Collectable rum or rum becomes collectable at least in Italy

[JaRiMi]

As many others, no doubt, I've purchased many rum bottles over the last 26 years or so. In the first 15-20 years of this, most were purchased for consumption only, with no thought of stashing a bottle or two on the shelves of the storage room, to keep as part of a "collection".

At this point, I must admit that I wish I had a few of these older bottles today in storage - well, 2 -3 of each actually With the times, these same rum brands and bottlings have changed in taste so much, that they are no longer identifiable. And the quality has, sadly, in most cases, gone down. This I can say with a hand on my heart - it is not just memories making things better - it is a fact that today most same bottlings are clearly younger distillate, made in more haste, using whatever cane from where ever, and sweetness x 3 added to them (if nothing else!).

The first rums that I really enjoyed were from Trinidad and Barbados, with Guyana and Jamaica following soon after. The problem in those days was availability - it was not easy to find things like Mount Gay XO, El Dorado 15yo etc. In Trinidad, where I lived for a while, what was readily available was the local brands, and these (Royal Oak, VAT19, Ferdi's) were also excellent in quality. All have since changed in flavour profile quite a bit.

In the last 7 years, my purchases of rum have been far more targeted, meaning I am looking for specifics. I have for the most part given up on "commercial" (big brand) rums, because they can be pretty much anything (even country of origin is often unclear!), and typically are sweetened to a point which sickens my-non-aspartame-nutrasweet-self. I do also find that as they bring new flagship rums out for a brand, they also simultaneously lower the quality of the old flagship rum. This has happened with Mount Gay, Appleton, El Dorado - heck, all of them almost.

As is, my money has been spent mostly on "indy-rums" - independently bottled, small-batch rums that can be clearly identified, with no additives, no added sugars, etc. My palate, which also likes bourbon, Scotch and Irish whiskies, definitely prefers dryer flavours - I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and also I've often noticed that all the added sweetness makes the product loose much of it's original character. So I've ended up purchasing bottlings from Berry Bros, Bristol Spirits, Velier, Gargano, Duncan Taylor, Cadenhead's, Silvano Samaroli's and so forth.

Sometimes people wonder, are rums collectable - and a big part of this is financial: Will the value of older bottlings actually start to increase dramatically in years to come, or not. I do not have the answer to this, but I have noted that recently the prices of some Italian indy-bottlings from Velier/Gargano have started to rise quite rapidly in the few webshops where they are still available at. For example, a few old Caronis from Gargano that were originally selling for less than 200 euros are now mostly not availabe - and where they are available, the asking price is over 400 euros. The big brand bottlings do not seem to fare nearly as well, which is interesting to note (in whiskies, original bottlings from the owner company do much better in terms of financial value than independent bottlings - but then again, in whisky no owner adds funny bits to their whiskies..).

I think this trend will be interesting to follow. Italy was the forerunner in whisky collecting, will we see a repeat in rums? A bit of a revolution going on there anyways, it seems.

[Capn Jimbo]

The truth shall set you free...


It really will. First, allow me to once again thank JaRiMi for his usual knowledgeable insight and contribution to The Project. For those of you that don't know, our history goes way, way back to those good old days at the Count's once active site, where we engaged in any number of respectful exchanges. These obviously continue.

I couldn't agree more but what I find particularly disturbing are the recently posted opinions of a couple of wannabees. Compare JaRiMi's view with these:

Artic Wolf:

"What a year it was in the world of Rum. From the Panamonte XXV to the Appleton Estate 50 year Old Rum, it seemed as though every producer was rushing out with a new super premium – super aged rum. In an industry where only ten or so years ago a 10-year-old rum was a rarity, one wonders where all this super aged rum is coming from...

But it is not just well aged rum that is exploding into the market place. It seems every producer is at least considering one of those super-premium white rums that are trying to replace upscale Vodka, and you cannot enter a liquor store these days without tripping over a new flavoured or spiced rum.

It is a great time in history to be a rum guy (or gal). We may well look back ten years from now and determine that this was the watershed moment for Rum!"

