written by Mr. Davide Staffa
Il Grande libro dei Rum
A Book Review By Luis Ayala of "Il Grande libro dei Rum" Written By Mr. Davide Staffa
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Davide Staffa (sommelier vice campione Italiano AIS 2009) during October’s rum festival in Italy (ShowRum). Mr. Staffa was generous enough to present me with an autographed copy of his recently published book, which quickly earned a distinguished place at the Ayala Rum Library. The book is titled “Il Grande libro dei Rum” (The Big Book of Rum), a title that is perfectly fitting, as this hard-cover has almost 700 pages of pure rum information!
The book is divided into multiple chapters that take the reader through all facets of rum, from the origin of the name, its historical role (commerce and piracy), how it is produced (fermentation, distillation and aging) to the rum brands in the world, which are grouped geographically.
The amount of color photographs make this book very inviting, while Mr. Staffa’s writing and depth of knowledge make it engaging. Il Grande libro dei Rum serves as a modern snapshot of the world industry. Certainly many new companies will be added in future years and, sadly, some current producers or brands will disappear. Without books like this one, however, all these comings and goings would slip by unnoticed.
As someone who is familiar with the rigors of writing, editing, publishing and promoting books, I applaud Mr. Staffa’s passion and effort in putting together this book.
Even though the book is written entirely in Italian, I thoroughly recommend it to all rum aficionados, regardless of their language.
The book is published and distributed by Papi Editore Sas (Gruppo editoriale Degusta). The ISBN is 9788888369112.
¡Bravissimo!
Luis Ayala