The World's The Top 10 Best Selling Rum Brands

Number 1 Tanduay Rum

     Overall growth for the world’s third biggest spirit category may have been marginal last year, but there’s excitement to be found among rum’s largest producers. Spirits Business looks at how the big players are performing.  According to figures from market research provider Euromonitor, total rum sales experienced an increase of 0.7% to 144 million cases in 2017. 

     Meanwhile, data published in our Brand Champions 2018 report showed a mixed performance for brands across the rum category in 2017.  There was some jostling for the top spot, while several international brands, such as Captain Morgan and Havana Club, witnessed soaring sales.  The impact of demonetization and a highway ban on alcohol in India continued to affect the performance of local brands in 2017.

     Following our recently published Brand Champions 2018 report, our pick of those brands selling more than one-million cases annually – we run through the world’s best-selling rum brands on the market today.  Data is listed to one decimal place for ease of reading, but the percentage changes are based on the full data supplied to The Brand Champions 2018.  As there is no globally recognized definition of rum, brands featured on this list are all marketed as rums. 

10. Appleton Estate

2017: 1.2m
2016: 1.2m
% change: 0.0% 

Place last year: 10

Gruppo Campari’s Jamaican rum brand witnessed stagnant sales in 2017, remaining at 1.2m cases. The company’s total rum portfolio increased by 6.4% in Gruppo Campari’s 2017 Full year results. boosted by Jamaica, the UK, the US and Mexico.   In November 2017, Gruppo Campari unveiled a new campaign for Appleton Estate Rum inspired by the brand’s Jamaican heritage at New York’s JFK Airport.

9. Old Port Rum

2017: 1.3m
2016: 1.7m
% change: -22.3% 

Place last year: 8

Indian brand Old Port Rum is owned by Bangalore-based Amrut Distilleries. The brand witnessed the biggest drop in sales across the best-selling rum brands, falling by -22.3%.

The brand most likely continued to see its sales slip due to the impact of demonetization and a blanket ban on alcohol sales within 500 meters of any highway in India in 2017.

8. Ron Medellin

2017: 1.6m
2016: 1.4m
% change: 15.7% 

Place last year: 9

Ron Medellin, owned by Fabrica de Alcoholes y Licores de Antioquia, experienced an impressive 15.7% growth in 2017 – the fastest growth rate among any million-case-selling rum brand.

Made in Colombia, Ron Medellin is predominantly consumed in Latin America. Its core range consists of a 12- and eight-year-old expression.

7. Contessa

2017: 1.8m
2016: 2.0m
% change: -10.1% 

Place last year: 7

Radico Khaitan-owned Contessa was hit hard by different market factors in India and continued to experience declines in 2017. The brand was unable to reach the 2m case mark it witnessed in 2015.

Radico says that Contessa is the most popular rum brand in India’s defense segment, with a 25% market share. It also has a presence in Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East, and is now rolling out to the US and Canada.

6. Barceló

2017: 2.2m
2016: 2.1m
% change: 6.3% 

Place last year: 6

The brand continued its solid performance last year, when it increased by 6.3% to hit 2.2m cases. Barceló has continued to witness consistent sales and hasn’t declined in five years, according to Brand Champions data.

Produced in the Dominican Republic by Ron Barceló since 1950, Barceló is sold in more than 50 countries.

5. Havana Club

2017: 4.4m
2016: 4.2m
% change: 4.8% 

Place last year: 5

Pernod Ricard’s Havana Club brand has witnessed consistent growth, increasing by 4.8% in 2017. In the company’s H1 results, Havana Club increased by 7% with “good and improving growth”, driven by Cuba, Russia and Germany.

The brand’s legal row with Bacardi over the Havana Club Trademark intensified last year after the latter company launched a Forever Cuban campaign that contained “misleading statements”.

4. Captain Morgan

2017: 11.7m
2016: 10.7m
% change: 9.3%

Place last year: 4

This year’s Rum Brand Champion, Diageo-owned Captain Morgan, boasted the highest rate of growth for any international rum brand.

Global brand director Nik Keane attributes Captain Morgan’s success to innovation and its growing presence in markets including the UK, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and France.

