May 2018- Rum in the News

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May 2018- Rum in the News

TWO NEW RUM BOOKS

Much to my wife’s dismay, Amazon delivered two new rum books last month. The first was The Bartender’s Guide to Rum, published by Love Food, an imprint of Parragon Books, Ltd. Hardcover, 6-1/2 x 8 inches, 192 pages. As the name suggests, this is a cocktail book, with recipes for 86 different drinks. It starts with four pages of rum history, two pages on rum production, two pages on rum types and four pages on glassware, mixology equipment and techniques. The remaining pages are divided into six chapters: Classic Concoctions – Rum Cocktails Perfected and Enjoyed Over the Years; Simple Notes – Straight forward Drinks that Still Hit the Right Spot; Ingenious Mixes – Combinations That Could Just be the Next Big Thing; Mysterious Blends – Dramatic Results for Fearless Thrill Seekers; Island Paradise – Luscious Flavors, Sunny Mixes and Vacation Vibes; and Creative Coolers – Ice-Cold Coolers, Perfect for Warmer Weather. The second book was The Spirit of Rum by Giovanna Moldenhauer, with striking photographs by Fabio Petroni. Hardcover, 6-1/2 x 10 inches, 142 pages, published by the Italian firm, White Star Publishers. This book starts with eight pages on the history and Etymology of rum, followed by six pages on production. The majority of the book is a tour, “Around the World in 41 Rums.” The authors described their selection of these 41 rums as follows: “The choices that led us to select 41 different types of rum, were based firstly on geographical criteria and therefore on the production methods that permit the Master Distillers and Blenders to turn to the raw materials, in many cases indigenous, into high quality products.” Each two-page spread has a classy photograph on the rum bottle against a black background on the left side and a detailed description (country, production techniques, history and tasting notes) on the right side. The chapters are: Caribbean Rhum Agricole; Rums from the Americas and Exotic Rums. I found it interesting that the Rum of the Americas Chapter included Doorly’s, Gosling’s, Plantation, Worthy Park, Admiral Rodney, Santiago de Cuba and Angostura among it’s twenty-five rums. I enjoyed the choices in the Exotic Rum Chapter, which included Ryoma Rhum from Japan, Savanna Rum from Reunion, Vanilla Dzama from Madagascar and Arcane and Saint Aubin from Mauritius. The book closes with fifteen interesting cocktails, using rums mentioned in the book.

DENIZEN RUM

Hotaling & Co., premium craft spirits importer and distiller, formerly known as Anchor Distilling Company, announced its investment in Denizen Rum, the award winning line of blended Caribbean rums first introduced in 2010. Hotaling & Co. will play an active role alongside Nicholas Pelis, Denizen’s founder, on day-to-day brand management, distribution, and future line extensions. “My goal, when creating Denizen, was to bring back the rich and full flavors of old-world rums. To Free the Flavor,” says Nicholas Pelis. “Becoming partners with Hotaling & Co. and aligning Denizen with their liquid-led portfolio of premium artisanal spirits, gives us the ability to expand our distribution and improve upon our marketing capabilities.” “As indicated by recent news from Hotaling & Co. – the new company name, the new executive team structure – we will continue to invest in and position our company for long-term growth,” says Dennis Carr, Hotaling & Co.’s president and CEO . “We see a lot of potential in the premium rum category, which is experiencing growth in large part due to the movement towards mixology and classic cocktails. This strategic partnership allows us to invest deeper into the category and execute our vision to expand our portfolio of owned spirits.” Denizen currently offers two expressions that have been blended in collaboration with famed Amsterdam-based rum blender E&A Scheer. The Aged White is comprised of 60% Angostura/Trinidad Distillers 5 Year Aged Column Distilled Trinidad Rum, 20% Angostura/Trinidad Distillers 3 Year Aged Column Distilled Trinidad Rum and 20% Hampden Estates Distillery 3 Year Aged High Ester Jamaican Pot Distilled Rum. The Merchant’s reserve is made up of 60% Worthy Park Estates & New Yarmouth 8 Year Jamaican Pot Distilled Rum, 20% Hampden Estates & Clarendon 8 Year High Ester Jamaican Pot Distilled Rum and 20% Sucrerie-Distillerie Le Galion Martinique 8 Year High Ester Molasses Pot Distilled Rhum Grande Arome.

EMPEROR RUM

Emperor Rum has added two new expressions to its portfolio, including an aged white rum and a super-premium limited-edition bottling. The new variants, called Emperor Lily White and Emperor Private Collection, were unveiled at Rhum Fest in Paris last month. Emperor Lily White is bottled at 42% abv and is a blend of rums aged up to 12 years. It is charcoal-filtered and described as “elegant, rich and surprisingly intense” for a white rum. The Private Collection is also bottled at 42% abv and was first matured for two to five years in French and American oak barrels. The liquid was then finished in Château Pape Clément oak casks to deliver a “rich rum” with “warm, spicy notes”. Only 15,000 bottles have been created. Christophe Aulner, executive chairman of the Lookout Group, said: “We have put a lot of time and effort into each step of the production and maturation of Emperor, using selected casks and techniques that push the boundaries of the category.” Emperor will be supporting the growth of its rum range with a social media outreach program this year, which will aim to educate consumers about the brand and encourage online interaction through new visual assets.

