TheRumLab Industry Newsletter Week #36 of 2024
The Rum Lab
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ISAAC DANIEL PICCIOTTO CEO PDC Vinos y Licores SAS (Ron Quimbaya)?
TRL: Who is Isaac Daniel Picciotto?
I am part of a family that has been involved in the production and distribution of wines and spirits since the early 1950s. I majored in chemical engineering and later specialized in enology. I started working for my father, alongside my brother, at our brandy distillery. Today, the next generation is involved in our family business, mainly brandy and rum production in Colombia, and wine production in Chile.
TRL: What does the rum mean to you? What made you fall in love with rum and when did it happen?
Sugarcane distillates have been around for a long time. Rum, as it was back then, results from the need for hydration on long trips, when fresh water was scarce. Sailors traveling from Europe would bring wines, usually sweet and with a high alcoholic content, stored in barrels. For the trip back, there was no wine on the islands, so rum was the only possibility, probably hydrated to a lower strength, and flavored with the residual sweet wine that was left in the barrel used for storage for the return trip. Enslaved Africans brought sugarcane to the Caribbean, and distillation skills were imported from Europe. The history, the romance, and the love of the Caribbean islands have made me passionate about rum.
TRL: Three essential characteristics that define the rum according to your perspective.
A good rum is not necessarily ancient, aging in barrels is a condiment that must be well administered. The secret to a rum is a clean fermentation, a neat distillation, and a resulting spirit that evokes sugarcane aromas.
TRL: What is the most important contribution you have made to the rum industry?
I believe that our artisanal rum project in Colombia has the potential to change the lives of many poor people in our country. According to the “Federación de Paneleros”, there are over 20,000 artisanal sugar mills in Colombia that sustain over 250,000 families of “campesinos” (farmers) which rely on panela (unrefined whole cane sugar) sales. Our project aims to inspire and train these “campesinos” to produce virgin sugarcane “honey” (cooked sugar juice), to ferment and distill artisanal rums, contributing to the birth of a new rum industry. Small batch, artisanal, pot distillation and maturation in oak barrels for short periods (in our case we used new French oak – Limousin) has fashioned a new and unique style of rum with different origins (and terroirs), that I adore.
TRL: What's another thing you are passionate about, in addition to rum? Why? ?
I′m passionate about my family, reading and studying, and also sherry, brandy, and wine.
TRL: What is your favorite place for drinking rum? ?
My favorite place for drinking rum is somewhere I can relax, hopefully, a beach house with a view of the Caribbean Sea, or a farmhouse overlooking sugarcane plantations, next to a “trapiche” (artisanal sugar mill).
TRL: Favorite drink + Recipe ? ?
I love my rum straight up, but if on the islands, I will always prepare or order a “painkiller”.
Recipe:
1 ounce of dark rum,
1 ounce of gold rum
4 ounces pineapple juice,
1 ounce orange juice,
1 ounce cream of coconut,
freshly grated nutmeg,
Mix well and serve in a tall glass with plenty of ice – 2 ounces of any good rum will do.
TRL: Why is it important to educate the rum consumer?
Many years back, you would come up to a bar and order a dry martini, which the waiter would skillfully prepare with whatever was on the shelf. With time, we learned that there were different styles of gin and vodka. The rum universe is immense, rum is produced in Africa, south and Central America, and many Caribbean islands. Different ways of production and different styles make it important to know how your rum is made and where it comes from.
TRL: Any tips to train the palate and taste a good premium rum?
The only way to train your palate is with exercise. You need to taste as many rums as you can. This way you will be able to decide, based on your judgment, what style you like, be it aged or not, dry or sweet, dark or white.
TRL: How can the rum contribute to improving the crisis in some countries? ?
In the case of our country, as I mentioned before, we hope that the production of artisanal rum, very much in the same style as what now happens with mezcal, will transform life for people who live in rural Colombia.
TRL: Is the commitment to sustainable development the key to success for the permanence of the rum industry in the world? Why?
Sustainable development is the only way to produce any good rum included. We need to think of the future generations, in my case, my grandchildren. I want them to know we are contributing to bettering the environment for them and everybody else on the planet.
TRL: Plans you have when you leave the rum industry.
Why leave what you love?
TRL: What is your advice for new generations in the rum industry?
Be passionate, be honest, and mostly, be patient.
TRL: How can people learn more about you? Website? Social media page?
Why baijiu is down – but not out
Nicola Carruthers – 08/27/2024 – The Spirits Business
A number of headwinds have caused a downturn in baijiu sales in the spirit’s homeland, China. But brands are targeting younger drinkers, as well as overseas territories where there is a lot of potential for growth.
China’s national spirit, baijiu, has long held a grip on the nation and is a stalwart of banquets and dinner tables. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, baijiu accounts for more than 95% of spirits consumption in its home country. But its dominant position in the market has been threatened in recent years by the Covid-19 pandemic, and by stricter government rules.
Data from IWSR showed baijiu sales declined by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% between 2017 and 2022, with a 4% drop predicted for 2022-2027. In 2022, China’s alcohol market likely saw its ‘most challenging year of the past decade’, following renewed lockdowns and consumer caution, IWSR noted. Data from the analyst also revealed that spirits volumes fell by 17% in China in 2022, with a 4% drop expected in the five years to 2027, entirely due to the performance of Chinese baijiu, IWSR believes.
Excluding the Chinese spirit, all other major categories – whisky, gin, vodka, agave spirits, rum and brandy – are forecast to grow sales volumes by single-digit CAGRs (2022-2027).
Higher-quality baijiu
Shirley Zhu, research director – Greater China, IWSR, explains the decline: “The category is now premiumising, as rising incomes allow people to trade up to higher-quality baijiu. The lowest price segment of baijiu, consisting of unbranded baijiu consumed rurally, is now declining rapidly as tougher government regulation and increased consumer education push producers towards higher-quality brands. As a result, manufacturers have had to upgrade their products, and some ceased production of low-end brands.”
She also notes that the impact of Covid-19 and implementation of government regulations “accelerated the structural decline of baijiu, which has had the biggest impact on the low-priced segment”.
Zhu explains the impact of new rules: “In June 2022, the new national standard came into force. It gives a more detailed and accurate definition of baijiu, which excludes flavoured liquors that were sold as baijiu.”?
Despite declines for the category as a whole, Zhu notes the ultra-premium-and-above baijiu segment is seeing growth. From 2017 to 2022, the subcategory saw CAGR growth of 12%, compared with a 13% decline for standard-and-below over the same period. IWSR expects the ultra-premium segment to rise by 7% between 2022 and 2027, while standard-and-below is forecast to drop by 7% in the five-year timeframe. Zhu says one of the challenges facing the category is its ability to appeal to a wider demographic. “The core consumer is male and aged over 40; baijiu has an old-fashioned image among many younger legal-drinking-age consumers, though some of the more innovative producers are trying to break the mould and reinvent baijiu for Millennials.”
Kweichow Moutai
Zhu says some baijiu companies, such as Kweichow Moutai, are attracting younger consumers by becoming “increasingly involved in digital marketing, and launching crossover food products such as baijiu-filled chocolates and ice cream, which are highly associated with a low-tempo lifestyle, and usually completely unrelated to baijiu”.
Bel Sun, general manager of Camus’ baijiu portfolio, Spirit of China, which distributes Kweichow Moutai in global travel retail, notes the amount of baijiu exported internationally is very small. She says baijiu brands are still attempting to attract younger consumers because the category is often consumed by an older generation, noting that a lot of brands plan activations to target younger drinkers.
Ming River baijiuDerek Sandhaus, founder of Ming River baijiu, and author of Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits, has seen a move towards premiumisation in baijiu. “There was a lot of bad baijiu on the market around 2010, a lot of distilleries producing it at different price points. Now people are focusing on the mid- to premium level,” he explains. “What I hear from the distilleries is not that the market is worse than it was when they were making twice as much baijiu, but that they’re making more profit at the moment. They’re producing less but earning more.”
