Puerto Rican rum

[Dood]

I believe it. When people find out I'm in to rums but that I try to avoid Captain and Bacardi I often get asked if that means that I drink Malibu because that's the only other rum anyone seems to know about.

It's a sad state of affairs...but I work to open people's eyes to the broader world as much as I can.

[Scottes]

Originally Posted by Dood

but I work to open people's eyes to the broader world as much as I can.

Yes, same here. After the first tasting I did for a bunch of friends I was overwhelmed with how overwhelmed they were. And they were a bunch of tiki cocktail enthusiasts, but few of them ever tasted the rum itself. I can wait until I get a room full of vodka drinkers and open their eyes and taste buds.

[Dood]

Originally Posted by Scottes

Yes, same here. After the first tasting I did for a bunch of friends I was overwhelmed with how overwhelmed they were. And they were a bunch of tiki cocktail enthusiasts, but few of them ever tasted the rum itself. I can wait until I get a room full of vodka drinkers and open their eyes and taste buds.

I've been mostly working with the "low-hanging fruit" of whiskey drinkers. I only say "low-hanging" because it's been incredibly easy to bring fans of Bourbon, Scotch, Canadian, Irish, Whatever over to aged rums - almost TOO easy.

Maybe I need to focus on gin-drinkers...

[Rum Runner]

Originally Posted by Edward Hamilton

I've met a lot of people in the last fifteen years who didn't realize that Bacardi. And an equally large number of people who couldn't name more than two rum brands. One of the most compelling reasons that I wrote my first book was that hordes of people were coming to the Caribbean every week with the thought of lying on the beach and drinking rum all day, but didn't know anything but Bacardi and were afraid to try anything else in large part because they had never heard of any of the other brands and were afraid to try them.

Agreed Ed. Puerto Rico does not have a monopoly on "buying the hype"...Most of the rest of the world did too.

[Hank Koestner]

I speak frequently with people here, bartenders included, about rum. I try to educate them a little, and tanatalize thier curiosities. I see more good rums available at bars, but it is a slow process. I am thinking about trying to start a local rum club, and hopefully, by the spring, my schedule will settle down enough that I will have the time.

[Matusalem]

Originally Posted by Dood

*starts calculating how much money he'd have if he could liquidate his wife's My Little Pony collection (1200 plastic equestrian statues)*

Speaking of Bacardi and their success...I was reading an article somewhere today about the fact that rum sales are on the decline and a lot of people are blaming Bacardi's successful bid to promote its brand over its spirit - i.e. people know they're ordering Bacardi, but not necessarily that they're ordering rum.

I'll have to see I can find that article again.

Following your note, I was recently looking at another article that ranked brands by profits tallied (worldwide). What is obvious up front, we can't be sure what the parameters were to measure this but I thought it was interesting in comparison that for example:

Jack Daniels ranked #3 for gross margin. They sold 4.7M 9 liter cases with a total gross margin of $400M.

Bacardi ranked #5 for gross margin. They sold 8.7M 9 liter cases with a total gross margin of $295M.

(*M = million)

What struck me is in the comparison and I realize Jack Daniels commands a slight premium over the average bottle of Bacardi, but I figured that the cost to produce JD products because whiskey requirements and standards, would outweigh Bacardi's rum production costs. So I thought it strange that Bacardi would move almost twice as much product but land $105M shorter.

I tend to agree. A lot of people have no idea what rum is made from, where it was made etc, but they are all familiar with Bacardi.

Is Bacardi barred from entry to France? I don't recall seeing any the times I was there and distinctly recall a tourist once asking a tender for a B&C - I didn't catch all the 'play by play' but the man left thirsty.

[Rum Runner]

Bacardi is not only sold in France, it also maintains distilling and bottling facilities there.

[Dood]

Originally Posted by Hank Koestner

I speak frequently with people here, bartenders included, about rum. I try to educate them a little, and tanatalize thier curiosities. I see more good rums available at bars, but it is a slow process. I am thinking about trying to start a local rum club, and hopefully, by the spring, my schedule will settle down enough that I will have the time.

I've been considering doing the same thing. Currently my retirement dream (well, one of them) is to open a bar with a focus on rum here in SoCal with my brother.

[Scottes]

Originally Posted by Matusalem

Following your note, I was recently looking at another article that ranked brands by profits tallied (worldwide).

Do you have a link? I'm quite curious.

[Matusalem]

No it was in May / June 2007's "Market Watch" magazine or trade journal what ever it is called. If you really want it, shoot me a snailer and I can try to xerox it to you.

Aside from the charted rankings, particularly disturbing about the article is the under tone suggestion that merchants and distributors should practically abandon every thing that isn't in the top 25.

Southern Comfort is #25 to give you some idea of how grim things would be were that philosophy to become contagious. Bacardi, Captain Morgan and Malibu would be your choices in rum.