Diageo recently launched a number of shot-inspired flavor extensions, including watermelon and coconut, and tweaked the bottle design to create a "more modern brand visual identity".

3. McDowell’s No.1 Rum

2017: 12.5m
2016: 14.9m
% change: -16.1%

Place last year: 3

Last year, Indian rum brand McDowell’s No.1 Celebration – owned by Diageo’s United Spirits unit – experienced a double-digit decline of -16.1% to 12.7m cases.

Unfortunately, the world’s best-selling rum brand in 2015 continued its rapid decline last year, while successfully holding onto third position among the best-selling rum brands.

2. Bacardi

2017: 16.8m
2016: 17.2m

% change: -2.7%

Place last year: 1

It’s a new position for Bacardi as it slips from the top spot to become the second best-selling rum in the world.

Bacardi recently shifted its focus to more premium positioning, releasing two new products with higher price points in April this year. But will its premiumization efforts pay off this year?

1. Tanduay

2017: 19.5m
2016: 16.6m
% change: 17.5%

Place last year: 2

Philippine brand Tanduay has overtaken Bacardi to become the world’s best-selling rum brand after reporting 17.5% growth last year. The brand was almost neck and neck with its rival Bacardi in 2017, but managed to experience an astounding increase to claim the top spot for the first time. The brand is getting ever closer to the 20m case mark it once held in 2012. Tanduay is the best-selling rum in Asia and is now available in the US.

Read More at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/07/the-top-10-best-selling-rum-brands-2/11/

Seattle Bans Plastic Straws, Utensils, Becoming First Major United States City to Do So

These Items are Banned in Seattle

     Seattle has officially become the first major U.S. city to ban restaurants from giving plastic straws and utensils to customers to help the environment.  Since July 1, restaurants in the Emerald City are barred from providing customers plastic straws, cocktail picks or utensils unless someone specifically requests one. In that case, the customer should be given a compostable option, according to Seattle Public Utilities.  With 5,000 food service providers in the area, Seattle is the first major city in the U.S. to enact such a ban, KIRO-TV reported.

     "Plastic pollution is surpassing crisis levels in the world's oceans, and I'm proud Seattle is leading the way and setting an example for the nation by enacting a plastic straw ban," Mami Hara, the general manager of Seattle Public Utilities, told KOMO News.   The Seattle ban actually began with an ordinance prohibiting one-time-use food service items in 2008, but the city has allowed exemptions on certain items every year since. For example, Styrofoam food packaging was banned in 2009, according to the Seattle Times. But because of the market, plastic utensils and straws have been exempted in Seattle's ban until now, the newspaper reported.

     New York City is latest to consider banning plastic straws altogether.  Restaurants were encouraged to use up existing supplies of plastic straws and utensils before July. If that deadline could not be met, restaurants were asked to check in with Seattle Public Utilities to come up with a different schedule.

     California's enacted and potential bans, from internal combustion engines to plastic bags.  Duke Moscrip, founder and CEO of Duke's Seafood and Chowder, told KIRO that his restaurant switched to compostable straws and utensils about three years ago. Then, the products were "30 to 40 percent more expensive," he said.  "Now it's about 10 percent. But we did it anyway, just because it's the right thing to do," Moscrip said.

     Now customers at grocery stores, restaurants, food trucks, even institutional cafeterias must find another way to get liquid into their mouths. Compostable paper and plastic straws are allowed under the ban. People who have a medical need to use a straw are exempt.

Read More at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/07/01/seattle-becomes-first-major-u-s-city-to-ban-straws/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.af0f56153706

Richard Seale on Why Use Sugar Cane?

Barbados Surgarcane

     Richard Seale wrote an interesting piece on his facebook page the other day.  The distilleries on
Barbados seem to be heading back to their roots if you will and making use of several local resources that were available to their forefathers to improve their rums.  Barbados has the distinct honor of being one of the earliest producers of rum and today is still in the forefront of innovation in the industry.

WHY USE SUGAR CANE

     If we look back far enough, we will find less diversity in rum than we have today. It was not wild yeast versus cultured yeast, it was not molasses versus juice, it was not dunder versus non dunder.   There was no "imported molasses" either.

