possible? These photographers have confronted these questions of limitation and celebrated the transcendence that comes with the power of creativity. The creative spirit and distinctive style of Austin aligns with Sailor Jerry’s values of championing renegade creatives and the territories that inspire them. https://www.instagram.com/sailorjerry/
PAPA’S PILAR
Recently, Papa’s Pilar Sherry-Finished Rum was awarded a Triple Gold Medal for their bottle design and a Gold Medal at the 2021 MicroLiquor Spirit Awards. Papa’s Pilar Sherry-Finished Rum starts by sourcing rums of different origins, ages and taste profiles from across the Caribbean basin. The Sherry-Finished Rum has nine unique rums from five different sources: Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela, Barbados and Florida. These hand-selected rums are blended within their proprietary blending system in Bourbon barrels, Port Wine casks and further aged in Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks for an extended period of time thus creating a flavor profile unlike anything Hemingway Rum Company has produced before. The result is an 86-proof rum with slight sweetness, a spicy finish and a smoothness and complexity second to none. https://www.papaspilar.com/
TANDUAY
Made from heritage sugarcane and aged and distilled in the highlands of the Philippines, Tanduay’s rums are celebrated for their distinct flavors. Starting October, they will be available in Massachusetts as Tanduay finalized its partnership agreement with the Horizon Beverage Group, one of New England’s leading spirits, wine, and beer distributors. “Our international distributors are crucial to our success in the overseas market, and we strongly believe that the Horizon Beverage Group, with its experience and reach, can help us in Massachusetts,” Tanduay Distillers, Inc. President and COO Lucio Tan III said. “Like them, we value collaborative work and elevating the experience of our customers.” Like Tanduay, Horizon Beverage Group is a family-owned company and is now on its fourth generation of family owners. It connects makers, retailers, and consumers across New England, and employs more than 700 team members throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Nick Demjen, Horizon Beverage Group General Manager, Emerging Spirit Brands, shared that they are excited to have Tanduay in their portfolio. “New England has a lot of rum history. The consumers here are educated on the different types of rum available, and with Tanduay, we are bringing a range of rums that are good in taste and have great quality and value range,” he said. “The United States is a crucial market for us, and we are fortunate to work with like-minded partners such as the Horizon Beverage Group in bringing Tanduay to more areas of the country for our fellow Filipinos and all rum enthusiasts,” said Tanduay Distillers, Inc. Executive Vice President Kyle Tan, who heads the company’s international distribution. https://ph.tanduay.com/
HOLMES CAY
Holmes Cay Rum has built its brand over the last two years by discovering rare, hard to find rums and releasing them in small, limited-edition batches. Holmes Cay has brought back its 2004 Fiji Single Cask 16-year-old rum, now with an extra year of aging in the barrel, by popular demand. Now available nationwide, only four barrels of the now 17-year-old, highly acclaimed rum will be sold. “Our 2004 Fiji Single Cask sold out quickly last year. Tastemakers, critics and spirits enthusiasts recognized this outstanding expression,” said Holmes Cay founder Eric Kaye. “We are extremely excited to bring it back. I chose the Fiji 2004 because it is such an exceptional example of a classic Fijian pot still rum profile, but this year’s edition is even more special.” Holmes Cay Fiji 2004 is a molasses-based, 100 percent pot still rum, distilled in 2004 at South Pacific Distilleries of Fiji. It was aged 17 years, tropically in an ex-bourbon barrel for 12 years with a further 5 years maturation in the UK. No sugar, color or other flavors were added. Holmes Cay Fiji 2004 is bottled at 58% ABV. https://www.holmescay.com/
ANGOSTURA
Angostura® Solera Wines & Spirits has opened a retail and distribution center in Marabella, in Trinidad. It’s one which Chairman of Angostura Holdings Limited, Mr. Terrence Bharath describes as a ‘hybrid location’ and it’s also the first time that Angostura® is opening a retail and distribution center in one location. Speaking at the grand opening of Angostura® Solera Wines and Spirits on Wednesday evening, Mr. Bharath says, “We need to get commercial matters moving at a rapid pace once more to move us out of this pandemic. At Angostura® we continue to do our part to show the resilience of our brand, to share our confidence with our customers and to solidify our faith in recovery and our passion for excelling. This current location in Marabella provided for the birth of a new idea and a new concept to marry a distribution depot and a Wine and Spirits store. Marabella’s location near the Solomon Hochoy Highway and Southern Main Road, makes accessibility to all parts of Trinidad easy and this location is ideal for both aspects of our business.”
