Caught in the cookie jar Dept: Flor de Cana?

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 2:28 pm

Flor de Cana has removed a word from their labels...

The word? "Years".

I have some nice older bottles labeled in years: the 4-5-7-12 and "18 YEAR" rums. Although I tend to believe the younger ages (say up to "7 year") you tend to wonder about the older ones, as all statements of age are completely unsupervised. There is no bonding whatsoever; thus we are forced to trust the distiller's word. Now since Flor de Cana adds minimal amounts of sugar (mostly in the 18.), I tend to believe that their age claims are probably - probably - believable.

No more. Why?

Simple. They have now removed the word "years" from every label of these rums; instead the rums are now labeled with just the number alone, eg "Flor de Cana 7". Now because they always used to label their rums "4-5-7-12-18 years", the change - removing the word "years" - to "4-5-7-12-18" is specific, knowing and in the world of parse-worthy marketing, very - very - very important.

Trust me: if their newly relabeled rum was really seven years old, you can be sure they'd label it in the manner of their old bottles, ie "7 years". This means two things to me: first, that the old labels were probably correct; and second, that the age has changed. Most knowledgeable afficianados will likely believe the new "Flor de Cana 7" (not years) is now probably younger, or at the least blended with some components less than seven years old. The number "7" alone is meaningless, and is the equivalent of "NAS".

Agree?

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http://flordecana.com/eng/lista_productos.php?id=5

AK9 · Post by **AK9** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 3:51 pm

Has the demand for rum increased lately?
If yes, then they are following the footsteps of whisky with NAS releases.

cyril · Post by **cyril** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 3:17 pm

a friend from a wine shop told me the same few weeks ago, the new packaging is blur and i agree with the fact they now may produce younger rums under their 'numbers'. why, if not

marketing will kill us all

Dai · Post by **Dai** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:05 pm

Correct I can't detect the word years on my bottle or box of the 18 I bought two months ago in Amsterdam airport.

JaRiMi · Post by **JaRiMi** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 2:54 am

Another Hispanic rum where age statements have been nonsense most likely. Well, hard to prove but the taste has never matched the age I felt...Of course, just a personal observation.

The Fat Rum Pirate · Post by **The Fat Rum Pirate** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:37 pm

From my experience I found the Flor De Cana 7 to be very much worth the price paid and the 12 not so.

In fact I found the 7 better. It's long been known that putting a number on a spirits bottle will confuse and automatically make people assume the liquid inside is aged that long.

There's nothing new here.

If I pay a certain price for a rum then I expect a certain standard. If it slips below that then no amount of marketing shenanigans will affect that. I don't automatically assume that older is better. Those that do are a marketers wet dream......

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:25 pm

I too prefer the old "7 year" (in comparison to the twelve). In fact, the 5, 7, 12 and 18 were compared and some interesting observations were made, namely that at that time Sue Sea and I both felt that there were two different blends going (not just one distillate aged for differing years).

Unfortunately, it now appears that the label change may well mean that each of these rums may now contain some rums younger than the number stated. If so, their hope is that old customers won't notice, and that new customers will assume the number means years, as noted by the Pirate.

The honest thing to do would be to create entirely new, names indicating an honest NAS product, eg: Clasico Blanco, Clasico Gold, Anejo, Extra Anejo, Gran Anejo, and Gran Anejo Exclusiva or the like (all of which would imply additional age, but in a transparent and honest fashion).

Next up... does anyone have both an old label (using "years") and a new version for a comparison?

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:42 pm

How their "numbers only" rums are now described:

The 25: "... an ultra-premium rum, an exciting addition to the brand’s Centenario Collection, features unique packaging."

The 18: "The Centenario 18 is almost two decades in the making".

The 12: "...winner of 13 International Awards, the Centenario 12 is history in the making."

The 7: not a word even implying aging.

The 5: not a word.

The 4: nada.

So do they say anything at all about "aging"?

Yes, as before in their marketing drivel about what they have always called their unique "Slow Aged" process, in section kept completely separate from the rums, to wit:

"The term Slow-Aged™ characterizes the natural, undisturbed aging process used to produce all Flor de Caña rums. The natural temperature, ventilation and duration of the aging process of Flor de Caña ensures that no excessive flavors or aromas are added to the final product. Flor de Caña utilizes natural ingredients and the spirit is slowly aged for years in charred, white oak barrels previously used to mature American bourbon whiskies."

To which they slip this in...

"Each bottle of Flor de Caña contains a unique selection of aged rums. Younger, more robust rums and older, more delicate rums are blended to achieve a complex and exceptionally smooth taste profile."

So who really noticed?

Not very many. I sure didn't, but then again, I still had the old ones (change seems to have been in late 2013). One national retailer shows a new label bottle "5" (the old "Black Label, 5 years"), and still calls it "five years old" in the sales copy. To his credit the Wolf not only noted it, but also wrote FdC:

"Note: According to my correspondence with the distillery, All the Flor de Caña Rums have maintained the same formula as used in the past. The company has made changes to the image and presentation, but have not made any changes to their rum’s flavour profiles."

He trusts the company. I don't and why? The word "years" is positive, standard and very easily included on the label. Somehow they decided to replace the word "years" with "Slow Aged"? C'mon, already. To his credit, the Wolf too expressed his concerns, and noted that he's lowered his scores from "97" to "93" and now down to "90" for the new label.

AK9 speculated the reason might be increased sales and pressure on their stocks. Turns out he's right as Spirits Business reported double digit growth for the brand. Another big name falls...

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http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/flor+ ... +nicaragua
http://therumhowlerblog.com/rum-reviews ... r-old-rum/
http://therumhowlerblog.com/rum-reviews ... ario-12-2/
http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2013/ ... a-bottles/

schlimmerdurst · Post by **schlimmerdurst** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:39 am

There's a German article (sadly only behind a Paywall) in the German magazine "Mixology" on Flor de Caña and its production practices.

The gist of the story: Flor de Caña produces its rum under horrible conditions, including the heavy usage of pesticides that cause sickness in the local workers.

The German article is based on Bobby Heugel's boycott on this rum, and this article:

https://munchies.vice.com/articles/the- ... raguas-rum

Rum may be the devil's spirit, indeed.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:50 am

S...

An excellent link and article. Another issue is that the workers are suffering from kidney issues related to long hours and dehydration in the fields. We should never forget the history of rum is steeped in the blood of slaves, and apparently things aren't all that much better...

Guevara88 · Post by **Guevara88** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:45 pm

I have the impression that many rums which stop to show definite age numbers do so due to market pressure. At least for the 7 years/7 I can confirm the two bottles I have taste exactly alike. Or to be more precise: they taste exactly alike at the moment.

Without years it is a lot easier to adjust production to changing market situations while maintaining the product image/labeling.

The Black Tot · Post by **The Black Tot** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 5:35 am

Hi Guevara,

That's how they get us - they keep it tasting the same for a long time until we forget it had the 'yrs' statement, then they divert the good barrels, the "flavoring rum", into an ultra premium that we've got to pay through the nose to taste.

They've got plenty of freedom to manage the blend of a 7yr rum. They can use all the 8yr, 10yr, and 20+ yr they want in there!!!

Plus, are we expected to believe that they've been managing the flavor profile of the 7yr for decades and decades, but suddenly in 2015/16 this is no longer possible? They've got plenty of experience managing the profile - they don't need this freedom to do that.

Welcome to the project, btw!