The Tasting Panel magazine

October 2015

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86  /  the tasting panel  /  october 2015 RUM 'n Stormy and others. More important, however, has been the adoption of a marketing fueled disregard for whether a certain rum, with its unique flavor characteristics, even works in particular style of drink. Enter Rhum Clément, the venerable Martinique producer of agricole-style rhum, rum made from a distillate of fermented fresh-pressed sugarcane juice (as opposed to molasses-based rum distillation), who has drafted what they call The World of Rum, a veritable "rum wheel" that helps define the different styles of rum, placing them into, initially, three categories: Spanish, English and French, based on where they come from and what characteris- tics they project. "The wheel started as an exercise to better understand the spirit as a whole for ourselves," says Benjamin Jones, fourth-generation descendant of Rhum Clément's founder Homère Clément, and U.S.-based Director, North America for the brand, "but as we got deeper into developing it, we realized the World of Rum wheel could also be of significant help to the bartenders we work with, and beyond." The basic premise is simple: use a style of rum for the type of cocktail it was originally created for. For instance, the English style, coming from Caribbean islands of British heritage like Barbados and Jamaica, tends to be bolder, spicier, rich and strong, with those rums lending themselves well to drinks that require a heavier presence from the spirit itself, like Rum and Tonics, Planters Punch and such. The Spanish style, from the Spanish settled islands like Cuba and Puerto Rico, and also Central and South American countries, is softer, sweeter, more buttery and rounded, working well as a base in cocktails requiring mix- ers with stronger flavors in their own right, like Daiquiris, Piña Coladas, etc. With both of the aforementioned styles made from molasses, it's the French style, made from sugarcane pressings grown on the French islands like Guadeloupe, Réunion and, of course, Martinique, that is the unique player in the mix, as its distillate tends to be more terroir-driven, with complex notes of earth giving it the ability to work both with cocktails, like the Ti Punch, or poured neat, even at a young age. So, are other producers and industry influencers jumping on the bandwagon? Yes, for the most part, with some asterisks, of course. Ben Lyons, of Lyon Distilling Company in Maryland, a producer of handcrafted molasses-based rums from U.S.-grown sugarcane, likes it but adds, "when you consider how many people in this country are producing rum, and add to that that the center of rum production for the entire world was once based in New England, I would like to see an American rum category in there." Looking even deeper into it, one can also make the argument for sub-cate- gories within the main styles. Carlos Esquivel, partner in PILSA rums, a Panama-based custom distillation house that is behind some of the most popular premium brands available, including The 86 Co.'s Caña Brava, and the newly released ultra premium Don Pancho Origenes, is quick to point out that even within the Spanish style there are numerous sub-categories. "Whereas Puerto Rican rum has to be aged one year, by law," he says, "Origenes is made in the Cuban style," says Esquivel, "a highly regulated style that requires a minimum of three years aging in order to actually be labeled rum." Jones agrees with all of this. "We really think of this as the start of a conversation, an organic concept, with room for growth and refining of definitions," he says, adding, "even now, we're working on adding another category or two, with American style being one of them." Jones also wants to clarify that unlike WIRSPA, the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers Association, a group of 15 Caribbean rum-producing countries that, in an effort to help identify and market what it calls Authentic Caribbean Rum, has adopted a set of production standards which help define how the product can be made, Clément's The World of Rum concept is not about regulations, but categoriza- tion. "We're not attempting to police the industry," he says, "but help provide a tool to help better understand the world's different rum styles, where they come from, and most importantly, what drinks they should be used for." For more about Rhum Clément and the World of Rum wheel, visit www.rhumclementusa.com. :PHOTO COURTESY OF RHUM CLÉMENT USA A view of the Rhum Clément Distillery.

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