Like Sandhaus, Camus’ Sun says the category was damaged by low-quality baijius hitting the market.
Sandhaus also explains that president Xi Jinping’s cut on budgets for banqueting affected baijiu sales. “One of the big changes is the Chinese government used to buy a lot of baijiu directly from distilleries to serve at functions, but when the current president came to power [in 2013], one of the first things he said was that they weren’t going to spend their own resources on baijiu any more. That was a big shock to the industry. At least for a year or two, the market significantly declined.
“In the long term it’s a huge benefit to the baijiu industry but it’s no longer subsidised in the same way it was before; they’re actually competing to make the best products and get the pricing right. In the long-term it’s good for the industry, but at the same time it’s diminished the amount of baijiu in terms of volume that they’re producing.”
More widely, Asian spirits have been spotlighted as consumer trends by UK retailers The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt. Dawn Davies, buying director for The Whisky Exchange and its supply arm, Speciality Drinks, says Asian spirits, including baijiu, awamori and whiskies, are gaining prominence on the global stage.
The Whisky Exchange reported approximate growth of 14% for Asian spirits in the past year, with a 5% gain for baijiu.
Davies says Asian spirits are gaining much more interest, with consumers seeking them out in stores. The retailer is “actively looking” to take on more baijiu, sake and shochu.
She has also spotted an “opportunity in Asian whiskies that aren’t Japanese” and says the Chinese consumer is “hugely loyal to brand China”.
Davies believes the emergence of new Chinese whisky is “where the baijiu market will suffer”. In recent years, international spirits conglomerates, including Diageo and Pernod Ricard, have set up whisky distilleries in China, with Pernod recently unveiling the first whisky from its US$150 million Emeishan distillery. At the end of last year, Angus Dundee Distillers revealed plans to build a malt whisky distillery in Chun’an, China, along with a visitor experience.
Meanwhile, in summer 2023, The Whisky Exchange offered the first Chinese whiskies to be made available outside of the country to the UK. The whiskies, created by Goalong Distillery, sit at an affordable price point, says Davies. Goalong 5 Years Old Bourbon & Brandy Cask Single Malt Chinese Whiskey is priced at RRP ￡59.95/US$78, Goalong 5 Years Old Bourbon Cask Single Malt Chinese Whiskey costs ￡52.95/US$68, and Goalong Blended Chinese Whiskey costs ￡37.75/US$48.25.
New Chinese distillery
Cognac house Camus is also working on a new whisky distillery in China, in partnership with the fourth-biggest baijiu brand in the world, Gujinggong. The Guqi distillery, located adjacent to Gujinggong’s distillery in Bozhou, will combine Cognac-making techniques with fermentation methods used in baijiu production to create the “world’s most aromatic whiskies”. The site will use local barrels made from Chinese oak, pot stills from Scotland, and follow the same regulations used to make Scotch whisky.
Ryan Camus, business development director for new brands, affirmed that whisky will be second to baijiu, despite the latter’s decline. “People will still look for Scotch and Japanese; I don’t think Chinese whisky will be able to compete. The cost of procuring whisky in China is quite high.”
With waning interest in baijiu among local consumers, could international markets be a way for brands to win over more curious drinkers willing to explore new categories? “For baijiu to have a healthy future, it needs to have a broader consumer base than it does have in China,” says Sandhaus, who launched Ming River with the aim of taking baijiu to global markets.
Sandhaus notes most baijiu brands export their flagship products to enable “wealthy business people to buy them while overseas”, rather than to make it popular outside of China.
Overseas markets
In 2020, Ming River signed a US import and sales agreement with 375 Park Avenue Spirits, a division of the Sazerac Co. Today, the brand is available in 15 countries, with 75% of sales coming from the US. Germany and the UK are also important markets for Ming River, Sandhaus says, with the brand listed on The Whisky Exchange.
“The US is the biggest market outside of Asia for baijiu consumption, and baijiu is expected to see growth there, though from a small base,” says IWSR’s Zhu.
“In Asia, growth is expected in countries like South Korea and Japan. American consumers are unfamiliar with the category, and the drink’s taste profile is quite different from the spirits they are accustomed to.
“Traditional baijiu is not easily mixed in cocktails; it is usually consumed as shots during dinner.
“To drive further expansion in the US, baijiu would require strategic involvement from major Chinese producers, as well as promotion and support from top on-premise Pan-Asian accounts in the US.”
Sipping tradition: How a family-owned distillery is bringing Puerto Rican sugarcane back
Chloe Kim - 9/2/2024 - USA Today
A trip to the idyllic island of Puerto Rico may include a tour of the popular Bacardi distillery just across the bay from the iconic Old San Juan area.?
It's natural that when visiting the place responsible for producing more than 70% of the rum sold in the U.S., you would immediately think of Bacardi, the largest rum distillery in the world.
Outside of rum-producing mega-corporations like Bacardi or Don Q (produced in the southern town of Ponce), there has been a resurgence of small, artisanal?brands.
With just a bit more planning, you can venture off the beaten path and discover a unique rum and distillery experience.?
About 22 miles west of San Juan in Vega Alta is San Juan Artisan Distillers (SJAD), the first and only Puerto Rican distillery growing its own sugarcane and producing its own rum.?
After the Great Recession, founder and president Jose? "Pepe"?A?lvarez, originally in the agriculture industry, thought it was time to try something different.?
His son and head distiller, Jose? Roberto?A?lvarez,?explained: “There had been a long history in Puerto Rico of sugarcane planting. We exported sugar all over the world.”
Though the sugarcane industry collapsed by the 2000s, Puerto Rico “used to be covered in sugarcane farms.”
“There even was a train that went around the island, picking up sugarcane from the farms and taking it to the sugar mills. So, it's a very nostalgic and cultural aspect of our heritage that completely disappeared,” A?lvarez said.
Their goal was to create a higher-quality product by sourcing it from sugarcane juice, a French style of making rum.
As operations took in 2017, tragedy struck when Hurricane Maria demolished 50 to 70 acres of their sugarcane farm.
With that setback, in the interim, they launched their Tres Clavos brand – originally using sourced rum from the Dominican Republic following Maria, but using locally sourced fruit – which is inspired by?chichai?to?(Puerto Rican moonshine).?
Once back on their feet, the Tres Clavos brand became a Caribbean blended rum as they started using half of their own rum and half from the Dominican Republic.
When the sugarcane farms recovered, they were able to launch their Ron Pepo?n brand, made completely from their own sugarcane juice, which has a grassy, fruity and “more funky” flavor profile than rum that is widely traditional on the island.?
A?lvarez says American culture is also much more familiar with rum made from?molasses or sugar, which highlights more caramel and vanilla notes.
Disposing of the waste after making rum from molasses or sugar is also more difficult, costly and harmful to the environment than disposing of used sugarcane juice.?
Tour guide?Alejandra Torres Zayas explained that historically, producers would dispose of the waste into the ocean, not realizing the environmental hazard. Now, there are government-approved ways to dispose of it, but?because of SJAD’s method, they are able to put it back in the land and use it as fertilizer.?
Their efforts have been paying off. SJAD’s Ron Agri?cole earned a?gold medal at the Fifty Best White Rums 2021?and?double gold in 2022.?
Those who do make the visit outside of San Juan to the distillery see firsthand the “family vibe” and “personal attention,”?A?lvarez believes.
“People really like to see the whole picture, the farm, the milling, the distillery, the manufacturing,”?A?lvarez said.?
People always “arrive happy and leave happier.”
Those who do make the visit outside of San Juan to the distillery see firsthand the “family vibe” and “personal attention,”?A?lvarez believes.
