Cachaça is a distilled spirit made from
sugarcane juice, also known as aguardente. Leblon, described as a “premium
artisanal cachaça”, is produced at Maison Leblon in Minas Gerais, Brazil’s
agricultural heartland. Spiros
Malandrakis, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor International,
predicted that cachaça, “fighting old prejudices”, would become a
key spirits trend of 2015, shifting from “commodity status to aspirational
exoticism”.
Bacardi
also has expanded its portfolio of super-premium rums with the acquisition of
Banks Rum. Banks was founded in 2008 by
Arnaud de Trabuc, former CEO of Angostura Group and president of Cognac
producer Thomas Hine & Company, of Geneva, Switzerland.
The brand is inspired by the travels of
18th-century British explorer and botanist Sir Joseph Banks and is made by
blending rums from up to seven different origins including Trinidad, Jamaica,
Guyana, Barbados, Panama, Guatemala and Java.
de Trabuc’s previous position as former managing director of the
Caribbean region for Premier Wines & Spirits gave him the “unique ability
to source rums from otherwise competing islands”.
Bank’s composition is a closely guarded
secret with final blends aged in previously used Bourbon barrels. It is currently available in the US,
Germany, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark
and Singapore. Banks currently sells
6,000 cases annually and has a portfolio which includes Banks 5-Island Rum,
Banks 7 Golden Age Blend and various limited editions.