Such is the bumbling opinion of one of the kings of freebies - he of the sugar requiring bitter palate who resides open mouthed at the end of a virtual conveyor belt of free product gladly provided by suppliers who have come to expect yet another slobbering high rating from their largesse. But before I respond, let's look too at an exerpt from another newbie...

Josh of Inu a Kena:

"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."

Unlike Wolfie, Josh does not gloss over the changes; rather he celebrates rum's "rogueness" while simultaneously calling the spirit "more highly regulated than pharmaceuticals". What?!


It must be a parallel universe...

Along with JaRiMi, I know most of you have likewise watched the continued deterioration of the world of rum, in large part due to the smashing success of Bacardi, whose political influence simply cannot be underestimated. Despite Josh's parallel universe claim, rum is minimally regulated - Gracias, Facundo - and even those loose regulations are not really being followed, tested or enforced.

Think Ron Matusalem.

Neither of these faux commentators are not looking at the same shelves that the rest of us are, as the Big Three have now captured 90% of the shelf space, and 100% of the prime space. Wolfie's so called "super premiums" simply cannot be found, while what I have called the real Caribbean aged rums are increasingly fewer and are literally being pushed off the shelves.

The power of the Big Three and their completely controlled distributors is massive, to the point that Diageo for one, is actually being paid to produce rum with our stolen tax dollars. What's even worse is that these glad handing promoters have failed to note or to track the really, really big news of 2013 - namely that this is the first year of the multi-billion dollar new rum subsidies to the USVI, Diageo, Fortune and Bacardi.

What about that? What has happened? They're not telling.

The real news is that almost all the "new product" is either invented, altered and/or NAS. Products we use to adore - think Mount Gay Extra Old - are not nearly as old or tasty as increasingly precious old aged reserves are managed carefully and diverted to a few ego-building super premium products whose sole goal is to maintain an image of unaffordable quality while selling mostly drivel.

And this is a "watershed moment"? Not on your life. But I digress...


Back to JaRiMi...

It certainly is interesting that in the face of this mass extinction, that it remains that it is left to a handful of bottlers who are carrying the torch for rum in producing what have inadvertently become collectible. I say inadvertently because unlike whisky, these very few products have become collectible not because they are the best of a great mass of very good product, but rather because they are among the last survivors of a once much better spirit - rum - that mostly wasn't all that pure in the first place.

If the smaller distillers of the Caribbean had not suffered the crushing transgressions of the Big Three, we'd have a lot more and better product and JaRiMi's bottlers would not be nearly as successful or collectible. As for my view?

Even ordinary life preservers became valuable collectibles on the Titanic. Again, thanks to JaRiMi. This calls for a dram of an Italian classic - Fernet Branca. Cheers!

[Capn Jimbo]

Another twist of lime...


Remember when what is loosely called beer came to be dominated by say Budweiser Lite? Or even Extra Lite? I mean really, it came to the point that all the majors had taken over and it was a race to bottom where the fewest number of calories reside. And what then was the reaction? Yup, you know - a literal explosion of home brewing, craft and micro brewers. You can literally get lost in the aisles dedicated to these real and creative beers to the tune of hundreds and hundreds of small labels. And what have the majors done?

Not much. They can't. With hundreds of small competitors creating thousands of high quality, small batch creations, there's really no way. In a way they've lost that battle and market by death from a thousand cuts.


Will rum do the same?

Maybe. Beginning over the last three or four years we've seen a number of small American and other distillers begin to put out some awfully nice product. Think Phil Prichard or Charbay, or even some limited releases under Seale's modest umbrella. Nice. And lately this trend has only accelerated. There's a couple problems though:

Age and quality.

The biggest hurdle for rum - and the reason I say that micro/craft distilling's success is only a "maybe" - is the issue of age. Unlike the majors who get paid to produce rum, the little guyz and galz have to actually invest their own hard earned shekels and endure regulations that were actually designed to discourage small distilling. It's a real trial for them.

Beer is a whole lot easier in terms of entry. Even you and I can buy the supplies and equipment we need to brew for maybe $150 for home and friends' consumption and not a single regulation in site (pun intended). Furthermore, aging is not a real issue. Not so for rum.

There's not much of a market for new make rum (although there is for moonshine) and despite the Wolfboy's claims to the contrary, aging is damned expensive. Good barrels are expensive, proper storage is expensive, cooperage and maintenance is expensive, angel's losses are really expensive and well...