“People really like to see the whole picture, the farm, the milling, the distillery, the manufacturing,”?A?lvarez said.?
People always “arrive happy and leave happier.”
Dictador debuts world’s first rum aged in Welsh whisky casks
Georgina Torbet - 9/2/2024 - The Manual
Dictador is a brand known for its?elevated approach to luxury rum, and now it is taking that one step further by introducing the first Colombian rum which is aged is Welsh whisky casks. The idea is to infuse the rum with notes from the wood and just a hint of whisky flavor, in the brand’s collaboration with Penderyn Distillery.
The Dictador 2 Masters Penderyn series will feature two expressions: a Vintage 1991 and a Vintage 2000. The rums were originally distilled in 1991 and 2000 respectively, then both were aged for 16 months. The Vintage 1991 was aged in Peated Quarter Casks at Penderyn Distillery, and the Vintage 2000 was aged in PX-Sherry Casks.
“This groundbreaking release represents a pinnacle of collaborative craftsmanship, led by Dictador’s Master Blender Hernan Parra—a third-generation member of the Parra family and custodian of their Family Reserve—and Penderyn’s Aista Phillips, the first female Master Blender in the 2Masters project,” Dictador says. “Together, they have curated a new era of luxury and taste, showcasing their expertise and establishing a new benchmark in global spirits innovation.”
The bottles will both be highly limited releases. The Vintage 1991 will be limited to 413 bottles, and has an abv of 40.7%. The Vintage 2000 will be limited to 375 bottles and has an abv of 46.2%.
Although whisky has long been the most popular aged spirit, rum enthusiasts have seen a burgeoning interest in fine aged rums as well. Designed for delicate sipping, like a Scotch, these aged rums are a growing trend which you can expect to see becoming more trendy in the next few years.
El Dorado: cask strength could ‘redefine’ rum sector
Rupert Hohwieler - 9/2/2024 - The Spirits Business
Speaking to?The Spirits Business, Shaun Caleb, master distiller at Demerara Distillers (producer of the premium rum brand), said the premium rum trend presents a “significant opportunity for El Dorado to strengthen its market position and continue to grow its brand as a key player in the global rum industry”.
“As?premium rums gain popularity worldwide, El Dorado will have the opportunity to continue to expand its global footprint,” he continued.
Caleb draws from three original wooden ‘heritage’ stills (Port Mourant, Versailles, and Enmore) from old Guyanese distilleries, as well as copper coffey and Savalle stills to craft El Dorado, and together with the country’s tropical climate and high humidity, it makes for a ‘distinct’ rum that he believes ties into the current desire around unique and exclusive products.
While the brand’s core range comprises 12-, 15- and-21-year old rums, Caleb is also turning his attention to more intensely-flavoured cask strength releases.
Earlier this year, the brand’s first high-ester rum launched in the UK and sold out – priced at ￡120 (US$158). Another batch is now on its way and Caleb and the team are figuring out how to get more to the market given its success. Released at cask strength and the first in a nine-product series, the expression was said to be created in response to an increase in consumer demand for diverse rums.
Made at El Dorado’s Diamond Distillery – the only distillery in Guyana – the rum is a blend of the brand’s Diamond High Ester (where fermentation took place over several months) and its honeyed, medium-bodied rum produced in the style of the La Bonne Intention (LBI) Estate.
The distillery has been producing high-ester rum since the 1950s, but it is typically blended with other distillates in order to increase the ester content. This release, Caleb says, is a “deliberate choice” to showcase complex and intense flavour profiles. It has a ‘rich and fruity’ profile without the ‘funky tail’ that high-ester rums tend to have.
He added: “Premiumisation will also force us to experiment with new blends, different barrel finishes, and limited edition releases to cater to the evolving tastes of premium rum consumers.”
Emergence of cask strength
Though still a relatively niche market, Caleb sees cask-strength expressions as ones to watch, as they present an “opportunity to differentiate and capture the attention of consumers looking for something unique and exclusive”.
He asserts: “As consumers’ palates become more sophisticated, there’s an increasing demand for bold and intense flavours. Cask-strength rums have the potential to redefine the rum category and attract a broader audience of rum enthusiasts seeking such an experience.”
Due to availability of stock, El Dorado has had to limit the production of its Cask Strength Enmore to around 1,000 cases globally. It is also not available in the UK. For this reason, Caleb notes that it’s “difficult to really gauge what the true demand could be” without the restriction.
Having said that, he does maintain: “We’ve seen interest in these sorts of offerings rise substantially over the last few years – from the time we did our first release until now. As a matter of fact, after we first launched, or relaunched I should say, people were clamouring for our single still rums and asked ‘why not release this at cask strength?
“It would be a lot more interesting to see the Enmore if it were to be released just out of the barrels. And that’s what we did. So I would say interest has gone up, but perhaps supply has not quite been able to meet what the potential demand could be.”
El Dorado Cask Strength Enmore is bottled at 54.3% ABV and the intensity of flavours is a lot richer. Of the appeal, Caleb says: “A well-aged rum has certainly developed the body and presents those flavours in a very balanced, grounded way, without any sort of burn or bite. So you can obviously then enjoy the flavours in a much more enhanced manner, but without putting any sort of burn to it and so on.
“The rum then digs deeper and explores even more flavours when it’s at a higher concentration. That is what they [the consumer] want.”
In addition, through their traditional ageing and production methods, cask-strength rums also align with the trend toward craft and artisanal spirits, Caleb observes.
“These rums retain all the flavours developed during ageing, undiluted, resulting in the full extent of the rum’s richer, deeper, complex and robust taste profile. As such, the concentrated flavour profiles meet this discerning demand and offer a new dimension to the rum-tasting experience.”
Target markets
Of the brand’s global aspirations, Caleb states El Dorado tries to balance each market and set “very aggressive goals”.
“The UK is a very important market for us. Positioned along with the US, Canada, the rest of Europe, and the Caribbean and China markets – those are our six main pillars of growth. Even while we seek ways of expanding into territories where El Dorado is not as big, mainly in Asia and Africa, and parts of South and Central America, the aspiration is to be a global brand.
“We have been putting down new warehouses in fulfilment of those aspirations. And therefore, we have to aggressively go after every market.”
Summing up the state of the premium market, he adds: “Even while rum and even vodkas, have seen challenging times – particularly in Europe and in the UK with inflation, the war in Ukraine, shipping and logistics, and in fact, production prices – all of those factors have had a negative effect on the supply chain, but premium rums have really not ever declined.
“There is still that segment, of which the interest is alive, and because we continue to innovate, then the interest is obviously well-fed and well-maintained.”
Spirit-based RTDs show global growth
Staff – 08/28/2024 – The Shout
Global sales volumes of RTDs grew by 8% in 2023 against a total drop in all alcohol sales volumes of 0.2% for the same period.
A new report from UK-based analytics firm, Euromonitor International, says that the decline in total sales volume came about because of a confluence of circumstances including geopolitical upheaval impacting consumer sentiment, inflationary pressures in most western markets and a structural slowdown in China.
“The industry entered negative territory, a rare occurrence, highlighting the severity of the perfect storm facing it,” says Euromonitor’s Head of Alcoholic Drinks Research, Spiros Malandrakis.
Malandrakis said that both off and on-trade performance had decelerated significantly losing most of the momentum driving the post-pandemic bounce back and witnessing a 0.7% volume decline and 1% volume growth respectively.
In New Zealand, while RTD sales volumes continued to trend down, total spirit and spirit-based drink volumes passed that of wine in 2023.
“Although RTD sales volumes are down compared with the same time last year the wine and beer categories are also just as affected as consumers drink less but choose either no and low alcohol alternatives or sip and savour premium spirits instead,” says Spirits New Zealand Chief Executive, Robert Brewer.
