In the "old days", which today means five or ten years ago, Cruzan was really a very good rum. Even their entry level rums were labeled two years of age, the Estate Diamond (five years) was considered brilliant by broad consensus and the "Single Barrel" (more about this one later) made top ratings at one time.
Boy, has that changed.
The "two years" became "aged", the Diamond Estate was discontinued, and the Single Barrel of old is not the same rum it once was. I found this revealing post by guy who really seems to know...
(emphasis added)StriperGuy: (April, 2010) "By way of background I have been going to St. Croix (home of Cruzan rum for quite a while.)
And I just did some research that explains a lot. In August of 2008 Cruzan was acquired by Beam Brands for $100M:
http://www.chadbourne.com/newsevents/...
In all fairness I actually think the single barrel product is decent, I guess I am just sad that they phased out the 5 Year aged Diamond Estate, which I liked MUCH better; It was subtler, more complex, just plain better, didn't hit you over the head, and when you finished one, you wanted another. The single barrel to my palate is just a Barrilito 3 Star wanna be, and is oaked nearly to death. Try drinking two on the rocks back to back, I can't, it's just too much; by the time I'm done with one my reaction is whew, I need a glass of water.
They no longer make the 2 year white or amber which were nice, delicately aged products that could be quaffed on the rocks, and stood up nicely to mixing.
My feeling is that Cruzan's recent product moves, indicate they have completely given up nearly 250 years of family tradition. I actually wrote Gary Nelthropp, the President, and member of the family that until recently owned, and still runs the distillery, a letter today telling him how disappointed I am.
They stopped making all of their rum out of local cane a few years back, now they ship in molasses from S. America. I can forgive them that, sort of, as growing cane on the scale they need it, is getting prohibitive on St. Croix.
More recently it's not even bottled in St. Croix, they ship rum to Florida for bottling, I'm sure at some enormous Beam owned plant (and I might guess flavoring too).
The blackstrap product I think is one of the clunkiest dark rums I've ever tasted. Tastes like they just poured blackstrap molasses into cheap industrial rum, which is, in fact, what I think they did. I really think that product is pretty crappy. Some marketing guy woke up and said: "we need a product that competes with Gosling's, three guys in a lab figured out how to do it as cheap as possible, and that's what we got.
I would WAY prefer to drink Coruba, Meyers, Goslings, Lemon Hart, or one of the other countless dark rums that has some genuine, un-manufactured flavor.
So basically over a course of about 2 years they abandoned all of their old family proven recipes and came out with new "marketing-driven" product.
When it comes to rum in general, Cruzan across the board is basically at the bottom of my list going forward, except when I want a handle (1.75l) for small money to make a big bowl of punch on a hot summer day."
Yes indeed, the marketing department dumbed down what was once a premier portfolio and lost their reputation to boot. These once fine rums have been replaced with a list of thin, artificially flavored rums designed to compete with Bacardi. To hell with the sippers.
StriperGuy (at Chowhound) continues...
(emphasis added)StriperGuy: Uhhhhh I've been going to St. Croix and drinking Cruzan for a long time...
They are now owned by Fortune Brands (think Jim Beam and ownership back to Warren Buffett's Berskshire Hathaway.)
As I state above, the single barrel product is pretty good. Try Barrilito 3 Star from Puerto Rico for something much better.
That said, over the past 10 years they have extensively CUT Corners with their basic products. Though obviously you did not READ my post above:
- The white and amber used to both be aged 2 years, no longer, now the bottle just says "aged," and by the taste, I'd say they spend about 10 minutes on oak. These rums used to have real character, but no longer.
At the distillery they make a real show of pressing sugar cane, but that is just Disneyfied nonsense for the tourist. NONE of the rum is from local cane. They merely import molasses from elsewhere, distill it in St. Croix, and then ship it elsewhere (FL and KY) for bottling:
http://stcroixlibationsociety.com/revie ... istillery/
The only reason they even bother to distill on St. Croix at all any more is that there are specific longstanding tax advantages to producing rum in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
See here for some recent discussion:
http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news ... 71&ct_id=1
Bottom Line:
Cruzan was one of the first rums to submit completely to their new owners' marketing department, with quality sacrificed to new cheesier, market-driven crapola. Cruzan's old Blackstrap, Estate Diamond and Single Barrel were among the first rums we tasted - and loved - over four years ago, before their corporate owners recreated everything.
Please see the reviews. I later found about five bottles of the Estate Diamond, which are touched only rarely and will be removed only on special occasions.
Next: R&D's take...