Impressed by the new retail and distribution center, Senator the Honorable Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry said, “Once again Angostura® is on the cutting edge and I really wish to applaud you for continually seeking to build and expand this brand. This physical space is strategic not only in terms of its location, but its purpose combines a retail and wholesale distribution center, and we couldn’t be more pleased about this because it’s about generating more interest and generating more commercial activity”. http://www.angostura.com/
RENEGADE RUM
With the experience he gained in building Scotland’s terrior-driven Bruichladdich distillery, Mark Reynier decided to create a rum distillery. He told Spirit News “We had the chance to make something really special here, with the latest thinking, drawing on our distilling experience from Scotland and Ireland to support the unique underpinning Renegade philosophy: rum defined by Grenada’s geology, farm by farm, field by field. This will be the first of its scale to have been designed from the ground up for terroir-bred sugar cane”. The distillery will use cutting-edge still design and digital logistics, as well as technology that provides air filtration and water purification of waste streams. Reynier seeks to make the “world’s most profound rum” by extracting flavors from Grenada’s sugar cane grown on different soils across the island. So far, he has planted six varieties of sugar cane among ten different farms, with each farm having as many as four different terroirs. The fresh can is cut and quickly transported to the mill where it is crushed and the cane juice is sent to innovative, horizontal fermenters. The 6% wash is then sent to either the pot still or the column still. The first five pre-cask rums from Renegade are just now hitting the European markets. Two of these releases use the Lacalone Red Sugar Cane from the Dunfermline farm; one was distilled on the pot still, the other on the column still. The next release also uses Lacalome cane but is from the Old Bacolet farm; it was distilled on the pot still. Another release is from the Pearls farm and uses Yellow Lady sugar cane and it too was distilled on the pot still. The last release uses Cain sugar cane from the Old Bacolet Farm and is distilled in the pot still. Renegade has one of the most informative websites; explain all aspects of their cane, distillery design and production. I highly recommend that you pour yourself a glass of rum and read through the pages. https://renegaderum.com/
MOUNT GAY
On November 30th, Barbados declared itself an independent Republic. Barbados Today reported the country’s 318-year-old rum distillery launched a limited-edition blend to celebrate the republic, toasting to its own good fortunes despite the downturn in the global economy fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the launch of its Republic Blend, Mount Gay Distilleries’ Managing Director Raphael Grisoni said: “High-end rum is an industry that has been growing in double digits over the last five years. Despite the pandemic, our exports grew by nine per cent, and following our investment of $30 million over the last three years, over the next four years we will double that figure to $60 million to expand our capacity.” He added that the company has also been reducing its carbon footprint as Barbados seeks to go fossil fuel-free by 2030. “We were the first to deploy solar technology at our distillery and we have so far reduced our carbon output by 30 per cent,” he said. In describing the blend, Master Blender Trudiann Branker, the first woman to hold that post, said Republic Blend is “crafted in celebration of the island’s transition to a republic and its attributes are unique in that it showcases our oldest reserves of pot and column rum dating between 10 and 30 years. It has a hint of traditional Mount Gay flavor combined with vanilla, dark chocolate, banana and oak, and has 45 percent alcohol content.”The blend will be limited to 195 bottles available from Mount Gay’s Visitor Center at Brandons and “selected exclusive on-trade accounts.” Prime Minister Mia Mottley said that Barbados and Mount Gay’s journey over the years have had much in common She said: “This blend reflects the excellence of Mount Gay and Barbados as a whole, and it is commendable that Mount Gay has invested $30 million in Barbados when it was going through an IMF program, and the fact that you are investing more despite the challenges we have faced this year with a pandemic, ashfall, a storm and a hurricane is indicative of the confidence you have in Barbados.”. https://www.mountgayrum.com/
