This article was initially published in the October issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For details on how to subscribe, click here.
From a range with its own ‘origiverse’ and RTDs mixed with coconut milk to collectable rare releases and experiential cask finishes, NPD in rum is hotting up. Joe Bates reports.
In the race to premiumise, rum has lagged behind other spirits categories, but now that the impact of COVID-19 is receding, it is catching up. In fact, over the next three years, IWSR Drinks Market Analysis predicts the category will enjoy a CAGR of 5%. An increased level of innovation is undoubtedly contributing to this premiumisation trend.
The flavoured and spiced subcategories, which together account for about 16% of global rum volumes, have experienced much of this NPD activity. Yet higher-end aged sipping rums are also releasing ever more luxurious expressions, while category connoisseurs are seeking out iterations from less well-known rum-producing countries.
As premiumisation has accelerated, multinationals have been increasingly eyeing well-regarded artisanal craft brands to bolster their portfolios. In March last year, for example, Pernod Ricard, whose portfolio already includes the world’s fifth best-selling rum, Havana Club, took a majority stake in La Hechicera, a family-owned, ultra-premium rum from Colombia, founded in 2018.
The brand’s core expression, La Hechicera Reserva Familiar, is a blend of rums aged in ex-Bourbon white oak barrels, while its experimental range includes a quirky, banana-infused bottling and a rum finished in Muscat wine casks. A third experimental expression is currently in the pipeline.
“La Hechicera’s strategic direction and ambitions remain almost the same as we have had with the brand since its conception and launch,” says global marketing director Carlos Ortiz. “Our goal is to be a benchmark in the category and a proudly Colombian brand with credentials for our high quality and global presence.”
Outside rum’s heartland
As never before, consumers are becoming aware that high-quality rum is now being produced the world over. Indonesian rum Nusa Caña is making waves, for instance, launching an award-winning arrack last year called Godfather, made from sugarcane and red rice.
Then, there’s Paraguay’s El Supremo Rum, an aged, double-barrelled, Agricole-style rum which is currently re-releasing its core eight- and 12-year-old expressions and preparing to launch older vintages over the next 18-to-24 months.
“The production of rum in Paraguay is quite amazing,” El Supremo MD Filippo Maria Olivi di Briana tells Global Drinks Intel. “It goes hand in hand with the introduction of the sugarcane to the region at the time of the Spanish colonisation, especially in the missions set up by the Jesuits in the 16th Century. The same method is used today.
“The sugarcane is hand-cut and transported to the mill using the traditional Paraguayan carreta [oxcart] — or karréta in the Guarani language. It is hand-crushed by local farmers to extract the juice, which is then boiled for nine hours in huge vats above open fires. The result is a honey-like substance that is fermented for three days. The fermented liquid is then slowly distilled in traditional copper stills.”
UK now rum’s third-largest market
The UK is fast becoming one of the leading premium rum markets worldwide. According to Campari UK’s ‘Rum Category Report 2022’, the country was the third-largest for rum by value in 2020 with a 6.7% share, beaten only by the US and India. Moreover, out of the top ten rum markets worldwide, the UK had the fastest CAGR growth rate to 2021 at 4.8%.
UK craft distillers are increasingly turning their hand to producing rum. Edinburgh’s Holyrood Distillery, for instance, has become the first producer in the country to be awarded the IWSC’s ‘Rum Producer of the Year’, releasing a series of specialised cask rums known collectively as Elizabeth Yard.
In August, the company followed this up with the launch of Rum Union, which comprises a rum distilled from Vietnamese sugarcane juice, which is then blended with a pot-still rum from Ghana and a molasses-based rum from the Philippines.
“We’re working with rum to push ourselves as whisky-makers,” says Holyrood Distillery MD Nick Ravenhall. “Rum asks challenging questions of raw material and fermentation, questions that don’t get asked in single malt whisky production. We’re greatly inspired by the rum makers and that’s why Holyrood is on this journey, to learn more and push ourselves further.”
Appleton Estate challenges Cognac and whisky at higher-end
Campari Group’s Appleton Estate continues to break new ground by pushing the Jamaican brand into the rarefied, uber-luxury positioning usually reserved for rare Scotch malt whisky and high-end French Cognac. Last year saw the release of the second Appleton Estate Hearts Collection, comprising 1984 and 2003 vintages. “Hearts Collection sold out almost immediately in all global geographies,” reveals the group’s Jamaican rum portfolio director, Andres Brito. “Most specialist retailers pre-sold all allocations before the product was actually bottled.”