Still Rums had a clear identity, by country. They were built on different formulas of the same prime elements - molasses, cane juice, dunder and water.   Rums were made on sugar cane estates and these elements were what was available.

     Economics drove change.   Agricole - rum from pure juice - blossomed in the 19th century from a myriad of economic factors.    City based commercial distilleries arrived molasses only obviously.   Cultured yeast fermentations of 48 hours arrived instead of 2 weeks and of course the column still which changed rum irreversibly forever.

     In the small islands of the anglophone Caribbean, free trade has seen the demise of the sugar industry in recent decades and today, the historic great producers are obliged to import molasses.

St. Nicolas Abbey Cane Crusher

     In 2016 we started making a little rum from syrup and this continued through 2017. Earlier this year we started using fresh cane juice. Both came from St Nicholas Abbey.    We have now started to crush cane ourselves.   As far as we know, our friends at Mount Gay are also using their own estate cane for some of their rum and of course St Nicholas does the same.

     We are not doing this to mimic agricole rum. Even if we release pure cane juice rum in the future, we won’t call it agricole. We believe agricole is the sole provenance of our French friends.    We may use dunder as well as we push the envelope in getting flavor from the cane but we are not trying to mimic Jamaican rum.    Definitely no muck pits or dunder pits though !  We are not trying to recreate some specific rum formula from the past.   Again, too much respect for our forefathers to use them as marketing gimmicks.   We are trying to maintain our near 400 year heritage as a sugar cane growing country.   We are trying to reestablish the historic link between Foursquare distillery and the sugar cane estate where it is nestled.   It is not about 'terroir', it is not about juice v molasses, it is about controlling your destiny.

Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish Rum

     Don Q and the Destilería Serrallés has done it again with a barrel aging technique that has aided in the raising the image of rum to new heights, emphasizing the importance of barrel aging to the rum industry.  More and more rum producers are trying different ideas in their aging and finishing.  This is not a new idea, but it is raising the image of rum showing its remarkable versatility of the spirit.  The result is that cask finishing is likely to be around for quite some time.    Plantation was one of the earliest companies to use the casks from cognac and other wines and spirits to finish the rums they sourced from around the world, today the process is being used by most all of the producers.

     Puerto Rico’s Don Q, has released its first official cask-finished rum: Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish last February.  Master Blender Jaiker Soto blends rums aged for five-to-eight years in American white oak casks before resting the final spirit for four-to-six weeks in Mancino Vermouth Vecchio barrels. Crafted from Italian white oak, these casks carry aromatics of the fortified wine they once held, as well as botanical flavors synonymous with vermouth.

     This is a rum of golden amber color. With inviting aromas and flavors of cinnamon-pumpkin loaf, pecan pie, castelvetrano olive, ginseng, mace, thyme, and violet with a velvety, crisp, fruity light-to-medium body and a tingling, complex, medium-long Manzanilla sherry and grass clippings finish. A complex and lengthy rum with a unique style and spicy-salty allure.

     This blend of rare rums first aged for 5 to 8 years in American White oak casks, followed by 4 to 6 weeks in Mancino Vermouth Vecchio casks, crafted from Italian white oak.     This is a rum that is of real interest to me, because of the consistent quality of all of Roberto Serralles led introductions of the past.  It will be priced at $49.99 and presented at 40% ABV.

Mother Nature has Painted Me a New Work of Art

     As I walked into the parking lot from the docks at Sunset Marina I was awestruck by the cloud formation in front of me.  It was one of those "Kodak Moments", and fortunately I had a camera with me to capture it.

     I love my life and where I'm living today.

Skotlander Launchs Festival Stage Aged Rum

     Danish rum brand Skotlander will release a new expression that has been aged inside a music festival stage.  Four ex-Sherry casks containing Skotlander Rum have aged in the canvas of the Orange Stage.   The rum brand partnered with Danish music festival Roskilde to age four barrels of its organic rum inside the canvas from the festival’s Orange Stage.  In summer 2017, as the festival site was being dismantled, Skotlander wrapped four ex-Sherry casks containing rum in the canvas of the Orange Stage, where they were left to mature throughout the winter months.   Due to high humidity in the canvas, the brand hopes for less evaporation, while the higher temperatures inside the canvas may result in “tropic ageing”.  The Orange Stage, which was bought by Roskilde Festival for The Rolling Stones following their 1976 European tour, will host performances from Dua Lipa, Massive Attack and Interpol from 1-7 July.

