Shillery Spew Dept: the Preacher steps in it...

This is the main discussion section. Grab yer cups! All hands on deck!
Post Reply
User avatar
Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
Posts: 3550
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
Contact:

Shillery Spew Dept: the Preacher steps in it...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

A few relevant excerpts...


...that confirm our long held belief that the perfect storm of the massive multi-billion dollar subsidies, along with a Big Finance driven obliteration of the world economy would lead to two classes of rum: first, made-up shite for the unwashed 99% masses, the hoipolloi and second, "premiumized: shite (which is really lesser stuff gussied up and tweaked to the max). As (bad) luck would have it, a couple quotes from the Preacher:
Quoting CNBC (circa 2008, year of the meltdown):

"According to statistics compiled by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the fastest-growing segment of the $2.1 billion rum category is the small sliver that accounts for its superpremium brands. Loosely speaking, rums in this group are priced above $25 for a 750 millileter bottle. In 2007, this segment saw its volume grow by 43% to 220,000 cases....

...But there are other factors that are also helping. One example has been events where cigars are paired with high-quality, aged sipping rums such as Ron Zacapa Centenario, Appleton Estate Extra, and Mount Gay Extra Old Rum...

...Another is an increased knowledge about the history of the cocktail and a desire to try more traditional drinks. With its long history in American cocktails, rum is likely to benefit...

...He cautioned against expecting a sudden "boom" to happen because with rum so much is about taste and it will take some time for the products to gain a loyal following. This is different from vodka, which can be hard to distinguish by taste, and may have more to gain from a fancy bottle or a captivating backstory."
Mind you, this was from 2008, but how much came true? Most of it. Now for a much more current slip of the platinum tongue:

Hamilton (speaking about evaporation of rum open to air):

"A lot of factors affect how quickly these light alcohols will evaporate from an open bottle or glass with temperature being near the top of the list. Other factors include other additives that change the surface tension of the liquid which will slow down the natural evaporation of these alcohols.

WTF! Is this a clear admission of adulteration with additives? You, uh, decide...


Flat Ass Bottom Line

It is absolutely true that we now live in a class warfare driven separation of products. Mildly (cheaply) altered shite for the masses, and seriously altered (mostly sugared) shite for the deep pocketed. The one thing these prognostibaters missed: the outing of rogue rum for massive sugaring (and this doesn't even count or address flavoring, to wit:
The Cocktail Wonk, re a Seales presentation:

"Richard contends (and I agree) that there are artisanal rums being produced that are on equal footing with premium spirits like single malt scotch, but that rum as a category is held back by useless categorizations (e.g. “white”, “gold” and “dark,”) as well as shenanigans by the big players, including unlabeled additives.

At the start of Richard’s session, each attendee was given four unlabeled rum samples with obviously different coloring. Our task was to identify each sample – they all tasted nice enough, but were quite different from each other. The trick was on us however, as Richard revealed they were all the same rum, but with different flavorings added. Even the experts are fooled by this sort of chicanery."
The good news: nearly half of the rum tests show little if any sugaring (though false flavoring like Matusalem's use of prune and vanilla extract) is used or abuse. The bad: almost all of the premiumized rums are LACED with sugar, as the industry has worked hard to equate premium with super sweet, thick, rich and syrupy.

In sum though: the truth is winning. I would point out that those who fight for transparency do so out of love and respect, the same kind that has been well earned by whisky and bourbon (but is also under just a bit of threat).




*******
http://ministryofrum.com/forums/showthr ... #post54872
http://ministryofrum.com/forums/showthr ... 9a1b&t=791
http://www.cocktailwonk.com/2015/04/rum ... fragment_=#!
Post Reply