Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7240
march 2010 / the tasting panel / 81 CATEGORY REPORT From Rio with Love AS CACHAÇA SAMBAS, LEBLON LEADS THE DANCE Legalize Cachaça! Leblon has initiated a Legalize Cachaça peti- tion movement designed to help convince the U.S. government to give cachaça its own appella- tion and product category, and to remove the term "Brazilian rum" from labels. Currently, a resolu- tion to this effect is await- ing the signature of the Secretary of Tax Affairs. After a 60 day public com- ment period—and after all comments, including the Legalize Cachaça petition signatures, are evaluated by the TTB—the resolu- tion can be made into law. To sign the Legalize Cachaça petition online, go to www.legalizecachaça. W ith a category as hot as cachaça, competition is heating up as well. Standing out from the pack, Leblon is one of the category's superstars. Founder Steve Luttmann is a spirits industry veteran who created and launched Grand Mar- nier's Navan liqueur for Moët-Hen- nessy. Luttmann lived in Brazil in the 1990s and "married into the culture," taking a Brazilian wife. Spending long weekends in Rio, he became curious about Brazil's national spirit. "I just couldn't believe that nobody in the States knew what cachaça was," Luttmann recalls. Along with his father- in-law, Roberto Stoll Nogueira, and business partner Gerard Schweitzer, he decided to create a brand destined for connoisseurs, not just in the States, but worldwide. They named it Leblon, after the upscale beach in Rio. Looking for "someone very creative and scientifi cally adept" to make Leb- lon, he found just the ticket in Mas- ter Distiller Gilles Merlet, whom he tracked down in Cognac, where Merlet has his own label and also produces eaux-de-vie for well-know cognac houses. "When he came to Brazil, Gilles realized that 80 percent of cachaça production was identi- cal to eau-de-vie production in Cognac," notes Luttmann, "and he set about teaching himself the other 20 percent." After purchasing an existing distillery in Minas Gerais, the sugarcane heartland, they began production in the facility's tradition- al copper alambique stills—an arti- sanal approach that set Leblon apart from the industrially-distilled cachaça prevalent in Brazil. Since Leblon's launch in 2005, case sales have grown nearly 3,000 percent; the brand is now in 50 states, as well as Brazil, Europe and even Asia. Con- sumer education is part of Luttmann's ongoing job. "We're working hard to make sure that people are educated about why cachaça is important," says the founder. But that doesn't mean education can't be fun. In a stroke of marketing genius, Luttmann created the Leblon Caipirinha Truck, a lime- green mobile bar that brings Leblon cocktails to outdoor venues on both the East and West Coasts. In addi- tion, look for Leblon's "Caipi Hours" promotion in major markets across the country this year, with participation by top mixological talent. Hot category, artisanal product, hands-on brand education, eager industry involvement. We call that a recipe for success. —David Gadd SRP $27; www.lebloncachaca.com ter Distiller Gilles Merlet, whom he tracked down in Cognac, where Merlet has his own label and also produces eaux-de-vie for well-know cognac houses. "When he came to Brazil, Gilles realized that 80 percent of cachaça production was identi- cal to eau-de-vie production in Cognac," notes Luttmann, "and he set about teaching himself the other 20 percent." After purchasing an existing distillery in Minas Gerais, the sugarcane heartland, they began production in the facility's tradition- al copper alambique stills—an arti- sanal approach that set Leblon apart Leblon founder Steve Luttmann on Leblon Beach in Rio de Janeiro.