502-320-6419 - The American Distilling Institute

These two classic rum cocktails are
from martin Cate, proprietor of
Smuggler’s Cove, the famous
rum bar in SF:
Daiquiri #3
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.25 oz fresh grapefruit juice
dash superfine sugar
.25 oz maraschino liqueur
2 oz light, dry Spanish style rum
(or your favorite - it’s a flexible drink)
Combine all and shake and fine
strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
bumbo
2 oz full bodied, pot-still rum
.25-.5 oz demerara simple syrup
Stir on the rocks in an
old-fashioned glass and top
with fresh grated nutmeg.
cultural associations with rum by educating his
consumers on the history of rum and letting
them know that his rums are American-made.
Prichard explains, “There are a lot of people
out there who don’t realize that America was
the largest producer of rum prior to the American
Revolution. And people also expect rum
to be cheap. If you get them to buy an $80
bottle of rum, which we have, you have done
a marvelous job of educating your consumers
that not all rums are white, or cheap, or made
with back strap, or made in the tropics.”
Andrew Causey wraps up the issue of
educating consumers through his observation
that “there are some really, really good rums
out there, and some really bad ones, and most
people have only tasted bad rum. It is our
responsibility as craft distillers to change that.”
Competition With Whiskey, Vodka,
and Foreign Rum Markets
Another big challenge facing the American
craft rum industry comes in the form of stiff
competition with popular whiskey and vodka
categories, followed by foreign rum. According
to the spirits category table reports released
by DISCuS for 2010, 24.9 million nine-liter
cases of rum were sold that year, while 59
million cases were sold, followed by 47 million
cases for all whiskey categories. The good news
for rum producers, according to a 2010 report
released by Impact Databank, is that rum
consumption has doubled from roughly 11
million cases in 1994 to over 24 million cases
in 2009. But with craft spirits only comprising
about 1% of total distilled spirit sales, with
most of those sales for vodka or whiskey, craftproduced
rum is still only a drop in the alcohol
bucket.
When it comes to American craft distillers
competing with non-domestic produced rums,
Kelly Railean points out that both tough federal
and state governmental regulations give foreign
producers the upper hand. For instance,
in order to comply with such regulations, she
must increase the price of her products to stay
afloat. Although certain regulations, such as
environmental laws, can be a good thing, overseas
producers don’t always have the same costs
of compliance and can sell their products more
cheaply. In the state of texas, she has to sell her
products directly to a licensed distributor. And
is so often the case, the distributors tend to
promote giant brands like Bacardi rather than
promoting small brands because of the much
larger financial return.
As noted above, most of the producers and
experts I interviewed observe that consumers
usually expect rum to be cheap as compared
to other spirit categories. “People will not pay
$40 for a good bottle of rum when they can
buy it cheaply from Captain Morgan,” Luis
Ayala laments, “but they don’t mind paying
$40 or more for a good bottle of vodka or
whiskey. In this way, although the volume of
sales has doubled for rum since 1994, rum is
still lagging behind other spirits in what people
are willing to pay.”
Phil Prichard realized in the mid-2000’s that
rum can often be a seasonal item and harder
to sell year-round than whiskey. Early in his
distilling career, a distributor once told him
“people like rum, but they love whiskey.” And
as he noticed his rum sales begin to level off,
he began producing whiskey so that his distillery
would see continued growth.
The Forcast For Rum
The rum producers I spoke with all exhibited
a “cautious optimism” regarding the future
of American made rum. Clearly, there are
several hurdles that must be addressed as rum
continues its gradual ascent. And while these
distillers want rum to be at least as popular as
whiskey and vodka, they realize that it may
never completely catch up in sales with these
categories. Yet, there is a tremendous amount
of room for distillers to be creative in experimenting
and producing new flavor profiles,
thus developing a variety of styles of the new
breed of American rums. As Andrew Causey
assured me, “Rum is going up and up, and
there is plenty of room to grow. The sky is the
limit.” And that is great news.
(EDItOR’S NOtE: Nancy Fraley is currently
producing a Craft Rum Aroma Wheel
for use as both an industry tool and rum
consumer education guide.)
5 rums every
micro distiller
should try
By Luis AyALA, Rum ConsuLtAnt
“Don’t be stuck having to sell what
you just produced, instead plan
to produce that which you
truly want to sell”
Ron barceló Gran Platino, 1 year old,
Dominican Republic. Why: white rums
don’t have to be destined for the cocktail
shaker! this white rum demonstrates
that good craftsmanship can
result in sipping white rums that vodka
drinkers can enjoy, while still retaining
the character typically associated with
cane spirits.
Santa Teresa Rhum Orange, 2 year old,
Venezuela. Why: most so-called fruitflavored
or spiced rums in the market
are made with raw, un-aged ethanol.
With Rhum orange, santa teresa has
produced a true, flavored aged rum that
takes advantage of legitimate aromas
and tastes in their alcohol base, showing
what a true fruit flavored rum can
be like.
Ron Viejo de Caldas Grand Reserve, 8
year old, Colombia. Why: many beginning
rum producers believe that as rum
is aged, it tends to develop mainly brandy
and fruit notes. this rum showcases
what careful fractional selection and
aging can produce when artfully aged
and blended; it is a true eye opener.
English harbour 10 year old, Antigua.
Why: this rum demonstrates that one
does not need to grow very old waiting
for rum to mature into something truly
exquisite. one single decade of aging in
the right environmental conditions can
produce superb results.
Zafra Master Reserve 21 year old,
Panama. Why: it has been said that
patience has its rewards, and nothing
like this rum to prove how truthful
this assertion is. While there are other
rums that are as old or older, those
products are also considerably sweeter.
Zafra proves that remarkable smoothness
and persistent complexity can be
achieved without being sugary.
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