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| The rum is pouring off of the line for you |
Revelers in need of
festive spirit are reaching for rum in record numbers, new figures show,
suggesting the pirate’s tipple of choice is primed to mimic the ongoing
resurgence of gin. Rum reached nearly $1.4
Billion in the United Kingdom for the nine months to the end of September,
according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), which expects the
annual figure to top $ 1.4 Billion for the first time before the first salvo of
fireworks ushers in 2018. Rum is slated
to hit this $1.4 billion watermark just a year after gin, the phenomenal
success story of the alcoholic drinks industry in recent years. While rum may be chasing gin in the sales
stakes, building a domestic champion is a challenge few have attempted.
The English Spirit
Distillery, housed in a 19th-century barn, employs 15 people making rum from
scratch using sugar cane molasses distilled in bulbous copper pots. Founder and master-distiller Dr John Walters
said the business was the first in the UK, and still one of just two along with
Scotland’s Dark Matter distillery – to make rum this way.
“The challenge with any spirit is to
present it in its naked form with access to all of its benefits and faults,”
said Walters. “With rum, you need a lot of expertise.” Importing molasses is costly – Walters gets
his from Venezuela, while the tarry syrup is messy and hard to handle. Nonetheless, the effort is paying off. Sales
of his three brands, led by flagship Old Salt Rum, were 40% higher than 2016,
leapfrogging vodka sales in the process.
Ian Burrell, the
self-styled Global Rum Ambassador, thinks others may follow Walters into
rum-making but not in great numbers. “I
can definitely see that happening but it will take time,” he said. “You can
make a craft gin within a couple of days but with rum to get your consumer to
pay a premium, they want to see it aged.
“You need to stick it in a barrel for a few years to get some character
and flavor. Imagine buying a car, and as soon as you get the keys, you’re told
you can’t have it for a few years until it’s ready? It’s a waiting game.” But Burrell is confident that, as far as
consumers go, the moment in the sun has arrived for his favorite spirit.
“Rum cocktails are
some of the most popular ones ... mojitos, daiquiris. And there’s a rise in
tiki-style drinks too, Mai Tai’s, Pina Coladas etc. “They not only use rum in abundance but may
use several in one cocktail.” He is also
predicting an upsurge for spiced rums, usually made using imported spirits and
infused with spices and other ingredients such as fruit peel.
With a little bit of luck, and
the recent excise tax cuts the same will be in store for the United States. I would love the see rum catch up and maybe
even surpass the whiskey sales here in the United States.