     Anders Skotlander, the brand’s founder, said: “I am looking forward to unwrapping the barrels and tasting the rum. Maybe we will bottle it at cask strength, we will see.”   The limited edition rum will be served to all 180 artists performing at this year’s festival, including hip-hop group Gorillaz and singer Nick Cave.   Festivalgoers will be able to sample the rum at Skotlander’s Rum Lounge, where three cocktails will be served with the expression.  The remaining bottles will be available following the event through Skotlander’s website.

Caribbean Journal’s America’s Best Rums Awards

1. Siesta Key Rum (Florida) Still the leader, this Sarasota, Fla.-based boutique distillery has grown to become one of America’s most beloved rums, from its traditional spiced to its limited-batch expressions like the brand’s Toasted Coconut. It is as good as spiced or flavored rum gets. Period. (If you need more proof, it even took home the top honors against the best spiced rums in the Caribbean at this year’s Caribbean Rum Awards in Saint Lucia).

2. Papa’s Pilar (Florida) For years, this brand blended a range of rums from around Florida and the Caribbean Basin to make what is a delightful sipping rum — now, though, the Hemingway Rum Company is distilling its own rum at its new factory in Key West, adding an extra dose of authenticity. Either way — this is terrific rum.

3. Richland Rum Single-estate American rum? That’s precisely the result at this Georgia rum plantation, which grows its own cane and distills its rum in a copper pot still. Everything happens on the estate, from farm to glass. The result? A terrific aged rum.

4. Koloa Rum Company (Hawaii) Hawaii has quietly become a powerhouse of rum production, as more and more rum producers continue to pop up across the chain of islands — a part of the world with a long history of sugar production, if not rum production. The standard-bearer for Hawaiian rum has long been Koloa, based in Kauai, which makes a range of rums from white to spiced to flavored to aged — but we’re partial to the classic “dark” rum, which has a wonderful cacao-accented personality.


5. Ko Hana Hawaiian Agricole Rum (Hawaii) Rhum agricole? From America? From Hawaii? Yes, that’s exactly what Ko Hana is making at its Manulele Distillers plant, using locally-grown sugarcane. The result is a range of three rums, a white, a “barrel aged” and a cask-strength, the last of which packs a true punch at between 55 and 63 degrees.

6. Thomas Tew Rums (Rhode Island) Colonial America was a hive of rum activity, so it’s almost essential that an American rum be made in the heart of New England. Enter Thomas Tew, a rum made by Newport Craft Brewing and Distilling. While there are two Thomas Tew rums, an overproof and an aged expression, the three-to-five-years aged single barrel rum is the one to go for – it’s hearty, bold and punchy — it’s what you’d imagine a Rhode Island rum might have tasted like centuries ago.

7. Bayou Rum (Louisiana) Made from local cane and molasses, this Lacassine, Louisiana-based copper-pot-still rum has been steadily growing in popularity (and distribution) over the last few years. While Bayou offers a range of four rums from unaged to three years, the spiced has long been Bayou’s best offering.

8. Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum (Hawaii) If you haven’t guessed already, Hawaiian rum is booming. And former Van Halen front man Sammy Hagar was one of the pioneers of rum in Hawaii with his eponymous Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, a Maui-distilled expression that’s long been a Rum Journal favorite. The catch? You can only buy it in Hawaii.

9. Cane & Abe Rum (Wisconsin) While the state is known for beer, Madison, Wisconsin-based distillery Old Sugar is making a name for itself with its small-batch, oaky rum.

10. Mermaid Rum (Florida) Given its rich sugar-production tradition, it’s no surprise that Florida continues to churn out quality rum distilleries. One of the newest Florida rums to enter the scene is Mermaid Rum, which offers a blend of three-year-old Florida rum and Caribbean rum aged in whisky barrels. The result is, well, a very unique expression.