This year has seen further ultra-high-end releases from Appleton Estate, including the Ruby Anniversary Edition, which was unveiled at the beginning of 2022 to celebrate master blender Joy Spence’s 40-year career at the distillery.
“The edition blends rums aged 35-to-45 years and is unlike any before it in the brand’s 270-year history,” says Brito.
Experimenting with cask finishes
Rémy Cointreau-owned Mount Gay from Barbados has been experimenting with a variety of different cask finishes in its Master Blender Collection. Last year, master blender Trudiann Branker released the Andean Oak Cask, which the distillery believes was a first for the rum industry in terms of finishes.
“Trudiann used pot-still rum that was aged for 14 years in ex-Bourbon barrels,” explains international brand manager Rosie Thomas. “The rum was then transferred to virgin Andean Oak casks from Colombia for an additional year. These casks impart an incredible layer of complexity. Sourcing the casks was a lengthy process, as it typically is for a new cask provider, but we forged a great relationship with the company who provided them.”
This year’s Master Blender expression is The Madeira Cask Expression. “For this limited edition, column-distilled rums were placed in Madeira wine casks six years ago,” explains Thomas. “These casks bring out notes of honey, pear and grapes, all markedly different from the traditional Mount Gay style. This release will be limited to only 2,706 bottles.”
Meeting demand for rare rums
Interest in dark, aged rum is growing among collectors as they look for the next investment-grade luxury spirit. Suppliers are responding with an increasing number of vintage releases.
Marussia Beverages-owned Mezan has added three new vintage Caribbean expressions to its portfolio of single-distillery vintage rums this year. Mezan Guyana 2011, Dominican Republic 2012 and Jamaica 2010 have all been aged for at least ten years and are produced in limited, numbered editions. All three have no added sugar, colouring agent or chill filtration.
Also this year, the brand has launched Mezan Jamaica 2006, a single-cask rum originating from Jamaica’s oldest distillery. With only 1,206 units available, the rum has been matured for 16 years and boasts Jamaican pot-still flavours such as flambeed banana, overripe pineapple, cocoa hints, pepper and tropical spices provided by the higher ester count.
Mezan brand director Marc Torterat says all these new rums are initially available in the UK, France and Germany. “These limited editions are targetting the rum connoisseurs and experts, in selective channels of distribution and play a great role in generating value,” he explains.
One of Mezan’s best-performing existing expressions, according to Torterat, is Mezan Chiriqui, a double-aged rum from Panama matured in ex-Bourbon and -Moscatel casks. Sales of Chiriqui have been particularly strong in Austria’n’s off-premise and e-commerce channels.
Playing the green card
Sustainability is an area of innovation within the rum industry that has increased markedly profile, whether it’s reducing the carbon footprint of the production process, promoting eco-tourism or supporting local environmental charities.
“At Saint James, we’ve been practising sustainable agriculture for a long time,” says Constance Descamps, international marketing manager at La Martiniquaise, owner of the Saint James French Caribbean rhum agricole. “This is due to the use of C4 sugarcane, which absorbs the most CO2, no imported chemicals at all (insecticides, fungicides) and organic farming on a parcel basis.
“We have a neutral carbon footprint,” she adds. “We favour short circuits with our plantations as close as possible to our distillery. We reuse waste, with the reuse of bagasse as fuel or compost, and we reuse the wastewater from the distillation process to irrigate our fields.”
Newer brands are also keen to show they’re doing their bit for the environment. Launched in 2020, single-estate Panamanian rum Aztec Gold Rum comprises three expressions — Charred Sugarcane, a three-year-old iteration and Toasted Coconut & Pineapple flavoured rum. As part of the brand’s debut, founders Quentin Thomas and Mark Riley created a ‘Guardians of the Rainforest’ programme to help protect the country from deforestation.
Saint James and Aztec Gold Rum are not alone in promoting their environmental credentials. The production of rum has traditionally had a high environmental impact through its use of energy, water and land, but suppliers are rapidly becoming more environmentally sustainable. That message needs to be
shared with consumers.
This article was initially published in the October issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For details on how to subscribe, click here.