The consumer trend leading to increased premium spirit consumption against a backdrop of falling overall sales volumes was confirmed recently when the World Spirits Alliance released its Global Economic Impact Study.
“As consumers drink less they are choosing to spend their money differently. This has meant a surge in popularity for premium spirits.” says Brewer.
“This is good news for our fledgling homegrown spirits sector which prides itself on producing premium spirits and which is already establishing itself as a growing exporter of premium product.”
Colombia: A spirit so good people are smuggling it in suitcases
Staff – 08/29/2024 – BBC
Strong, sweet and steeped in history, viche could become to Colombia what mezcal is to Mexico. But Afro-Colombians are having to fight to save it from cultural appropriation.
Colombia's south-west is a wild region festooned with silvery rivers that disgorge into the Pacific Ocean. Only two main roads snake through emerald rainforest towards the coast. The Afro-Colombians – black Colombians descended from enslaved people – who have lived here for centuries rely instead on boats to get around. These communities are among the country's poorest, lacking infrastructure, state support and economic opportunities. And yet, they are the guardians of an ancestral tradition that is on the verge of becoming Colombia's national alcohol.
Viche (sometimes called "biche") is a strong, sweet liquor that Afro-Colombians distil from four types of sugarcane (yellow, black, morada and pataperro) that spring up to 7m high on small plots of land sandwiched between rainforest, mangroves and rivers.
"Viche comes from Africa, brought from our Bantu ancestors when they were enslaved in rivers around the Colombian Pacific," said José Tilson Arroyo Valencia. One of Colombia's most respected vicheros (producers), he has been crafting the liquor for more than 30 years on the banks of the Cajambre River, three hours from the port city of Buenaventura.
"Viche is present from birth until death," added Rosmilda Qui?ones Fajardo who represents the Association of United Midwives of the Pacific, noting that it is far more than just a drink for her community. Each sip distils ancient traditions: it is imbibed to aid fertility, baptise children, mark deaths, cure colds or to increase energy. Rosmilda has been using "el patrón" – as she calls viche – in traditional midwifery for more than four decades. She administers viche to mothers every 40 days after giving birth; to fortify them while breastfeeding; or combines the liquor with medicinal plants to relieve menstrual cramps.
Although men can be vicheros, it is predominantly women who keep the tradition alive. Rogelia Qui?onez Caicedo, now 61, was 10 years old when her grandmother taught her to cut sugarcane in Vereda Silva on the Cajambre River. Together they'd crush the cane, often on community-owned trapiches (sugar mills), then the juice, or guarapo, would be cooked and left to ferment naturally, sometimes in wooden barrels, for up to 20 days in the hot, humid conditions.
Once distilled, the final product puts hairs on your chest: viche puro can be anywhere between 31% and 51% alcohol. Rogelia's viche, which she sells as the brand Do?a Sofi (Madame Sofi), clocks in at 40%.
Women known as transformadores (transformers) then infuse potent herbs such as pipilongo, a fiery pepper native to the Pacific region, and cimarrón, a type of strong-tasting coriander, to make medicinal drink known as curado (cured alcohol).
The exact herbal concoction is "the secret of the vichera", says Mamá Orbe, a vichera and community leader. She makes hers on a traditional wooden trapiche beneath papaya trees on her family's farm near the town of El Valle in the region of Chocó.
No single viche tastes the same. Much like wine or coffee, the terroir where the cane grows determines the flavour. It may be herbal, piquant or reveal notes of caramel, slipping down the throat and leaving just a warm glow on the lips. Some producers may also macerate indigenous ingredients such as coca leaves and vanilla.
The drink is so popular that bartenders are smuggling bottles overseas in suitcases (Credit: Fundación Acua)
While viche was once only known within Afro-Colombian communities, the drink is now booming throughout Colombia, spurred by the country's influential chefs and mixologists. Hipsters quaff the tongue-tingling tipple in Bogotá and Cartagena and tastings are in vogue. A shot of the stuff reinvigorates a Negroni – and owing to the low sugar and methanol content, the next day is blissfully headache-free.
Versatile, tasty and steeped in history, viche could become to Colombia what mezcal is to Mexico or cacha?a to Brazil. But a bureaucratic tangle is preventing the alcohol from being widely sold and exported. In the meantime, bartenders are smuggling bottles in suitcases to London, Miami, Spain and Japan – it is that good.
The Petronio álvarez Pacific Music Festival, which ended on 19 August in the city of Cali, has been instrumental in broadening the drink's appeal. It is one of the region's largest celebrations of Afro culture, attended by around 500,000 people this year. Viche is the only alcohol allowed. Party-goers sip from plastic bottles as they stamp and sway to the marimba de chonta (a xylophone-like instrument that is known as the "piano of the jungle") beneath the spine of mountains that separate Cali from the Pacific coast. As the fiesta has spiralled in size since its beginnings in 1997, so has Colombia's taste for viche.
Afro-Colombians have long fought to reach this point. Viche was banned for decades. Colombia's 19th-Century alcohol law handed control of the production and sale of liquor to individual states and regulation favoured alcohol produced by the states' monopolies, while outlawing drinks such as chicha (an indigenous fermented corn liquor) and viche. Such artisanal alcohol menaced public health, said the authorities, and Colombians viewed viche as an unsanitary moonshine that was dangerous to consume. The anti-viche campaign was laced with racism; ?Rogelia remembers stashing her cane juice in canoes in the 1970s when law enforcement turned up to destroy her supply.
Things changed in 1993, when Colombia passed Law 70, which gave Afro-descendent Colombians collective ownership over their ancestral territories and recognised their cultural identity. The level of persecution diminished, but there is still a hangover of police interference. Jerry cans of viche in transit from the Pacific territories to other cities are frequently seized, says Sofía Arroyo Qui?onez who makes Do?a Sofi with her Aunt Rogelia.
This happens because viche sits in a legal grey zone. It can be sold in the Pacific region and during cultural events such as Petronio álvarez. Beyond that, however, the law that regulates the production and sale of the drink has not been finalised. Producers are facing another headache too. New viche brands are popping up, hoping to cash in on the surge in demand. Yet several do not distill the traditional way or do so outside Afro-Colombian territories.
If we don't get our act together, we're going to lose our heritage - Licenia "Licha" Pinillo
"Everybody sells viche now," said Licenia "Licha" Pinillo, who sold the drink at the very first Petronio álvarez festival in 1997 and now represents ASOVICHE, Colombia's national association of vicheros. "If we don't get our act together, we're going to lose our heritage."
Fears of cultural appropriation centre around one main question: why should people outside the communities benefit economically from generational knowledge that Afro-Colombians have struggled to protect? "It is not the same to take viche from the hand of a mestizo person (someone with mixed European and indigenous ancestry) as it is to take viche from the hand of a black person who has put their heart and soul into it," said Mamá Orbe.
The uproar began in 2018 when a businessman from Cali tried to trademark viche as a brand. In 2021, the country's Congress eventually signed the Law of Viche that aims to protect the drink as an ancestral beverage, declaring it part of Colombia's "immaterial cultural heritage". The law works in a similar fashion to a Protected Designation of Origin (think of Parmesan and Champagne), except with an ethnic category. It says that viche and the family of viche-based drinks – arrechón and tumbacatre (creamy liquors made with spices and tropical fruit) and tomaseca (a herbal form of viche, most commonly used for curing women's pain) – cannot be industrialised. To be considered viche, the beverage must be produced traditionally by Afro-Colombians in 44 defined territories in the Pacific states. The idea is to protect viche's Afro roots while encouraging the creation of a mezcal-style marketplace.