Read More at https://www.caribjournal.com/2018/07/03/rum-journal-the-best-american-rums-2018/ 

The Latest Bacardi Sound of Rum with Major Lazer

Bacardi's The Sound of Rum With Major Lazer

     On the longest day of the year, Bacardi took over the streets of Chicago for a Caribbean-­inspired outdoor fiesta, featuring a live performance from the band.  In the latest instalment of Bacardi’s Sound of Rum campaign, the brand celebrated the summer solstice alongside dance music trio Major Lazer.   The musical trio performed a set that included Lean On and Know No Better, while partygoers were served Bacardi rum-based cocktails.

     As part of the brand’s music strategy, Bacardi worked with the group to ignite “The Sound of Rum” concept: a conversational movement of sound that blurs lines between reggae, dancehall, soca, hip-hop and electronic music to bring fans of different genres together. With its roots set in Cuba, BACARDÍ is championing this global sound that pays homage to a distinct island vibe with a modern kick – perfectly in line with the spirit and Caribbean origins of Major Lazer.

     “This year for us is all about getting creative,” said DJ and producer Diplo. “We’re down with working with people who want to accelerate what we want to do musically, invest in our ideas, and create cultural moments and memories. BACARDÍ rum has been in the studios with us for ages and is part of the island vibe that inspires our sound, so the partnership comes from a deeper, more meaningful place.”

     Sound of Rum is a collaboration between Bacardi and Major Lazer and is one piece in the brand’s Do What Moves You campaign. The year­-long push aims to inspire consumers to live expressively.

Read More at https://www.bacardilimited.com/bacardi-major-lazer-launch-innovative-sound-rum-concept/

Enjoy a Safe Fourth of July

     Happy Fourth of July, It is the only national holiday that actually is celebrated on the date it was
intended.  We celebrate our independence from England in 1776 and we can say that we have maintained that independence ever since.

     We owe this fact in no small way to the men and women that have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.  It is in no small part due to all the men and women who have served in the military during these years.  Let's make a very special day and enjoy all of the Fourth of July celebrations in a very safe manner.  Enjoy the Freedom.

Remain Vigilant Against Underage Drinking It Is Worth the Rewards

     I found this to be a very encouraging development.  Underage drinking has been a huge problem from my own high school and college days in the 1960’s.   It’s good to see this much progress to curb it.  Way to many of our youth have been hurt physically or wasted their college days drinking instead of studying.

     The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported underage drinking among high school students has dropped to a new historic low, declining 41 percent since the survey began in 1991. Additionally, the percent of teens who reported driving when they had been drinking or riding with a driver who had been drinking also continues to decline.

     While these are very positive trends, parents must remain vigilant against underage drinking, especially during the summer. Research shows that most youth who drink, obtain alcohol from their home or from other adults. Be aware of your teen's activity both inside and outside of the home and make clear that you disapprove of underage drinking.

     Importantly, strive to maintain an open dialogue with your son or daughter. While parents often think their teens are not listening to them, research also shows parents have the greatest influence over their decision regarding alcohol consumption.

Yolo Rum Wins Trademark Battle

     After a five-and-a-half year legal battle, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a trademark for Yolo Rum.   Yolo Rum has been awarded a trademark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The trademark request was first filed in December 2012. At the same time, a number of other companies also filed for an intent to use the Yolo trademark.  Philip Guerin, founder of Yolo Rum, said: “All these applicants created a real ‘log jam’ for our trademark.  “I wish they all had just Googled, Yolo Rum, back then. It could have really prevented wasted resources and time.”

     The Denver-based rum brand is made using aged rums from Panama, which are blended by rum master Don Pancho Fernandez.  Yolo Rum also announced this week that it plans to become the first “democracy-powered” spirit brand.  The rum brand has turned to crowdfunding and is inviting the public to invest through online platform Wefunder to help build the company.  Guerin added: “We have an amazing team and adding hundreds of brand advocates that are vested through ownership is the definition of ‘democracy-powered.'”  The brand hopes the crowdfunding campaign will raise at least US$125,000 to fund expansion and marketing drives.