It's fair to say that Lance and I have had a variable dialogue - always with respect. Sometimes he deletes my posts with a flourish, at other times not. Compare to Wolfboy who treats constructive commentary as a dangerous cancer that might just possible interrupt the freebie conveyor belt.
Here's his article: The Labelling of Rums
A good read, to which I posted:
A truly great article written with brilliant honesty about a spirit that will soon be dominated by the Big Three (Diageo, Fortune and Bacari) as the brutal changes and massive subsidies to the USVI threaten to drive Caribbean rums – however labeled – to ruin, especially those made in Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and the Dominican Republic.
Afftected too are all the other Caribbean distillers, as well as those in the United States. It is fair to say that the lack of purity and consistent labeling as you presented, is a signficant factor. But when two huge conglomerates benefit from over $4 Billion dollars in free money, the rest of the producers are in deep, deep trouble.
Lance, thank you for your signature on the petition to save Caribbean rum as we know it, and as you have here so well presented the issues. A final note: regarding single malt whisky, what some call protective against outsiders others, including me, see the strict regulations of single malts and bourbon as protecting these two noble spirits from being altered such that anything goes and three large conglomerates can take over with lowest common denominator, altered and mysteriously flavored rum-like concoctions.
In sum – and as you have so well described – if we don’t know what the label “rum” really means, then it really doesn’t mean anything, and there is nothing to protect. Congratulations – I thought I was the only brilliant rum writer on the net, lol…