It's expensive. If that isn't enough, aging forces these hand-to-mouth distillers to tie up relatively huge amounts of money for what? Five years? Ten? Fifteen? Who knows, especially since aging in North America takes a whole LOT longer than doing so in the Caribbean. Wow! That's a real nut to crack, and I'm not done yet. Let's say that this mostly mythical distiller can actually survive the loss of large amounts of money for those years of aging. Then what will he/she have then finally ready for bottling?

Who knows? Really. Remember, these are new distillers engaging in the new endeavor and art of aging. Will the aging go well? And how about the blending? This is all new, and honest: the result is not at all guaranteed. Master distillers and blenders simply don't grow on trees, or on sugar cane for that matter.

Capish? I hope so. So will this micro movement succeed? "Maybe". At best. So how are they doing?


Let's ask Luis Ayala...

Luis Ayala:

"Additional positive highlights from the year (2013) include:

• Continuity and expansion of existing rum festivals. This proves that rum’s increase in popularity and growth throughout the world is a sustainable trend, not just a passing fad.

• Rum micro distillers are starting to age more rum! This also shows us that craft rum consumers are demanding more value in the products they purchase and that aging rum is becoming feasible for well-prepared distillers (those properly positioned financially and with clear marketing differentiation).

• Tiki mixology is helping drive sales of traditionally slow-moving rums.

• Rum-centric bars are on the rise worldwide, whether as speakeasies, Caribbean, latin or south Pacific-inspired watering holes, these establishments are testament to the growing interest in the category.

Unfortunately every coin has two faces, and there are also negative trends we are closely monitoring:

• Un-skilled small distillers are, under the guise of full flavored rum”, releasing products that have been improperly cut, retaining an un-healthy, often illegal concentration of methanol. These distillers always have given the trade a bad name and despite the
fact that their actions are not derived from malice, their impact is almost irreparable.

My message to them is clear: if you don’t want to acquire the skills (or even pay independent labs to run tests for you) to keep methanol within acceptable ranges, GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS."

Luis is well enough connected to understand the market, and despite the growth of Tiki/rum bars and festivals this is no substitute for degradation of the product. Nor are his words on dangerous micro-products encouraging, which points up yet another issue?

If small distillers are putting out dangerous product WTF is going on in terms of regulation? Will it take a spate of deaths or alcohol poisoning to get the TTB to pull their heads out of their bung holes?

You decide...




*******
Citation, Ayala:
http://www.rumshop.net/newsletters/december2013.pdf

[Hassouni]

Does truly great rum really need long aging? Smith and Cross is aged what, maximum 3 years? Scarlet Ibis something similar? Furthermore, couldn't micro-barrels be used, at least until the full sized barrels have had a proper go of it?

[Capn Jimbo]

Hass, that's true...


There are surely some very good younger rums that are quite good. And Phil Prichard does use some smaller barrels, but not what I think you mean by "micro". However true, it's important to consider some other factors:

First consider the notion of micro barrels and the ADI (American Distilling Institute) myth of increased wood contact. Their completely false pitch (they sell systems and installation) is that small barrels can achieve in months what takes traditional aging years. You see, they have realized the issue and negative economics of real aging. If only it were true.

One real expert on wood is Chuck Cowdery, author of "Bourbon Straight", who knows better. He found this myth so distasteful and dishonest that he finally published "Small Barrels Produce Lousy Whisky" - an essay and E-publication you can buy here (link). It's cheap - just a couple dollars - buy it!

Hint: what the myth of fast aging completely ignores is that there are roughly three different processes ongoing: additive, subtractive and interactive. These occur at different rates such that it simply takes time in much larger barrels.

Although research has not established the smallest practical and effective size, you can be sure "micro" barrels are WAY too small. And don't forget this - if you think used butts are expensive - and for a small distiller they are - the so-called "micro" barrels are macro in price, and WAY more expensive to buy and use. And still don't do the job anyway.


Buying small jars of paint won't make a Picasso...