DOS RON

Dos Ron, premium barrel-aged rum aged 8 or 16 years, is now available for purchase at select retail locations throughout the state of Michigan. Dos Ron is crafted and hand distilled from his father’s authentic Cuban family recipe by Carlos Morfa, Master Blender and Don Colina Family Patriarch. From 2014–2016, Dos Ron won six gold medals and two silver medals at the International Spirits Awards and has since emerged as one of the top luxury spirit brands in Europe. Today, these award-winning authentic rums have arrived in the United States for all to enjoy responsibly. “Growing up watching my father take such pride in his craft, it’s such an honor to be able to bring my family’s recipes to the United States,” said Carlos Morfa, Master Blender and Don Colina Family Patriarch. “I dedicate this rum to my father, and to your excellent taste.” Dos Ron is imported from the Dominican Republic by Rhino Global Enterprises.

RELICARIO RUM

Relicario hopes to encourage neat rum serves with its new gift pack. The gift pack includes a bottle of Relicario Supreme, as well as a single glass for neat tasting. Relicario Supreme is a blend of rums distilled from molasses and aged for 10-15 years in ex-Bourbon barrels. Relicario’s parent company Beveland Distillers has rapidly increased its rum offering in recent months. In February, the group introduced Ron Jungla, a brandy barrel-finished Caribbean rum, to its portfolio. It is made from premium Caribbean rum that has been matured for a second time in Bodegas Suau brandy barrels in Majorca. Bottled at 40% abv, Ron Jungla is said to have an aroma of dried grape, plum, toasted cocoa, and distilled cane sugar molasses, with a “balance of acidity and sweetness” on the palate. Last year, Beveland introduced Marama, a Spiced Fijian Rum. Produced from a sugar cane production process in the Fiji islands, it is distilled in continuous distillation columns, before being mixed with water originating from the volcanic substrates, which has been purified in reverse osmosis system. It is aged in American oak barrels, and the resulting rum is created by blending a selection aged between three and five years. During the production process extracts from exotic plants and fruits native to the island are added, to impart notes of spice, vanilla and citrus. On the nose, the liquid is “slightly sweet with notes of vanilla, coconut and walnuts”, with spicy citrus and ginger on the palate and “a feeling of warmth and zest in the throat” on the finish. 

RON BARCELO

Ron Barcelo markets itself as the only Dominican rum distilled from the juice of freshly cut, estategrown sugar cane rather than molasses. In fact, instead of coming from distant suppliers, the sugar cane used to make Ron Barceló is sourced from company-owned fields directly adjacent to the distillery. Their latest premium bottling is Imperial Onyx, a rich blend of rums aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon casks with a “heavy char” grade (other premium rums are aged in casks containing a “medium-light char” grade). It is then filtered through onyx stones, which give Barceló Imperial Onyx the mysticism that characterizes this exceptionally unique rum.

HAVANA CLUB

(HCI) recently announced that it expects to sell 4.5 million cases of nine-liter bottles by the end of this year. An interview issued by the Cuban business weekly, ‘Options,’ points out that such figure constitutes the sustained annual growth of sales of this luxury product, which is in high demand in the domestic and foreign market. The general director of HCI, French Christian Barré, added that the most important thing is the growth in values. He said that such indicator keeps him in permanent vision of development, because they are more interested in increasing value and making it superior to the physical volume in boxes.

He explained that in the first days of the year Cuban market registered a very positive situation in sales, with double-digit growth, on a par with the rise of foreign tourism in the country, when Havana Club benefits a lot with this upward trend. He commented that in the most recent years they carried out an important work at the level of the commercial network by the sellers of his company in the different provinces. He stressed that they also work in exports and take advantage of current trends in the main international markets of Premium rum consumers that are getting better quality. He insisted that they maintain effort in the distribution of the Havana Club 7 Years, which has a very strong growth, especially in the value, without forgetting the rise of Havana Club 3 Year Old Rum. The current sales of the company Havana Club have a dynamic growth mainly in Germany, Cuba and France, although the Cuban market turns out the highest increase, in which has a special welcome the spirited Selection of Teachers. This demand is achieved when Cuba registers record numbers in the arrival of travelers, an indicator that closed last year with 4,700,000 visitors. According to Barré, other important recipients of Havana Club’s products are the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy, as well as Canada, Mexico and Russia, while HCI reinforces its presence in China and Japan, while exploring other new destinations such as, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. He illustrated that events such as the Havana Club Grand Prix International contributes to accentuate the credibility of Cuban cocktail bars internationally and pointed out that consumers are now more selective. In relation to his company’s investments in the island, the executive expressed that they will continue to rise in line with the additional income generated by sales. He corroborated that HCI boozes, a joint venture created in 1993, are present in markets of 125 nations, as a result of the union between the Cuba Ron Corporation and the French group Pernod Ricard.

