Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/326040
june 2014 / the tasting panel / 79 Modern Mythbuster: Selvarey Rum "We knew if we could create the highest quality white and flavored rums—spirits that were good enough to sip like a Scotch, bourbon or tequila—we had a chance to change the perception of rum as a whole." When Seth Gold and the other three founders of Selvarey Rum got together three years ago and started their journey, this was their goal. "My brother-in-law, Robert, and I were exploring spirits and craft cocktails, often becoming discouraged by the lack of good white and flavored rum options for sipping and mixing," explains Gold. "My brother, Marc, was living between Central America and South America for nearly a decade and was exposed to the almost sacred place that high-end rum holds in society there. Meanwhile, musician Bruno Mars, having grown up in Hawaii with parents from Puerto Rico and the Philippines, had been a rum drinker his whole adult life, but began coming to the same conclusions we were." The four banded together and created Selvarey White, a blend of three- and five-year rums aged in American oak, and Selvarey Cacao, a five-year aged rum infused with natural chocolate. They not only achieved their goal of creating sipping rums, but also added some innovation to the category with their Cacao: "To our knowledge, there's really nothing at all like it on the market," says Gold. As for the future of Selvarey, Gold says, "There are so many myths about rum that need to be busted. Hopefully, over time, we can improve the image of rum and educate people about what an incredible, versatile and delicious spirit it is." www.selvarey.com PACIFIC PLATE SPIRITS LLC Eco-Chic Sipper: Batiste Rhum During travels in the French Caribbean, Tristan Mermin discovered a chance to pursue an evolution in the making and marketing of rum. Beginning with the food grade non-GMO sugarcane of Marie Galante, the juice is distilled in an eco-positive, state-of-the-art, solar-powered distill- ery. The distillate is then shipped to California for proofing, polishing and packaging. The combination of materials, equipment and techniques allow for Batiste Rhum to be one of the modern innovators in the making of rum. When asked what drew him to pursue the Batiste Rhum project, Mermin shared, "I saw an opportunity to create a spirit that was delicious, eco-positive, scalable and with a great story. In the world of rum, there is so much history and traditional methods that the market is begging for something new and worth- while. Our team really believes that Batiste Rhum will change how people perceive rum. " Mermin opined that fresh non-GMO sugarcane is the ideal product for making an environmentally sustainable rhum agricole. He explains, "It's a perennial—it keeps growing, so we don't have to burn fields, till and replant. In doing so, the cane acts as a carbon dioxide sink leaving the acquired carbon in the ground. " Mermin also explains that finishing the product in California is beneficial to the brand: "There is a long tradition of shipping tropical goods to California for improvement," he says. "Coffee and chocolate are two examples that everyone knows. California, especially here in the San Francisco Bay Area, is one of the global epicenters for food innovations and there is so much great equipment and expertise here that it seems natural to bring our rhum agricole distillate here and hone it so that we end up with something excellent—something special for spirit and rum lovers alike." www.batisterhum.com ST. BARTS SPIRIT COMPANY Seth Gold. Tristan Mermin. TP0614_072-101.indd 79 5/23/14 9:37 PM