I know you know this Hass, so please do reflect on the fact that the making of spirits is a long, complex process that relies on both science (the simple part), and art and experience (the hard part). Yes there are some wonderful young rums and you can be sure they reflect talent and expense from the raw material, fermentation and yeast, stills and design, distillation and cuts, and - yup - proper aging. A master product requires mastery of all and a true master distiller and blender to boot.

Most small distillers are years and years away from achieving the integrated skills, art and requirements of producing a young masterpiece in the works. Most will have to make do with clever ways of marketing very young products while trying to put away enough product for the future.

And please don't forget that aging in North America may require two or threes times the years required in the tropics. Thus it might take 6 or more years to achieve the age of the rums you cited.

Compare this also to winemaking and the probably futility and expense of establishing a vineyard only to discover years later that your terroir and grapes simply suck. Budding winemakers are thus advised to buy good grapes from established vineyards to make their own and more likely successful blends.


Arriving full circle...

We are now back to JaRiMi's lovely post and his Italian masters of aging and bottling. Check too Usige's latest post "Tchochke update! Rebranded Black Bottle Rocks glass!" about "Black Bottle", which is simply a bottler's blend of seven good Islay Scotch whiskies. If I were a craft or microdistiller, I'd consider buying a quantity of really fine aged pot-stilled product, with the goal of creating a special blend with my own young product.

Also, please don't forget Ayala's observation, namely that "..Un-skilled small distillers are, under the guise of full flavored rum”, releasing products that have been improperly cut, retaining an un-healthy, often illegal concentration of methanol. These distillers always have given the trade a bad name and despite the fact that their actions are not derived from malice, their impact is almost irreparable.".

But time will tell... and frankly, I wish you were right, but let's check back in three years, eh?

[JaRiMi]

Many good posts here...

I think that the mainstream rum industry is set on shooting itself in the foot, by means of making more and more poor quality, artificially flavoured rums that are young and cheap to make - and marketing and pricing these as the uber-rums they clearly are not.

Quality-conscious people will not buy these, and the whole rum conquest will fall flat on its backside before even becoming as big as the whisky move, for example.

Microbreweries saved the beer scene in many countries, after the conglomerates filled the world with anonymous pisswater which they called beer.

In rum, the only torch bearers I see shining light into the approaching darkness are the independent bottlers - NOT the microdistillers, to be honest. But independent bottlers require unadulterated, available rum stocks - and I suspect the big companies will close the faucets on these guys soon, as they have started to do in whisky scene too.

I did not mention in my original post one thing: Do you think it is a good thing, that some rum becomes collectable? Why? It certainly leads to quick price increases...as seen in the Italian case.

[Capn Jimbo]

I hope we are all in agreement...


I couldn't agree more in re dedicated blenders, agers and bottlers insofar as preserving what little heritage of real rum remains. We can thank too such people as Richard Seale, Phil Prichard, Charbay, Charles Tobias, and a few other isolated products and distillers. And don't forget Barbancourt and even the overpriced AOC rums. What we really need are a few more John Glasers for rum.

What we don't need are faux bottlers like the Preacher - who knows better - but whose first product is a completely unaged new make Jamaican rum that is mislabeled as a "gold" and also as a "black" by simply adding soft drink coloring. Sorry, but I'm not into watersports.

As for micro and craft distillers - other than the handful who do produce good product - would be wise to stick with gin, absinthe and other white spirits as they simply don't have the horses, the time, the money or the distribution to compete with rum - particularly since the field is dominated by the Big Three and their pissant distributors, reps, promoters and faux reviewers who are either so foolish or too ignorant to join in telling the truth.

Just as in our failing environment, all spirits - not least rum - are in a race to the bottom. The only guarantee is that the products will be steadily degraded in their continued successful effort to lower the tastes and expectation of the purposefully uneducated public.


But as always, I digress...


Finally, a fackin answer to JaRiMi's question...

Yes. Simply yes. I do agree that collectability helps if only to make clear that better quality does and did exist and to have an available stock for real rum lovers to access. OTOH if the prices are too high, they are not available to the hoi polloi - the people - who actually make the market.

As for me I'm close to giving up on even Mount Gay, Appleton and El Dorado. JaRiMi is right. It may be far better to spend $80 or $100 for a good one and to sip it carefully than to waste money on even the better drivel.