Regulators are struggling to apply Western-style legislation to the drink’s rural and informal production process (Credit: Fundación Acua)
Three years on, however, the drink remains in regulatory limbo. Francia Márquez, Colombia's first black vice president who comes from Cauca, is overseeing the process. Progress is inching along. There are three main hurdles. The first is ensuring that producers can obtain a sanitary licence, called an INVIMA, which they need to sell domestically and abroad. The second is deciding how to certify the around 1,500 vicheros strung along the coast. And finally,figuring out how to apply Western-style legislation to a production process that is inherently informal and unstandardised, carried out in rural, remote settings hundreds of miles away from the Bogotá-based institutions that make the rules.
Connecting riverine producers with consumers in cities is another challenge. La Vichería, a social enterprise in Cali, partners with vicheras such as Rogelia and Sofía of Do?a Sofi, helping them reach markets that otherwise would have been tricky. Young entrepreneurs are also boosting viche's appeal. Yovy Aragon Hurtado, the founder of a Pacific beverage brand called Chocochon, blends the spirit with local fruits such as chontaduro (peach palm) and coconut, then works with influencers to spread the word. "We have to teach young people so that the legacy continues," said Sofía, whose son helps out with the family business.
Tourism offers another window into these ancestral practices. Much like Scotland's whisky trail, the government is designing a "viche route" to entice tourists to visit distilleries on the Pacific coast. They hope to launch the initiative by the end of October, when the United Nations Biodiversity Conference will be held in Cali.
Some enterprising vicheros are already doing just that. In the village of Guachalito, a paradisical spot where the ocean laps the jungle's roots, maestro vichero Diego González Valdés demonstrates how to make viche. A group of young people from Medellín film as he crushes the sugarcane. At the tour's end, they sip his silky viche, called "Son de Ca?a", as monkeys and toucans grunt in the trees. The sounds, smells and tastes of the Pacific have gone into every drop – something that would be impossible to achieve anywhere else in Colombia.
Rums of Puerto Rico heads to California
Miona Madsen – 08/29/2024 – The Spirit Business
领英推荐
The Puerto Rico government’s rum programme, Rums of Puerto Rico, is partnering with The Rum Lab to highlight the Daiquiri in the Golden State.
On 28 August, Rums of Puerto Rico will attend the SeaMerchants event at Ca?a Rum Bar in downtown Los Angeles. The programme’s honorary ambassador Joy Figueroa, the general manager of Cleaver Butchered Meats & Classic Cocktails, will head the event.
The partnership will also showcase Puerto Rican rums at two events: the Los Angeles Rum Festival on the rooftop of the city’s Haas Building on 29 August and the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress from 31 August to 1 September 2024.
Rums of Puerto Rico will participate in the ‘Puerto Rican Rum in Tiki Cocktails & Beyond’ seminar at the LA Rum Fest and display two booth spaces.
The government programme’s funding will allow Sergio Reyes, the global brand ambassador for Don Q Puerto Rican Rum, and Bret Pittman, co-founder of Rincón Rum, to join the tour.
Brand ambassador Alexx Mouzouris will represent Rums of Puerto Rico in San Francisco. He previously served as a global ambassador for Serrallés Distillery. Throughout the day, Mouzouris will create Daiquiris and serve neat pours.
San Francisco Rum Festival will also feature DaiquiriMania on 1 September, offering throwback music and paying homage to the traditional Daiquiri with a creative twist. The Puerto Rican government’s rum programme will be the presenting sponsor of the activation.
Brown-Forman: First Look - Weak 1Q against low bar; Reiterated guidance feels optimistic
Staff – 08/29/2024 – Evercore ISI
Source: Evercore ISI
Brown-Forman reported F1Q25 (ended 7/31) EPS of $0.41 vs. $0.45 consensus and organic sales growth of -4.0% vs. Street -1.7%.
While we believe buyside expectations were below Street heading into the quarter, results were weak as the category remain challenged.
Key on the call is commentary on underlying demand trends and inventories, with Pernod noting earlier today that it expects “further inventory adjustments in the U.S.” over F1Q (June FYE).
Notably, this is the first time in 6 quarters distributor inventory levels didn’t weigh on results, with the impact a LSD% benefit down the P&L.
GM % of 59.4% came in 340 bps below Street 62.8%, with OM % of 29.5% 130 bps below Street 30.9%, with part of GM downside offset by the gain on sale of the Alabama cooperage and Franchise Tax Refund.
A combination of challenging top-line and margin trends drove organic operating profit -13%, well below Street, which expected a MSD% decline.
Guinness-owner Diageo sells €1.9 billion in euro bonds
Eloise Feilden – 08/29/2024 – The Spirits Business
Diageo has sold a new long-term euro debt equivalent to €1.9bn, the proceeds of which will be used for “general corporate purposes”, the drinks multinational has said.
The British company, which owns more than 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, priced in aggregate €1,9bn of fixed rate euro-denominated bonds on Tuesday (27 August) under its European Debt Issuance Programme.
A corporate bond offering is a debt security that a company issues to raise capital. When an investor buys a corporate bond, they are essentially lending money to the company in exchange for interest payments over a set period of time. At the end of the bond’s maturity date, the company pays back the investor the initial loan amount.
The bumper corporate bond offering consists of three series of bonds: (i) €700m bonds due 28 February 2031 with a coupon of 3.125% per annum; (ii) €700m bonds due 30 August 2035 with a coupon of 3.375% per annum; and (iii) €500m bonds due 30 August 2044 with a coupon of 3.750% per annum.
Proceeds from each issuance will be used for general corporate purposes, the company said in a press release.
Banco Santander, S.A., Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc and NatWest Markets Plc have been appointed as active joint lead managers, and HSBC Continental Europe and UBS AG London Branch have been appointed as passive joint lead managers.
Diageo’s London stocks are seen as their cheapest since 2018 in July. From a heady high of just over ￡40 each in spring 2022 when the post-Covid recovery boom was in full flood, they have lost more than a third of their value to stand at just under ￡26 each.
Chief executive Debra Crew tried to reassure investors saying: “We have set out a clear action plan to address recent performance challenges in our [Latin America and the Caribbean] region and we remain confident in the long term.”
That suggested that the group would soon be back on the growth path and that the financial damage might be limited to the trading year which ran until the end of June.
The owner of the Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whiskey and Guinness brands released its results for the year to 30 June 2024 last month. The results were not what chief executive Debra Crew would have wanted to mark her first full year in charge.
profits fell by 4.8% but operating profit rose by 8% to $6 billion thanks largely to cost savings. Reported net sales of US$20.3 billion fell by 1.4%, while the group’s organic net sales were US$129 million or 0.6% lower than in 2023. The 2.9-point price/mix gain was more than offset by volumes 3.5% lower.?
After losing millennials, can rum make a comeback with Gen Z?
John Kell – 09/01/2024 – Fast Company
A new generation of rum producers are hoping to capture the hearts of a new generation of drinkers.
At the Manhattan cocktail bar The Happiest Hour, Carlos Rodriguez is known to whip up cocktails that feature fresh flowers, bright green herbs, and contrasting colors in funky cocktail glassware that’s intended to allure the eye.
“People taste the cocktail first when they see it,” says Rodriguez, head bartender at the West Village watering hole. “We want to make sure everything is attractive.”
One of Happiest Hour’s biggest recent hits is a rum-based frozen daiquiri that features a peach gummy ring that serves as a garnish. It is indicative of the cocktail industry’s attempts to shake things up and generate some buzz for rum, a distilled alcoholic drink made from sugarcane juice or molasses.
In the U.S., rum generates $2.4 billion in revenue for distillers annually, reports the trade organization the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., known as DISCUS. But over the past decade or so, drinkers, primarily millennials, have been more drawn to tequila and whiskey, especially American-made bourbon and Irish whiskey.
Rum’s big problem
“Rum can easily hold its own with other spirits, it just has to be taken seriously and not dismissed,” says Nick Jackson, head bartender at The Rum House, a Times Square cocktail bar.