RHUM FEST 2018 GOLD MEDAL WINNERS

The Gold Medal Winners at last month’s RHUM FEST 2018 included Rum Manutea Tahiti - 50° and Toucan Rum - 50° in the Agricultural rum or pure juice, white, 50° and more category; HSE Black Sheriff Rum, Saint James XO Rum and Homemade Rum The Mauny XO in the Agricultural rum or pure juice, old, 3 to 6 years old category; Rum Savanna Lontan 57 in the Molasses, cane honey or blend, white category; Ferroni Tasty overproof rum 74° in the Molasses, cane honey, or blend, amber, gold category; Rum Rum Fiji Transcontinental Rum 2014 in the Molasses, cane honey, or blend, aged 3 to 6 years category; Appleton estate Joy and India Company - Venezuela CADC for the Molasses, cane honey, or blend, aged 7 and up category; Rum Ferroni Jamaica 2010 and Raw Depaz 2000 for the Raw cask rum or single cask category; Novo Fogo - Barrel Aged for the cachaça category; and NPK – Melon and Maca -Spiced Pedro- Jimenes for the Rum Spirits, Spicy, Spiced, Spiced category.

PANARUBES RUM

While most drinkers associate Mexican spirits with agave plants, sugarcane is one of Mexico’s top crops, and rum has been produced in pockets around the country. One such rum is making its way into the US market is Panarubes. Nestled in northern Oaxaca, near the border of Puebla, sit the majestic Sierra Mazateca Mountains. Sparsely inhabited predominantly by descendants of the Mazateco, this lush and cool tropical environment is ideal for growing coffee, fruit, and sugarcane. Remnants of the once-strong Mexican sugar industry, the sugarcane is used to make panela and is also commonly pressed, fermented, and distilled to make the aguardiente de caña (rum). Roughly 40 minutes east of Hautla de Jimenez is the distillery, or trapiche, of Jose Luis, the producer for Paranubes. Jose Luis’ family has been making aguardiente for at least 3 generations, with his father and grandfather teaching him the trade at a very young age. For the past 35 years, he has been producing this rich, fragrant spirit as one of many means to provide for his family. In addition to fruit and four heirloom coffee varieties, Jose Luis grows four different types of sugar cane on his 14 hectares: Caña Dulce, Caña Morada/Negra, Caña Dura, and Caña Amarilla/Criolla. His aguardiente batches are made from predominantly Caña Criolla, but inevitably have a blend of different cane types. The cane is grown organically and harvested annually. One hectare provides enough cane to produce about 2,500 liters annually. When the cane is mature and ready for harvest it is cut and cleaned in the field and of ten carried to the road by burro. The cane is then driven to the trapiche, crushed by a mechanical press and the pulp filtered out, leaving 100% pure cane juice. That juice is gravity-fed to one of two, 1,100- liter fermentation vats or tinas made out of pine wood. One of the most interesting things about Jose Luis’ method is that he only distills half of a single fermentation vat every morning and refills it that afternoon. Because the liquid that was left in the tina was still actively fermenting, the new liquid is inoculated by the remaining tepache (must) and the fermentation in the tina never stops. As such, he maintains a rolling fermentation and only empties it every four months! No water, yeast or additives are put into the liquid with the exception mesquite. When Jose Luis begins a new fermentation batch, he boils two handfuls of mesquite bark in water and pitches the mixture into the fermentation vat, utilizing the enzymes released into the tincture to help the fermentation. These trees are often up to 40 years old and have extremely hard cores used for construction. The bark is added only when beginning the fermentation process and never removed. If no bark is immediately available, Jose Luis sometimes adds the skin from two pineapples in the same manner. The initial distilled spirit (heads) comes off the still at about 86% ABV and continues until the aguardiente is falling at around 19% ABV. Unlike mezcal, the heads are not discarded, as they are not high in methanol due to the lack of chlorophyll in the fermentation. Jose Luis never adds any water to his distillate to lower the proof, preferring to blend higher and lower proof aguardiente. Different communities in the area drink aguardiente at different grades. For example, in nearby Santa Cruz, they drink it at 41.4% ABV, while in San Jerónimo they drink it at 60% ABV. Paranubes Rum is distilled to proof at 54% ABV which is where we as a team felt it struck its balance of flavor and texture and was most true to the cane. Jose Luis is careful not to distill too quickly for a balanced smooth taste. His rate of distillation is approximately 35 liters every two hours. He can produce up to 85 liters of aguardiente daily. Paranubes might be one of the first commercial rums from Oaxaca to hit the U.S., but it likely won’t be the last. The producers behind Mezcal Tosba are also working to bring their family’s aguardiente to the states, and importers like Laika Spirits are looking to get into the game with rums from other Mexican states.

-Article written by Mike Kunetka- 

These are the most recent and noteworthy headlines in the rum industry. If you want us to share your news with our readers, please send an email to Mike@gotrum.com. Mike Kunetka is a land-locked rum enthusiast, he is based in Colorado, USA.