Enduring spirit
If you still think that rum is dark and is drunk by the tot by sailors, or that it is white and mixes well with Coke, then you are sadly out of date. The emergence of rum as a high-quality spirit is the biggest spirits story of the past two years. At last, rum is being recognised not just as a great mixer with fruit juice but also as a spirit to sip. Its palette of aromas and flavours is every bit as complex as those of Armagnac, Cognac or malt whisky - and it has a similarly long heritage.
The recently opened Asia de Cuba restaurant, in the St Martin's Lane hotel, London, lists an extraordinary total of 140 rums from 24 countries - not just the Caribbean but also Australia, Austria and Tahiti. "We have all 140 displayed in the bar area, where people sit before their meal," says beverage manager Jean-Marc Heurliäre. "This helps to build interest."
This remarkable list was put together by Barry Skarin, the group's food and beverage director for Europe, with the help of Martina Hiss, of the Light Bar, and Heurliäre.
The Che bar and restaurant in nearby St James's has 40 rums listed, from Myers at £4.50 a shot to Bally 1929 at £100. These two examples alone could be dismissed as fashionable exceptions, but the growing awareness of rum is wider than that. John Barrett, managing director of Bristol Spirits, and one of the country's leading importers of rum, reports that his firm's imports have increased by 250% over the past 18 months, although this includes rum re-exported to Europe - the growing interest in rum is clearly not confined to the UK.
"The interest is wider than fashionable London," says Barrett. "Recently, I was in Shampers in St Mary Street, Cardiff, and as well as 11 vintages of Hine Cognac, they had eight or nine different rums on the bar shelf at eye level." Certainly, this was not a case of bottles gathering dust on the top shelf.
The growing sector is for aged, golden, sipping rums with a definite provenance. "Our rum business has tripled or quadrupled over the past year," says Neill Mathieson, managing director of spirits importer Eaux de Vie. "We used to add a few cases of rum to an order; now it's by the pallet." Eaux de Vie carries the vintage rums of J Bally, cane sugar rums produced in Martinique and distilled in a continuous-column still.
There are a number of reasons for rum's popularity. First, Cuba has become a modish holiday destination. Second, there is the boom in Cuban music that was triggered by US guitarist and composer Ry Cooder when he rediscovered and recorded with a number of senior but still talented Cuban musicians. The various recordings featuring Rubén Gonz lez, Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo, who are all well into their 70s or older, have fuelled interest in all things Cuban - and this naturally includes Cuban rum.
"People are becoming more educated about what they drink," says Neil Millington, the cigar lounge manager at Che. "They have explored Cognac, Armagnac and malt whiskies and they are looking for something new. Rum is really the only other quality spirit to discover. After all, its heritage is older than Cognac."
The end of the whisky trail
Barrett says: "People have more money to spend. They have been through the malt whisky trail and they are looking for individual spirits. With rum, you can island-hop round the Caribbean. But there is no doubt that the interest in different rums has grown out of the work done on malt whiskies."
He also cites the cigar craze as a big factor. "It has been driven by cigars," he says. "It is a much more natural match than Cognac; rum has that sweetness that goes with the slight sweetness of cigars."
Millington agrees and says that, as rum is smoother than Cognac or Armagnac, it can be drunk as an aperitif or during the afternoon, especially if you are smoking a cigar. "Rum's smoothness means that you don't need a meal," he says, "whereas you need to sip Armagnac or Cognac on a full stomach."
There is no doubt that the wide geographical spread of rum is a big plus point. There are plenty of opportunities for restaurants and bars to use "rum trails" to create interest, in exactly the same way as people have explored Scotland, and the differing flavours of malts, without leaving their bar stools.
The long heritage of rum is another point in its favour. Last October I visited Wray & Nephew's Appleton Estate in Jamaica. This year marks the 4,614-hectare estate's 250th anniversary. Its range includes a fine 21-year-old, and a commemorative anniversary bottling is due to be launched this year.
Other companies, such as Demerara Distillers in Guyana, founded some 300 years ago, have long histories even if they cannot point to long ownership of a particular estate. Market leader Bacardi was founded in 1862 and Havana Club in 1878.
"Among the best sellers at Asia de Cuba are Appleton Special, Appleton 12-year-old and its white rum, for cocktails," says Heurliäre. Also selling well are the Matsulem 15-year-old from Cuba and Havana Club's seven-year-old. The best sellers at Che are the Havana Club 15-year-old, at £45 for a double measure, and the Matsulem 15-year-old, which is more affordable at £6.50. Millington's three favourite rums are the Havana Club 15-year-old, the El Dorado 15-year-old (from Guyana) and the Matsulem 15-year-old, which must come from Florida as Che cannot source it from Cuba, where the distillery was founded. Heurliäre prefers rums from Martinique, especially Bally and Clement, and the unusual Tamure Vanilla Rum from Tahiti.
It is not just the small specialist rum companies that are taking notice of the increased demand and expanding their ranges. Bacardi, the biggest brand in the world, has launched its eight-year-old rum on the domestic market, having first tried it out in duty-free. "It would be surprising if a company like Bacardi didn't have, say, a 10-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old in their locker ready to release," Barrett suggests.
Last summer, in Dallas, Seagram launched a range of super-premium rums called the Rare Rums of the Caribbean Collection. These are RL Searle from Barbados, Diplomatico from Venezuela, Gran Blason from Costa Rica, and Legend from Myers in Jamaica. It is not clear if or when they will be available in the UK, but their appearance shows that the multinationals are taking rum seriously. It will be surprising if Seagram does not roll out some premium rums in the UK soon.
It seems unlikely that golden sipping rums are just a passing fashion. "Of course," says Millington, "fashion will move on, but rum will not fade away because the quality is there."
Barrett admits that "we are still in the early stages", but it's definitely time for a look. n
