I like Josh of Inu a Kena. He's had some brilliant successes like his unique coverage of Amari, balanced by some amazing failures like the time he posted a "Dark 'n Stormy Challenge". I praised the former, and as for the latter a couple of posters - moi included - defended the Gosling family and their wonderful (and trademarked) signature drink, and noted that his series should be renamed so as not to violate their trademark.
Josh thought this was silly, and that Gosling could care less about his small website. That remained his position, at least until a few days later when he received a "Cease and Desist" from Gosling's New York law firm. A sobering experience to say the least.
Since then Josh removed the offending article and returned to his usual fine work and interesting forays into comparison of spirits. It was thus interesting that Josh recently posted these (excerpts):
Josh recalls the year...
Josh went on to celebrate what he saw as exciting proofs of rum's successes: cask finishing in non-traditional barrels, slightly increased proofs, and drier rums to cite a few. Although it's clear that Josh's head is in the right place, I wasn't at all sure that his enthusiasm for such a great year in rum was really justified. Naturally I responded..."Two years ago this month, I started this site as a way of chronicling my journey into the world of fine spirits and cocktails (over time, my focus has shifted almost exclusively to rum) and it has been a very fun ride to say the least. Here are some of my thoughts as I look back on this formative period."
Embracing Diversity
"Having tasted so many rums from around the world, I have developed a profound appreciation for cane spirits—owing in large part to the diverse nature of the category. Why does rum represent such a panoply of flavors, you ask? There are several reasons, but the big two are (1) geography and (2) lack of rules."
"...much of the diversity is due to a lack of rules; rum must be made from a fermented sugar cane product of some sort and be 40% to 95% alcohol to be called rum in the United States. That vague definition leaves the door open for a wide variety of products on the market, and although there are some rogues that really push the boundaries of propriety when it comes to truth in labeling,"
"I embrace the notion of rum as a rogue spirit; a spirit with one foot in the history books, and the other squarely within the confines of a business more highly regulated than the pharmaceutical industry. Quite a paradox indeed."
Moi replies...
"'Why does rum represent such a panoply of flavors, you ask?' "
"While we all would agree that diversity is the spice of life, it is also fair to say that such spice ought to come from the quality of the raw material (cane juice or molasses), and from the skill of fermentation, distillation, blending and ageing - not from an artificially spicy additive in the form of glycerol, sugar, wine, or artificial flavors and spices. Does it please our sense of "diversity" to know that the same cheap young rum can be altered endlessly into any number of different profiles or expressions thanks to our friends at Dupont? That is the result of a lack of rules where an inexpensive rum can be tweaked to appear complex and aged, when it is not.
Is this the kind of diversity we want?
I think not. While a case could have made for geography and style some hundreds of years ago, in modern times geography has very little to with it. It can reliably be argued that the real diversity in rum is not geography or in the loophole ridden regulations, but rather in the different styles first proposed by Dave Broom, and now amended: Bajan, Jamaican, Demeraran, Cuban and Cane Juice Styles - all styles that are rather unrelated to geography. The taster does not exist who can identify the geographical source of a blind tasted rum, to wit...
If a "style" cannot be reliably identified blind, it is not a style. To his credit, Broom's styles are indeed meaningful and identifiable by most experienced tasters.
Josh, you make the excellent example of what you call the "dry" rums of Jamaica - where rum is made the old fashioned way and without all the unlabelled additives and flavourings. What you perceive as dry simply means this distiller did not add sugar or glycerol. Indeed pure and well made and aged rums can be favourably compared to fine whiskies. Unfortunately, most of what passes for rum is not pure, and would better be described as a rum-based drink. It a sad case indeed that many if not most rum drinkers don't know what real and pure rum tastes like.
A few comments on what's upcoming:
Barrel finishes and higher proofs: this applies to the new super-duper premiums, rum which most of us cannot afford, and that most liquor stores won't really carry. The 99% will be left with ever fewer and affordable aged rums, or be presented with your second prediction: NAS (no age statement) rums. It does not help that 2013 is the first year that the 30 year, multi-billion dollar subsidies to the Big Three - Bacardi, Fortune and Diageo - are really beginning to squeeze the Caribbean rums we hold dear. These include Mt. Gay, Appleton, Barbancourt, El Dorado and the rums of the Dominican Republic, among many others. These smaller producers simply cannot compete and their continued ability to exist is threatened. They are being driven to release cheaper NAS blends simply because they cannot afford honest and real ageing.
As a result of these subsidies, and also due to our horrible world economy, the market is becoming divided into just two tiers - super expensive and really cheap. You can expect growth of the cheap flavored/spiced and gold/white categories being sold to the low end market of the 99%, balanced by a very few and extremely expensive releases aimed at the super-duper premium market, reserved for the 1%, for whom cost simply doesn't matter. Who loses? The middle class market and their dwindling number of mid-priced, honestly aged quality rums.
If you see experimentation in barrel ageing, it will be for the 1%. Likewise, if you see more and more NAS (no age statement) offering, these will be cheapened rums and blends featuring less and less good aged rum, with the goal of saving the really good stuff, again for the 1% crowd. This does not bode well for most of us. I must respectfully disagree that rum is "getting more respect". From my vantage it's quite the opposite. Mid-priced quality rums are dwindling as evidenced by the takeover of the rum shelves by the Big Three, a real horror story. It's just terrible.
It is notable that the Petition to Save Caribbean Rum was signed by no less than authors Dave Broom, Beachbum Berry and Davin Kergommeaux, not to mention Carl Kanto of El Dorado and several other distillers, many rum webmasters and nearly 400 rum lovers from around the world. This is a serious issue.
However, we do share one area of agreement: the emergence of very small and micro distillers who are now at the fledgling stage (much like craft beer once was) and with a similar goal - to counter the takeover of mass rum sales by the big three large corporations. Still even these good little guys have a big problem: unlike beer which can be sold quickly, fine rums take years of aging. Most of the new small and micro distillers do not enjoy the fast ageing environment of the Caribbean, so these rums will require at least 10 to 15 years of aging in North America, a time requirement that few small distillers can afford. The best they can do is to produce good new and/or very young make, whites and golds. True aged rums will be greatly delayed, if ever made and successfully marketed, no doubt in miniscule quantities.
Frankly its hard for me to share your enthusiasm Josh - Lord knows I'd like to. Caribbean rum as we knew it is fading. The few new American micros will never, and truly can never replace the Caribbean distillers who will be driven out of business, or reduced to supplying the Big Three with new make.
It's a shame. I do wish you well, but I'm afraid we will only be there to report rum's demise insofar as most rum lovers are concerned. And a sad story that will be."
Flat Ass Bottom Line...
Josh is one of the good guys. Although he knows the difference between the few pure rums and the many, many altered ones he has not yet come to terms with either the trends or the amazing takeover of the shelves by the Big Three. He cites a handful of super-duper premium releases as proof of rum's alleged new found success, while ignoring the fact that rums that we hold most dear are seriously threatened, and who are cheapening their rums. When at most outlets the Big Three control nearly 90% of the shelf space, and ALL of the prime space, something is very, very, very wrong.
It is impossible to ignore the facts, and the concerns of those who have joined to Save Caribbean Rum. For things to really change it falls upon webmasters like Josh and moi to speak out, and to educate rum drinkers. We need to constantly point them toward, and help them to appreciate the few real and relatively pure rums .
Can this be achieved? Honestly it doesn't look good. As the Big Three have taken over, new rum drinkers are not and perhaps cannot be exposed to really good stuff. And without that exposure...
