Increasing interest for rum?

[Mr Fjeld]

Think I read somewhere that rum sales are increasing. Does that mean there are built any new distilleries and/or that mothballed distilleries are being put to good use again?

[Edward Hamilton]

There have been a couple of new distilleries built in the Caribbean in the last ten years but there are an increasing number of rums being exported from the Caribbean. Additionally, there is a growing number of boutique, craft distilleries coming online in the US and several are producing rum. In a few years I expect the quality of product from these small distilleries will improve as aged stocks increase and the quality will continue to improve.

In the Caribbean, distillers are making investments in their aged stocks and more rum is being aged than ever before.

[Mr Fjeld]

Thanks, that's great to know! Hopefully some of this will reach my shores.....
Not too many rums to chose from in Norway with the state owned monopoly although I did manage to order the Pampero Aniversario and the El Dorado 15 yesterday. I'm really looking forward to pick the bottles up next week!

[jlo mein]

Not much available, yet you got Pampero Anniversario and El Dorado 15? I'd say that's a pretty good selection already.:D

I had to get a friend to import Pampero Anniversario for me from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada. I have yet to open the bottle...

I also missed out on my chance for El Dorado 15. :( It was available here a few months ago, but is now all sold out.

[Mr Fjeld]

Not much available, yet you got Pampero Anniversario and El Dorado 15? I'd say that's a pretty good selection already.:D

I had to get a friend to import Pampero Anniversario for me from Chicago to Vancouver, Canada. I have yet to open the bottle...

I also missed out on my chance for El Dorado 15. :( It was available here a few months ago, but is now all sold out.

Hi jlo mein:) Yes, I'm very glad I managed to get hold of those two bottles. Still, I guess I have to wait untill next week to know for sure if the wine monopoly can get it from the importers...... I cross my fingers!
You canadians have a fairly similar wine & spirit monopoly like us in Norway right?

[jlo mein]

In Canada it's rather complicated. Liquor importation is controlled on a Provincial basis (sub-national governments). So travelling around Canada, the liquor laws for sales can vary.

Here where I live (Vancouver, BC), it used to be just a straight government monopoly. Recently, private stores have been opened, but I don't know the regulations around it.

[Mr Fjeld]

Ah, I see:) Let's hope the availability in your provins will be extensive in the future. Ours is getting better too.

[Don Piero]

In Canada it's rather complicated. Liquor importation is controlled on a Provincial basis (sub-national governments). So travelling around Canada, the liquor laws for sales can vary.

Here where I live (Vancouver, BC), it used to be just a straight government monopoly. Recently, private stores have been opened, but I don't know the regulations around it.

I've recently been told that the Nova Scotia Licquor Board has the largest selection of Rums in Canada. The LCB of Ontario has a poor selection as well having just dicontinued the sales of the El Dorado 21yo (they have 15yo) and the Pyrat Reserve XO. I have a buddy of a buddy in Logistics who is getting me some stock from Nova Scotia; the Ron Zacapa 23yo, the El Dorado 21yo and the Flor De Cana 15yo. Also, the tax system in the maritimes is different with the price on the El Dorado 21yo being about $35Cdn cheaper:).

[Lew Barrett]

I'm increasingly interested.

But I have bad news. This inevitably means that the supply of desireable bottlings will dry up, demand will spike, prices will rise and quality will eventually suffer. Every celebrity will have a rum brand; most will be undrinkable, but that won't stop them from asking the earth for them. The bandwagon brands will be discounted to amazing lows within a short span, but it will make things confusing for late adopters.

Eventually, the world will return to normal. I've seen this happen time and time again when I get a taste for something. :D Cigars, for one, although I've been smoking those since 1967, so I'm not responsible for Lone Wolf or Sinatra's brandings.

[Edward Hamilton]

You're right, to a degree. The good news is that the rum distilleries saw this coming more than 5 years ago and in spite of a number of boutique bottlers trying to cash in with the slickest marketing you've ever seen. There are, and will, good rums around for a long time. Sure some brands will be bought, the quality will be diluted and the marketers will move on, but behind the scenes, small brands will continue to grow and deliver quality products and they will continue to struggle for shelf space. Fortunately, the online store isn't burdened by shelf space, shelf talkers and the cost of sales people when the store is empty.

Unlike Scotch Whiskey, for example, rum is made around the world so the economics of the rum industry are very different than that of single malts or even American bourbons. As the price goes up, more rums will come to the market from more countries, something we're seeing more of every month.

And then there's the internet. Educated consumers are better consumers but spirits marketers have only begun to integrate this powerful tool into their marketing plans as well as they will in the future.

Stay tuned, there's a lot more coming, we haven't seen or tasted anything yet. Not all of the new rums will be great, but never before have we been able to share opinions, facts and reviews about these new spirits with like minded people.

[Lew Barrett]

That last part, about such easy access to shared opinions, changes the game for slick marketers, so let me also thank you for maintaining the forum, Ed.

Rum is accessible, and by and large, affordable. With great bottles available for, say, $30 in the States, it's an affordable pleasure for the working stiff. If it weren't, I couldn't enjoy it, because I don't consider myself "subtle," or rich. Long may that remain the case. Not the part about me not being rich, just the rest.

In fact, my comments were in large part tongue in cheek, but not the major part, the part that suggests rum will soon be or already is the new "it" drink. Every guy I know who likes sailing, bikes, woodworking and cigars (my other hobbies or vices) has taken up with rum consumption in the last year or two. Zacapa, for one, is already a brand of major proportions, that's clear. I expect to see T shirts anyday now.

I'm happy to hear the great rums will avoid what happened with cigars. Not the popularization, but the shoddy quality that resulted when producers rushed to meet demand and made inordinate profits on a trend. So far I've been impressed by most of my buys, and delighted by a good number of them. Thanks for maintaining such a pleasant forum with such quality subscribers.