Competition: Rum Renaissance, Miami 2010

[Capn Jimbo]

Yet another, uh, competition...

Oh yes. Yet another "competition", this time by our sorta friends, the Burr Brothers. Sorta 'cause we accept them, but the favor isn't returned - but that's another story. Not bad fellows at all in the world of cut throat rum promoters. But let's get to it...

We long ago stopped attending "competitions". The same distillers attend, the competitions are held in private, the rules or competing rums remain unpublished, the losers remain confidential and no real reviews are posted. The competitions are designed - in my view - to simply reward the distillers who pay, provide product and attend...

So everybody makes money. Simple. Let's parse this event...

Although "100 rums were (allegedly) nominated for awards", the final count, according to an email send post-event stated "80 rums... in 8 categories" were judged in the usual categories: white, gold, dark, aged to 6 yrs, 7-12 yrs, over 12 yrs, flavored/spiced and "rhum agricole".

According to my count 53 of the 80, or two-thirds of the entrants received awards. That's a whole lotta awards if you ask me, or anybody else for that matter. And then there are the typical problems with this sort of corporate shilling.

1. Too many awards. Two-thirds of the rums are awarded.

2. The categories are misleading and cause unlike rums to compete. White/gold/dark are based on color (which are more the result of filtering and/or the addition of caramel). The so-called "aged" categories depend on distiller claims which are often false or misleading, particularly for the alleged older rums (eg Z23, Zafphra 21, et al). The "rhum agricole" category is a fop to the Martinique contingent, forcing other fine cane juice rums like Barbancourt or the mislabeled Ron Viejo de Caldas to compete against molasses rums.

Perhaps the only honest category is "flavored/spiced". Missing from this category are the many rums which are altered with unadmitted additives and artificial flavorings and which incorrectly compete in the non-flavored categories. If honesty were the goal most of the rums competing should have been in the "flavored" group.

As has been recognized by Dave Broom and myself among others is the fact that there are really four or five basic styles of rums. These include Jamaican, Demeraran, Cuban, Cane Juice and in my case, Barbadian. Recently Sue Sea and I have begun to recognize a Dominican style (which features a musty aroma and taste).

To mix these very different styles to compete in terms of simply color or claimed age is just ridiculous. At best this just becomes a contest of what styles different "judges" prefer. At worst it doesn't matter since the whole game is rigged anyway.

The flavored/spiced rums category was particularly humorous. To compare a peanut based cream rum, with an orange, a vanilla, and two spiced rums makes no sense at all. Again, a matter of personal preference among completely different profiles. Laughable, nicht vahr?

There were also some notable aberrations:

1. Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva, Seales 10 Year, Pusser's Blue and Red Labels, and Don Q Gran Anejo are all stunning rums which should dominate any honest competitions. Not one of these world class rums was awarded.

2. Plantation Grand Reserve Barbados as "best of class" in the "aged up to 6 year category" is simply wrong, and is inferior even to the other Barbados' based Plantation rums, eg 1995, 1993, et al. The "7-12 yr. aged" category featured several altered rums better placed in the flavored/spiced group. For Bacardi 8 Year to win Gold is yet another surprise (especially considering the competition).

3. The made up "dark" category apparently had few entries, and was won by Bacardi Select. Meaningless. The "gold" category was led by the hollow Tommy Bahama, rather than the more balanced Flor de Cana 4 Year or Cruzan Gold.

4. The "rhum agricole" class excluded Barbancourt and Ron Viejo de Caldas. The world class Barbancourt Five Star was not even entered. Considering the recent Haitian earthquake tragedy - and the fact that many of the lovely (and affected) people cleaning the rooms and serving the attendees are from Haiti - this omission was in particulary poor taste. Shame! Most businesses in Florida, including mine, continue to support Haiti and its rebuilding.

I could go on, but boring repetition serves none of us.

All in all, a typical and relatively meaningless "competition" based on inappropriate and incomparable categories, miscategorization, and too freely given, excessive awards. Sadly, this is all too true of all the commercial faux competitions. And let's not forget that the judges too are mostly commercial bedmates in the business.

The "results" are proof enough. Such is life. I can't wait to see these faux awards appear in the distiller ads and claims sure to follow. But let me be fair.

The fun and spectacle aspects of this event are without equal. For those who don't give a whit about its obvious commercialism, it's hard to beat this rum themed festival held in our fabulous sub-tropical environment of Miami - the gateway to the Caribbean and South America. The water, beaches, architecture, vegetation, music and people are simply without equal.

Our sincere congratulations to the fabulous Burr Brothers...

[JaRiMi]

One must love these "competitions" where no one apart from organizers know which rums participated, which rums placed how, what actually won (often even judges get to know the winners only much later - which of course opens up questions of possible tampering with results of voting, in case the votes aren't "right").

Categories should be re-thought, openness introduced to scoring, results and placings, participants, etc etc.

The sheer amount of alcohol to judge is often overwhelming, and after the umpteenth round one's palate is no longer working.

At the end of the day, too many such competitions serve no purpose really.

[RT]

Too much rum?
That's news to me...
Too much rum?
Well there must be
A whole lotta things
I ain't never done,
But I ain't never had
TOO MUCH RUM!

Apologies to the Commander