Quartermaster Rum: a complete fake!

[Dai]

http://quartermasterrum.com/Welcome_Aboard.html

Ahoy there me hearties there's a new bottler in town.

[Capn Jimbo]

And here we go again...


If this is the best the Burp Bros. "Rum Renaissance" can inspire, it's all over. Natch, I sent the founder this email...

"Hi...

Capn Jimbo here, of The Rum Project. We are by far the largest, free and non-commercial independent rum websites in the world, with over half a million monthly reads. Our registered members include a number of distillers, festival promoters, professional reviewers and the like.

Of course we review rums, and more recently have reviewed various other spirits including whiskey, gin, vodka, etc, not to mention good cigars and pipe tobaccos that are good accompaniment to especially rum, our focus.

We recently learned of your Panamanian sourced rums and visited your website, which raised a number of questions based on your website claims:

1. Your founder Paul states he is a "rum enthusiast and having a family legacy of rum running, during prohibition". That is certainly interesting. Inasmuch as we have spent much time researching rum's history, we'd like some more specifics insofar as Paul's family legacy.

2. Paul also states he visited Panama and found "a refined Caribbean recipe dating back to 1890". Can you please detail the recipe, how, where and from whom was it found and located. Where is this recipe today?

3. Last Paul states he convinced Don Francisco (whom we know well) to "to blend the proper flavors creating a superior rum". What are and do you consider the "proper flavors" for a good rum?

We of course are impressed by this history, and look forward to publishing your answers...


Cordially,
Capn Jimbo and Sue Sea
The Rum Project and Forum
http://rumproject.com/rumforum"

Stay tuned...

[Hassouni]

Damn that looks dubious. At least it doesn't seem like they're going for "ultra-premium"

[mamajuana]

Quartermaster rum was a fake. They never released a drop of rum even though they had 8 TTB filings. There will be no 18 year single cask, no 21 year, and no 25 year. The whole venture was a fraud as far as I can tell. It was a venture with Verde media group. The whole thing was to show that the stock had some type of reason to invest. The Quartermaster website is down and there is no rum. It was a fake and the owner of this rum did this same thing in the past with another rum. This is worse even than rums with additives. A totally made up rum to bring in investors and bilk them for funds when they never intended to release any rum at all. I guess their crappy website should have been an alarm even with all the hired actors for an amateur photo shoot.

[Capn Jimbo]

Another day, another fraud...


Check out what MSN - a national news outlet - reported at that time:

"LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verde Media Group Inc. (OTC:VMGI) announces that its agency client, Quartermaster Rum Inc. has begun final preparations for its first production run beginning in November 2014. Quartermaster Rum contracted VMGI as its agency of record in September of this year in preparation for the roll-out of its extensive line of premium imported rum and spirits.

William Veve, President of Verde Media Group, Inc. stated, "Quartermaster Rum is developing an exciting proven brand in a growing market. The company will be expanding rapidly, so it's a natural fit for our Agency Division."

Beginning on January 1st of 2015, Quartermaster Rum will begin distributing its 9 different offerings ranging from its Spiced Rum to the ultra-premium 26-year-old single barrel Rum – a rarity in the market that only a handful of other companies in the world offer. Panama-based Consorcio Licorero National S.A. is the partner in bottling for QMR production with our ultra-premium rums distilled since 1890.

Initial orders and delivery dates have already been signed. Out of the gate, QMR products will be offered in all 50 states and Canada by mid-2015 with additional distribution to several European countries and Asia.

For more information on Quartermaster Rum Inc. please visit - www.quartermasterrum.com."

(Emphasis added)

Really now. The press releases were glowing: a "proven brand", "nine products", "signed orders and delivery dates", and "all 50 states and Canada". WTF?! No doubt the Frozen One already got his freebie and reviewed it with Coke, lol...

Only in the world of rogue rum, I guess.




*******
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ver ... ar-BBc2BxN

[Boddah266]

Quartermaster rum was a fake. They never released a drop of rum even though they had 8 TTB filings. There will be no 18 year single cask, no 21 year, and no 25 year. The whole venture was a fraud as far as I can tell. It was a venture with Verde media group. The whole thing was to show that the stock had some type of reason to invest. The Quartermaster website is down and there is no rum. It was a fake and the owner of this rum did this same thing in the past with another rum. This is worse even than rums with additives. A totally made up rum to bring in investors and bilk them for funds when they never intended to release any rum at all. I guess their crappy website should have been an alarm even with all the hired actors for an amateur photo shoot.

I was one of the models that was involved and trust me, we were not hired actors. We all thought it was going to be big. However, one of the backers pulled out after the IndieGoGo campaign failed and Paul just let the whole thing go.
It was a huge disappointment to everyone, unfortunately.
We had another photo shoot planned in the Bahamas. The photographer was a professional that did major magazines but the photos posted were the unedited, “unusable” ones. The others were to come later. They weren’t privy to how big social media influence could have been.

[Capn Jimbo]

Thanks for sharing. Yet rum sales (as a percentage of spirits sold) appears to be increasing. I'd be curious as to which brands, though I'd suspect the usual Big Three products.