As Gen Z ages into the legal drinking category, rum producers have a fresh opportunity to make their sales pitch.
“We have this new generation of younger, Gen Z bartenders that are eager to showcase their craft,” says Alex Fellows, a senior brand manager at Brown-Forman, the producer of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, which acquired the Diplomático Rum brand in 2023.
Fellows says cocktail purveyors have done some solid work introducing rum through popular cocktails like the mojito and pina daiquiri, or reinventing classics like the old fashioned, which is typically made with whiskey. But while Patrón, alongside some newer brands like Casamigos, helped reinvigorate tequila to become less about pounding shots and more about refined cocktails and sipping, rum has more work to do.
The hunt for a champion
“Rum is still waiting for that premium player to really invigorate rum,” says Fellows.
Across the spirits industry, category “champions” like Absolut, Patrón, and Maker’s Mark have elevated the prestige and pricing power for vodka, tequila, and bourbon, respectively. But rum has not yet produced a notable champion. Only 3% of rum sales volume in the U.S. are for “super premium” bottles, DISCUS data shows, bottles that sell for $30 or more. That badly lags behind American whiskey at 18% and Mexican-based tequila and mezcal, at a combined 25%.
Belizean-based Copalli Rum says some legacy producers built their brands on cheaper ingredients, like molasses, while he prefers to use sugarcane. “When you use better ingredients, you get a better product,” says David Bart, CEO at Copalli.
Copalli sells three different rum expressions, including a cacao rum that gives the rum a chocolate flavor that’s especially suitable for an espresso martini. All of the sugarcane and cacao that Copalli uses is grown and harvested on the brand’s property in the jungle in Belize. Copalli’s rums are also free of added flavors, colors, or additives, and Bart says future innovations will also come from ingredients found in the rainforest.
And while tequila has gotten a jolt from a slew of celebrity-endorsed brands ranging from actor George Clooney to model Kendall Jenner, Bart says rum producers should focus their messaging more on heritage and quality ingredients. “We’re not banking on hiring a huge celebrity to promote our brand,” he says. “I think that’s a little passé.”
A marketing challenge
Bacardi isn’t as fearful of linking rums to pop culture. To solidify the brand’s relationship with Gen Z drinkers, it partnered with singer Camila Cabello and created a digital video featuring her song “I LUV IT.” There’s even a Cabello crafted Bacardi cocktail, a rum punch with Bacardi, passion fruit, and St-Germain liqueur.
Singers have been particularly enticed by rum. Bruno Mars, Ciara, and Kenny Chesney have all backed rum brands. Those offerings, as well as a slew of new entrants into the category, have created a more competitive market for rum, says Bacardi.
“These challenges also present exciting opportunities,” says Lisa Pfenning, vice president of Bacardi’s rum portfolio in the Americas. She says rum can benefit from increased consumer awareness of the liquor’s versatility. One of Bacardi’s newest offerings, the citrus-forward Sevillian Orange Cask Finish, was created to blend in cocktails or be enjoyed as a sippable spirit.
Rum brand Planteray blends rums that are made from 16 different countries, ranging from Jamaica to Paraguay. Newer launches include a rum infused with pineapple or coconut. Some rums result from a blend of stocks from different regions across the globe. Planteray’s Sealander is blended from rums produced in Fiji, Barbados, and Mauritius.
“We really want to give people that beautiful, tropical aromatics, in particular, aromatics of cane and molasses,” says Guillaume Lamy, managing director of the North American market for alcoholic beverage producer Maison Ferrand.
Planteray finds inspiration from rum’s diversity, noting that even within the same country, the flavors can develop in unique ways. In Jamaica, as an example, rums from the south tend to be lighter than those made in the north. “That’s the beauty of rum,” says Lamy.
That diversity may also pose a bit of a marketing challenge. Rum is imported from more than 50 countries, ranging from heavy hitters like Jamaica, Barbados, and Guatemala and lesser known rums from Suriname, Argentina, and the Bahamas. Unlike tequila and cognac, which are only produced in Mexico and France, respectively, rum’s story can be a bit more muddled given all the different approaches to distilling, aging, and flavors.
“It forces us to have people think about rum differently,” says Bart. “It can be made anywhere.”
Rum is also made in the United States, where Parlor Cay Rum is based. Launched in 2022, it distills rum from Gulf Coast sugarcane molasses from several states including Alabama and Texas.
“We’re trying to remind people of the craftsmanship and the agricultural heritage of America,” says Alfred English, CEO of Sespe Creek Distillery.
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Sipping tradition: How a family-owned distillery is bringing Puerto Rican sugarcane back
Chloe Kim – 09/02/2024 – Usa Today
A trip to the idyllic island of Puerto Rico may include a tour of the popular Bacardi distillery just across the bay from the iconic Old San Juan area.
It's natural that when visiting the place responsible for producing more than 70% of the rum sold in the U.S., you would immediately think of Bacardi, the largest rum distillery in the world.
Outside of rum-producing mega-corporations like Bacardi or Don Q (produced in the southern town of Ponce), there has been a resurgence of small, artisanal brands.
With just a bit more planning, you can venture off the beaten path and discover a unique rum and distillery experience.
About 22 miles west of San Juan in Vega Alta is San Juan Artisan Distillers (SJAD), the first and only Puerto Rican distillery growing its own sugarcane and producing its own rum.
After the Great Recession, founder and president Jose? "Pepe" A?lvarez, originally in the agriculture industry, thought it was time to try something different.
His son and head distiller, Jose? Roberto A?lvarez, explained: “There had been a long history in Puerto Rico of sugarcane planting. We exported sugar all over the world.”
Though the sugarcane industry collapsed by the 2000s, Puerto Rico “used to be covered in sugarcane farms.”
“There even was a train that went around the island, picking up sugarcane from the farms and taking it to the sugar mills. So, it's a very nostalgic and cultural aspect of our heritage that completely disappeared,” A?lvarez said.
Their goal was to create a higher-quality product by sourcing it from sugarcane juice, a French style of making rum.
As operations took in 2017, tragedy struck when Hurricane Maria demolished 50 to 70 acres of their sugarcane farm.
With that setback, in the interim, they launched their Tres Clavos brand – originally using sourced rum from the Dominican Republic following Maria, but using locally sourced fruit – which is inspired by chichai?to (Puerto Rican moonshine).
Once back on their feet, the Tres Clavos brand became a Caribbean blended rum as they started using half of their own rum and half from the Dominican Republic.
When the sugarcane farms recovered, they were able to launch their Ron Pepo?n brand, made completely from their own sugarcane juice, which has a grassy, fruity and “more funky” flavor profile than rum that is widely traditional on the island. ?
A?lvarez says American culture is also much more familiar with rum made from molasses or sugar, which highlights more caramel and vanilla notes.
Disposing of the waste after making rum from molasses or sugar is also more difficult, costly and harmful to the environment than disposing of used sugarcane juice.
Tour guide Alejandra Torres Zayas explained that historically, producers would dispose of the waste into the ocean, not realizing the environmental hazard. Now, there are government-approved ways to dispose of it, but because of SJAD’s method, they are able to put it back in the land and use it as fertilizer.
Their efforts have been paying off. SJAD’s Ron Agri?cole earned a gold medal at the Fifty Best White Rums 2021 and double gold in 2022.
Those who do make the visit outside of San Juan to the distillery see firsthand the “family vibe” and “personal attention,” A?lvarez believes.
“People really like to see the whole picture, the farm, the milling, the distillery, the manufacturing,” A?lvarez said.
People always “arrive happy and leave happier.” -
El Dorado: cask strength could ‘redefine’ rum sector
Rupert Hohwieler – 09/01/2024 – The Spirits Business
As premiumisation gains a foothold in rum, the master distiller of Guyana-based El Dorado believes cask-strength rums have the “potential to redefine the category”.
