Spicing: Cruzan "9" Speaks! Kind of.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:30 am

I've got to give Cruzan credit. Kind of.

Recently Sue Sea and I had the opportunity to taste "The Lash". As is now our way, we like to have a comparison nearby, and I just happened to find a bottle of Cruzan "9" on promo for just $3. A no-brainer. Details of this tasting/review is here.

It didn't go all that well, and of course I am always a bit skeptical of claims like "nine heirloom spices". So I whipped off an email to Cruzan, and to my great surprise, and after only one follow-up, got this reply:

Me: Are the spices named real and authentic (from nature) spices? Are any artificial in any way, ie created by man to simulate nature's spices grown in the soil?

Cruzan: "Yes, the 9 spices used in Cruzan 9 all authentic and all natural."

Me: In particular is real vanilla, from vanilla beans, used, or do you use artificial vanilla or vanillans (as most rum distillers do)?

Cruzan: "The vanilla used in Cruzan 9 is Madagascar Vanilla (also known as Bourbon (pronounced bore-bone) Vanilla."

Wow, was I impressed! A fast and actually reassuring answer. Well, almost. You see, I am also aware - thanks to The Lash - that the industry lobbyists have earned their pay by causing the regulations to tweaked - such that "natural" may not, in fact, be the "natural" us ordinary mortals have in mind.

So, taking advantage of their quickness and our communication, I quickly emailed the following, just to make sure...

Me: "Can you be more clear, as the terms "authentic" and "all natural" have different legal and common meanings. So I would ask:

Are the flavors you use extracted directly from various fruits, plants and spices from nature? Or do you use the more typical "natural liquid flavors" which contain from 2 to many ingredients like solvents, natural aroma compounds, extracts, processed flavors and the like?"

After three responsive replies from them - a sudden silence. Crickets chirping in the quiet night. Have I gotten my answer? Lest I be unfair, I'm emailing one more time - as I did before - to be sure.

Sure.

*******

Note: "Natural" (vs "artificial" flavor) is way, way overstated. As made clear in an article "Flavoring or Not?" in the Up Spirits Section, flavoring is a multibillion dollar industry. Highly paid "flavorists" - con-concoction artists - aim not to duplicate, but simply to suggest nature's flavors (which really are composed of hundreds of components) by extracting just one or two ("natural") compounds, or by synthesizing them ("artificial"). Then they add from two to a hundred other chemical compounds to create potent, but inaccurate cheap "flavorings".

It's all such a con-coction job. The only real and pure flavors are extracts or the actual spices - very, very expensive and almost never used. Exceptions: Foursquare, Pango, Old Monk, The Lash.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:00 pm

Cruzan answers. Sort of.

Please recall that when I first wrote Cruzan about the authenticity of their "heirloom spices" their answer seemed clear. Yes, they said, our spices are both "natural" and "authentic".

Unfortunately, there's a big difference between what you or I think is "natural" and what the industry lobbied regulations call "natural". So I asked for the following clarification:

Me: "Can you be more clear, as the terms "authentic" and "all natural" have different legal and common meanings. So I would ask:

Are the flavors you use extracted directly from various fruits, plants and spices from nature? Or do you use the more typical "natural liquid flavors" which contain from 2 to many ingredients like solvents, natural aroma compounds, extracts, processed flavors and the like?"

This is really a pretty simple question. Are their spices extracted or directly from nature (costly), or do they use what the regs call "natural liquid flavors" - where perhaps one compound is extracted, then mixed with from 2 to 100 other chemicals (cheap).

Not hard to ask, not hard to answer. After a very long delay, Cruzan finally got back to me:

Cruzan: "To help clarify the all natural statement, I do know that the natural flavoring ingredients in Cruzan 9 Spice Rum meet the definition of natural flavors and extracts as defined by TTB. As I’m not familiar with the further specifics or details on the guidelines, I encourage you to contact the TTB for more info."

Allow me to interpret. In other words "...we're not telling, but we do meet the regulations as defined by the TTB." This of course is a complete evasion, which to me means this...

They use "natural liquid flavors". How do I know that?

Simple. If they used expensive actual spices or extracts (like The Lash), they'd be shouting it from the rooftops, as doing so would be a tremendous sales point. By evading, the answer is clear conclusion: they must be using relatively cheap "natural liquid flavorings". Cruzan ended their non-answer by opting out and directing me contact the TTB if I had any more questions.

Exit... stage right.