Rum Craft Distilling Growing Fast Across the United States

     Recent changes to state laws have made it cheaper and easier for small upstarts to open distilleries, sparking the appearance of local craft spirit makers.  Many states have introduced Distillery Laws that greatly reduced licensing fees and allowed distillers to sell spirits directly to consumers on site in their showrooms by the glass and by the bottle.   That gives distilleries the ability to open tasting rooms, which attract customers and tourists, and help increase sales.   Changes to state laws also have made it easier for small upstarts to get into the distilling business, allowing them to source more than half of their raw materials from their local areas.

     The Fed is also involved, but once you get your license to operate the still the state governments are seeing the potential for tax revenues and are making it easier to get their operations up and running and start selling the spirits.  In the past, It has been very cost.   The results of these laws is that America has gotten hundreds of new craft distilleries opening all over the country.

     New laws that are going through the state legislature here in Florida are looking to make the tourist side of the craft spirit grow by allowing the distilleries to sell to the customers more than one bottle a year that they have been saddled with for many years.  These changes are drawing more companies to give the distilling business a try.  The changes in Florida laws are happening in New York, South Carolina and many other states.  It is really exciting to see all the new rum offerings that have entered the Miami Rum Festival in April.  There are over 100 American made rums being shown.

     This is an exciting prospect to have America be a major rum producer and from what I’ve seen of the rums being produced here the basics are here and with time for the rums to age, there will be some really nice rums available from right here in the states.