Speaking to The Spirits Business, Shaun Caleb, master distiller at Demerara Distillers (producer of the premium rum brand), said the premium rum trend presents a “significant opportunity for El Dorado to strengthen its market position and continue to grow its brand as a key player in the global rum industry”.
“As premium rums gain popularity worldwide, El Dorado will have the opportunity to continue to expand its global footprint,” he continued.
Caleb draws from three original wooden ‘heritage’ stills (Port Mourant, Versailles, and Enmore) from old Guyanese distilleries, as well as copper coffey and Savalle stills to craft El Dorado, and together with the country’s tropical climate and high humidity, it makes for a ‘distinct’ rum that he believes ties into the current desire around unique and exclusive products.
While the brand’s core range comprises 12-, 15- and-21-year old rums, Caleb is also turning his attention to more intensely-flavoured cask strength releases.
Earlier this year, the brand’s first high-ester rum launched in the UK and sold out – priced at ￡120 (US$158). Another batch is now on its way and Caleb and the team are figuring out how to get more to the market given its success. Released at cask strength and the first in a nine-product series, the expression was said to be created in response to an increase in consumer demand for diverse rums.
Made at El Dorado’s Diamond Distillery – the only distillery in Guyana – the rum is a blend of the brand’s Diamond High Ester (where fermentation took place over several months) and its honeyed, medium-bodied rum produced in the style of the La Bonne Intention (LBI) Estate.
The distillery has been producing high-ester rum since the 1950s, but it is typically blended with other distillates in order to increase the ester content. This release, Caleb says, is a “deliberate choice” to showcase complex and intense flavour profiles. It has a ‘rich and fruity’ profile without the ‘funky tail’ that high-ester rums tend to have.
He added: “Premiumisation will also force us to experiment with new blends, different barrel finishes, and limited edition releases to cater to the evolving tastes of premium rum consumers.”
Emergence of cask strength
Though still a relatively niche market, Caleb sees cask-strength expressions as ones to watch, as they present an “opportunity to differentiate and capture the attention of consumers looking for something unique and exclusive”.
He asserts: “As consumers’ palates become more sophisticated, there’s an increasing demand for bold and intense flavours. Cask-strength rums have the potential to redefine the rum category and attract a broader audience of rum enthusiasts seeking such an experience.”
Due to availability of stock, El Dorado has had to limit the production of its Cask Strength Enmore to around 1,000 cases globally. It is also not available in the UK. For this reason, Caleb notes that it’s “difficult to really gauge what the true demand could be” without the restriction.
Having said that, he does maintain: “We’ve seen interest in these sorts of offerings rise substantially over the last few years – from the time we did our first release until now. As a matter of fact, after we first launched, or relaunched I should say, people were clamouring for our single still rums and asked ‘why not release this at cask strength?
“It would be a lot more interesting to see the Enmore if it were to be released just out of the barrels. And that’s what we did. So I would say interest has gone up, but perhaps supply has not quite been able to meet what the potential demand could be.”
El Dorado Cask Strength Enmore is bottled at 54.3% ABV and the intensity of flavours is a lot richer. Of the appeal, Caleb says: “A well-aged rum has certainly developed the body and presents those flavours in a very balanced, grounded way, without any sort of burn or bite. So you can obviously then enjoy the flavours in a much more enhanced manner, but without putting any sort of burn to it and so on.
“The rum then digs deeper and explores even more flavours when it’s at a higher concentration. That is what they [the consumer] want.”
In addition, through their traditional ageing and production methods, cask-strength rums also align with the trend toward craft and artisanal spirits, Caleb observes.
“These rums retain all the flavours developed during ageing, undiluted, resulting in the full extent of the rum’s richer, deeper, complex and robust taste profile. As such, the concentrated flavour profiles meet this discerning demand and offer a new dimension to the rum-tasting experience.”
Target markets
Of the brand’s global aspirations, Caleb states El Dorado tries to balance each market and set “very aggressive goals”.
?“The UK is a very important market for us. Positioned along with the US, Canada, the rest of Europe, and the Caribbean and China markets – those are our six main pillars of growth. Even while we seek ways of expanding into territories where El Dorado is not as big, mainly in Asia and Africa, and parts of South and Central America, the aspiration is to be a global brand.
“We have been putting down new warehouses in fulfilment of those aspirations. And therefore, we have to aggressively go after every market.”
Summing up the state of the premium market, he adds: “Even while rum and even vodkas, have seen challenging times – particularly in Europe and in the UK with inflation, the war in Ukraine, shipping and logistics, and in fact, production prices – all of those factors have had a negative effect on the supply chain, but premium rums have really not ever declined.
“There is still that segment, of which the interest is alive, and because we continue to innovate, then the interest is obviously well-fed and well-maintained.”
Barbados Royals name Mount Gay Rum Barbados as official rum partner for CPL 2024
Gauresh Mahadik – 08/31/2024 – Sports Mint Media
Barbados Royals announced the brand new collaboration with Mount Gay Rum Barbados via their social media platform.
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) team, Barbados Royals have announced a partnership with the Barbados-based rum brand, Mount Gay Rum Barbados.
As part of the deal, the brand has been named the unit’s official rum partner for the 2024 CPL season.
The Barbados-based outfit announced the brand-new collaboration via its social media platforms. The post said, “Rum with a punch? ???? Welcome home, @mountgayrumbdos , the favourite rum of Barbados! ??”
Based on Barbados, the easternmost island in the West Indies, Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd. produces Mount Gay Rum. Mount Gay Rum is the globe’s oldest commercial rum distillery, with the earliest surviving deed for the firm dating back to 1703. Rémy Cointreau, the current primary stakeholder of Mount Gay Distilleries, has held the position since 1989. Mount Gay Rum is distributed in 110 countries, with the United States as its largest export market.
The unit will begin its CPL 2024 season against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound in Antigua, on September 1.
Bluewater Boathouse Exclusive New Rum Offering Taps the Rum-Running Intrigue of Catalina Island
Staff – 08/29/2024 – Coronado Times
The Bluewater family of nine seafood restaurants in the west selected for world premiere of Catalina Rum Company light and dark rum.
Bluewater Grill has finalized an exclusive distribution agreement with a new line of locally distilled rum that conjures up all the mystique and intrigue of Catalina Island’s notorious rum-running days.
The family of nine sustainable seafood restaurants in California and Arizona this week becomes the official launch venue for the Catalina Rum Company and its light and dark aged rum bottled in partnership with R6 Distillery in El Segundo, Calif. Bluewater Grill owners Jimmy Ulcickas and Richard Staunton personally sourced the Caribbean-style rum and developed its rich Catalina storyline in anticipation of serving it exclusively at Bluewater restaurants, including Coronado’s Bluewater Boathouse, before making it available nationally.
“When we saw the opportunity to create a custom rum that not only tastes great but leverages the legendary rum-running traditions surrounding many of the communities that Bluewater calls home, we jumped at the chance,” said Bluewater Grill co-owner and co-founder Jimmy Ulcickas. “We are proud that Bluewater Grill customers will be the first to experience the rich, smooth taste of Catalina Rum Company light and dark rum.”
Bluewater will showcase its alliance with Catalina Rum Company on National Mai Tai Day on Aug. 30 when rum lovers can enjoy the Captain’s Mai Tai made with Catalina Rum Company rum for just $10, a $5 savings. One of Bluewater’s most popular cocktails, the Captain’s Mai Tai blends light and dark aged rum with pineapple juice, triple sec, almond and simple syrup, in a recipe originally created by Vic Bergeron of Trader Vic’s.