MOUNT GAY & TRIPADVISOR
TripAdvisor and Mount Gay Barbados Rum have teamed up to give away a free trip to Barbados. Winners receive a five-day, four-night trip for two during World Ocean Month in June 2022. The trip includes accommodations at a standard hotel, roundtrip coach airfare, transportation between the hotel and airport (as well as to various event venues), a tour of the Mount Gay distillery, and a Mount Gay dining experience. There’s just one catch: In order to win the trip, you and your guest have to participate in a 4ocean cleanup expedition while you’re there. You get to help out the environment and do a little good while enjoying a getaway to an amazing Caribbean island. Three other lucky winners will win trips to Miami, Boston, and Los Angeles for a stay at a Loews Hotel. In each destination, they will get to take part in an exclusive dining experience, a 4ocean cleanup expedition, and will also be gifted those must-have Sea Bag totes. (A few other winners will also receive the limited-edition totes and other 4ocean swag.) As part of the sweepstakes campaign, interested parties can also purchase the limited-edition bags created in partnership with actor and environmentalist Adrian Grenier to honor the ocean. With every bag purchase, a contribution will be made to 4ocean’s Pound Program, directly funding the removal of trash from the ocean, rivers, and coastlines using its full-time, professional cleanup crew members. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ , https://www.4ocean.com/
SPIRIBAM
Drinks International reported that next February, Spiribam, the spirit division of Groupe Bernard Hayot, will open its proprietary operations in the UK for Rhum Clément, Bounty Rum, Chairman’s Reserve and Admiral Rodney. Matthieu de Lassus, Spiribam’s international sales and marketing director, has been appointed CEO of Spiribam-UK and will strategically lead the new company. “This new step for Spiribam was quite logical and appears very promising. We are very optimistic with regards to the potential of our brands in the UK as most of them already benefit from a strong established footprint and great brand recognition,” said de Lassus. Gregoire Gueden, managing director of Spiribam, added: “The UK has always been a priority for Spiribam. The UK is one of the most dynamic spirit markets and the third largest premium rum market in the world, after the US and France, where Spiribam has had its own distribution companies respectively created in 2006 and 2005. ”Spiribam is the spirit division of Groupe Bernard Hayot, a family-owned international group headquartered in Martinique which owns rum brands in Martinique and Saint Lucia including Chairman’s Reserve and Clément Rhum. https://www.spiribam.com/
KISS RUM
The legendary rock and roll band, KISS, debuts their award-winning spirits portfolio, Drink It Up by KISS, in the US. After selling over 100,000 bottles across Europe, Japan and Australia, the master-blended portfolio of premium gin and rum will be available starting November 15th across 25 states. This liquor portfolio with its unparalleled craftsmanship and exceptionally smooth taste, was created by fans, for fans. Drink It Up by KISS is a collaboration between the legendary band, their licensing agent, Epic Rights, and the award-winning spirits producer Brands for Fans.
- KISS Black Diamond Premium Dark Rum: KISS Black Diamond Premium Dark Rum has a marked oak-character, thanks to the rum’s 15 year barrel ageing process, leading to a slightly spicy finish. The product has been awarded six global accolades for quality and design
- KISS Detroit Rock Premium Dark Rum: For something a little stronger and more complex, there’s the KISS Detroit Rock Premium Dark Rum. This pays homage to the hit song Detroit Rock City and is bottled at 45% ABV with a clear barrel finish, for a sophisticated and full-bodied taste. The rum has received eight internationally recognized awards for quality and design.
- KISS Monstrum Ultra Premium Dark Rum: Named after the Latin word for ‘monster,’ the KISS Monstrum Ultra Premium Dark Rum lives up to its title as a monstrously exceptional rum. It’s the newest and boldest addition to the portfolio that’s not to be missed. The high-end and specially selected rum is barrel aged over 14 years. KISS Monstrum Ultra Premium Dark Rum has a well-balanced finish that highlights the uniquely crafted blend which has no added sugar or flavorings.
Other Brands for Fans releases include spirits from Candlemass, Ghost, HammerFall, In Flames, Jonas Åkerlund, Judas Priest, KISS, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Slayer and Sungen.
