As some of you know, Sue Sea and I long ago became huge fans of Richard Seale based on our first memorable meeting and subsequent communications. At one of the Burr Bros' rum tastings, Richard was the star guest, allegedly to present a new rum.
At this announcement, the room went electric!
Out of an unlabeled bottle he proceeded to pour samples for the room and proposed a contest. He would ask three questions, and the winner would receive a then hard-to-find bottle of Seales Ten Year. First, was it cane juice or molasses rum? Most thought molasses. Second, was it continuous or pot stilled? Most said pot. And last, how old? The average guess was 7 years.
Nobody won.
Richard then revealed that he'd phonied up a brand new, continuous light rum to taste like a fine aged pot-stilled rum. We'd all been had, and had but good! His point: most rums contain unlabeled additives intended to alter and flavor a cheaper product to taste better. He then stressed Seales' commitment to purity in production and honesty in labeling - honest age, no additives.
This was our introduction to the issue of alteration of rum.
Recently I dropped a note to Bristol Spirits asking about their position on additives and labeling. Their answer:
Impressive! And to be honest this was what I'd hoped for. Similar mails sent to US distillers and importers are either ignored, or provide evasive answers. No surprise here. A few minor clarifications are in order:1. For Rum in the EU, no additives except E150 colouring is permitted so as to comply with the EU Rum definition.
2. For the US 'blenders' of up to 2% are legally allowed to alter flavour/style etc. I believe these should be included on the labeling in some form.
3. We use no additives except for E150 for some of our young less expensive rums. Where stocks have been pre-coloured we note this on back labels.
1. Both the US and EU specify E150a - spirit (coloring) caramel. Coloring caramel is bitter and is needed only in the very tiniest quantities for color adjustment (typically about 0.01%).
2. The 2% mentioned refers to the US additives rule, actually 2.5%. This rule is widely abused or minimally enforced. Flavorings are often snuck in and are not labeled.
Once again, kudos to Richard Seale and to Bristol Spirits. And to the growing number of rum afficianados who really do want rum to be a pure and noble spirit...