Ulcickas and Staunton came up with two Catalina Rum Company rums made with molasses and cane sugar – Amid the Sunny Skies Light Rum and Amid the Dusky Skies Dark Aged Rum – that tap into Catalina’s rum-smuggling days during Prohibition when Islanders offered safe haven for smugglers trying to infiltrate the mainland. Fittingly, the bottle labels feature Avalon Harbor scenes of boats and seaplanes used for smuggling, inspired by vintage posters.
In addition to being crafted into signature Bluewater cocktails, the two rums are available for sale in 750 ml bottles at each Bluewater and El Galleon restaurant except in Phoenix. The prices are $24.50 for the Light Rum and $34.50 for the Dark Rum that is aged for three years.
Bluewater Grill has also created a Catalina Rum Company Gift Set consisting of 750 ml bottles of Light Rum and Dark Aged Rum plus a pair of Bluewater Grill Classic Mai Tai Mugs imprinted with the Captain’s Mai Tai recipe created by Bergeron. The cost is $70.
Catalina Rum Company rum will also be made available to select other bars and restaurants later this year once its exclusivity agreement with Bluewater Grill has expired.
Tortuga Rum Company Celebrates the Success of Caymanian Student Amber Ebanks
Staff ?– 08/27/2024 – Press Release
Tortuga Rum Company is delighted to celebrate the success of Caymanian student, Amber Ebanks, who has recently completed her work placement year as a Marketing and Events Assistant with the company. Amber, a dedicated student at Bath Spa University in the UK, is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Management. Her time with Tortuga has proven to be invaluable both to the company and to her growth as a budding marketing professional.
During her placement, Amber became an integral part of the marketing team at Tortuga Rum Company, contributing significantly to the planning and execution of various marketing campaigns and events. Her enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication have made a positive and lasting impression on the team, showcasing her potential as a future leader in the field of business and marketing.
“We are incredibly proud of Amber’s accomplishments during her time with us,” Eugene Nolan, CEO, Tortuga Rum Company, said. “She has been an immense asset to the marketing team, bringing fresh ideas and a positive, can-do attitude.”
“Supporting the next generation of Caymanian talent is something we are deeply committed to, and Amber’s hard work and passion have certainly reaffirmed our belief in the importance of these placement programs.” Nolan continued. “We wish her every success as she embarks on her final year of university and look forward to seeing where her journey takes her.”
As Amber returns to the UK in September to complete her final year of studies, Tortuga Rum Company will continue to support her academic and professional development. In recognition of her contributions, the company is pleased to award her a scholarship towards her tuition fees. Additionally, she will receive ongoing mentorship from the Tortuga team, providing her with valuable guidance as she continues to pursue her career aspirations.
“Amber’s creativity and dedication have been invaluable to our team,” Natalie Porter, Head of Marketing and Communications at Tortuga Rum Company, said. “She has shown remarkable initiative, possesses an outstanding work ethic, and has grown tremendously over the past year. It’s inspiring to see such incredible talent in the next generation of Caymanian marketing professionals. I look forward to continuing to support Amber on her marketing career journey.”
Amber expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to work with such a well-respected local brand. “I am incredibly thankful for the invaluable experience I have gained from working with Tortuga Rum Company, and the inspiring mentors who have motivated me along the way.” Ebanks said. “This role has not only provided hands-on marketing experience but has also given me a comprehensive understanding of what makes a business successful. It has been an amazing year of learning, growth, and connection. I’m excited to take the skills I’ve learned and apply them to my studies and future career.”
Tortuga Rum Company remains committed to fostering local talent and is proud to play a part in the development of Cayman’s future business leaders.
‘No good evidence’ of risk from low-level alcohol consumption
James Evison – 09/03/2024 – The Drink Business
A statistician who became world-famous for his crunching of Covid data has hit out at public health experts’ “pointless obsession” with low levels of alcohol consumption.
In a powerful and damning critique on the BBC’s World Service The Food Chain programme, Sir David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University said the link between alcohol and an early death was exaggerated.
He said that statistically the overall risk of one beer or wine per day on your life expectancy — which is within current UK government guidelines — has no higher impact than driving a car or eating bacon.
Spiegelhalter said that research showed the health benefits of drinking in small amounts, as previously highlighted by the drinks business.
He added: “Frankly, I get irritated when the harms of low levels are exaggerated, particularly with claims such as ‘no level of alcohol is safe’.
“For a start I don’t think the evidence supports that, but also there’s no safe level of driving, there’s no safe level of living, but no one recommends abstention.”
He said that the risks of one or two drinks a day were “very low indeed” and “incredibly difficult to estimate” — and described the current NHS guidance on levels as “ideal”.
When discussing recent drinking guidelines in Canada of two drinks per week, he described it as “completely unnecessary”, and “tackling a non-problem”.
Public health
In addition, he called out the political risk of telling those who already drink low levels of alcohol to drink even less, as it could make them distrustful of public health officials and guidelines.
Spiegelhalter also highlighted a critical mental health component that was often missed with alcohol: that it brings the drinker joy.
Stating the social dimension was “never mentioned in these discussions”, he said that people use alcohol to ease anxiety when socialising, and that alcohol was also great for its taste — as db‘s Patrick Schmitt MW has argued — and its critical role in dining.
Spiegelhalter added: “I think we should just accept that people drink for a reason – they actually enjoy it.”
Alcohol policy
The news follows the World Health Organization claiming there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, and concerns that public health bodies could change their policies to reflect this opinion.
In addition, there have been calls to remove red wine from the so-called ‘Mediterranean diet’, and claims that numerous studies have over-promoted its health benefits.
Spirits: Key Sector Themes & Conference Survival Guide
Staff – 09/03/2024 – CITI
CITI'S TAKE
In this report we highlight some of the KEY THEMES investors should consider when stock-picking in the SPIRITS sub-sector. With a number of conferences/roadshows scheduled over the coming weeks, we include KEY QUESTIONS for management and a guidance summary on a stock-by-stock basis. As highlighted in our recent reports (Western Europe Spirits: Is it time to drink from the Spirits trough? and our Diageo Upgrade NOTE), we think spirits sector earnings and valuations are now at trough levels. With mid-term business model and core spirits industry attractions intact in our view, we think a sharp re-rating of Spirits stocks is likely over the next 12-months We reiterate our positive stance on the Spirits sector and Buys on CAMPARI, DIAGEO, PERNOD & REMY.
Themes: In SPIRITS, we expect investor/management debate to concentrate on:
China cognac tariffs – Following the August 29th MOFCOM announcement on the Cognac anti-dumping investigation (see NOTE) the timetable for developments from here and what the potential impact of tariffs at the identified dumping margins may have on China sales for key players like Pernod Ricard and Rémy Cointreau. (CITI’s Interactive Tariff model HERE).
US consumer off-take – The lackluster US consumer backdrop has continued to weigh on spirits with deteriorating off-take trends through calendar Q2 24. Investors will be looking for any signs of pick-up into Q3 and thoughts around trading and plans into the all-important Thanksgiving and Holiday Season.
Destocking ending? – Destocking has been a major headwind for Spirits over the last 12-18mths. Although some destocking is continuing into Q3 for some players, with rate cuts likely to gather momentum in the next few months, there is likely to be an active debate about stock go-forward comfort in stock levels and the potential technical rebounds in OSG as period inventory adjustments are lapped.
Confidence in mid-term growth frameworks – The viability of mid-term growth frameworks remains a crucial area of debate, especially against a backdrop of potentially lower future GDP growth in China and arguably lower alcohol consumption amongst new Legal Drinking Age consumers.
European promotional activity – The risk of increased promotional activity in European spirits, especially prevalent in the Spritz occasion, and whether this has become more widespread is likely to be an area of debate.
Quarterly organic sales growth rates and forecasts (calendar quarters & years)
Until the next newsletter!
Federico Hernández - The Rum Lab
Lead Generation Specialist at Amazon
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