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The Big Switch At Captain Morgan

For years, Captain Morgan rum has been produced at the Distileria Serralles (DonQ Rum) distillery in Puerto Rico. Production is moving in 2012 to a new distillery St. Croix owned by Diageo. This makes a huge difference in revenues to Puerto Rico and St. Croix.

I'll explain it as I understand the situation, and if your understanding is better/different I hope you will correct me in the comments.

The US government has a tax rebate plan to bring revenue to US territories based on a business incentive. All of the rum sold in the US is taxed (no matter where it is from) and that tax goes back to the US territories to the countries at the ratio in which it is produced in those countries. So if Puerto Rico produces 50% of the rum sold in the US and St. Croix produces 30%, then not only do these territories receive a tax rebate from the rum they've sold to the US, they also get an additional 50 or 30 percent of the tax from other rums sold in the US.

The program has been in place for many years. The reasoning for it is explained well here.

Because of this plan and the volume of rum produced in these territories, the tax incentives are very important to the territories. Thus, the territories provide incentives to the distilleries that make the rum to encourage them to stay there. Previously Puerto Rico had provided something like five percent of the returned tax to the company to provide incentive for them to stay there. Then St. Croix got the clever idea that in order to entice Captain Morgan to be produced there, they would give them something in excess of 40 percent of the taxes back as an incentive to relocate there. For them, it was all new money.

For Puerto Rico (and for the Serralles distillery), this represents a huge loss in income and employment. For St. Croix, it represents a large increase. For the American taxpayer, it represents a disgusting increase in corporate welfare. Diageo profits in the billions even without the incentive, but you can hardly blame them for taking it.

Now other companies have demanded to be reimbursed in the same amount as Captain Morgan from their governments with the threat of relocating (and got it).  I would imagine that soon all American territory distilleries will get the same ridiculous 40 percent rate.

Some proposed solutions to the problem were to cap the amount that could be given back to these companies at a certain percent, or to have the revenue be divided by the population of the territories rather than the proportion of rum produced in them. So far these measures have failed. I would guess that when all the distilleries are receiving a forty percent rebate that congress willl get wind of the amount of corporate welfare and the whole program will be scrapped as a cost-savings maneuver. And then the US territories would lose 100% of their money that could have gone for roads and schools and health care for their citizens as it was intended.

 

DonQ Rum Visit to Puerto Rico

This summer I visited the Destileria Serralles Puerto Rico, the home of DonQ Rum.

DonQ is distilled in the southern part of Puerto Rico, in Ponce. The distillery has been on the same site since 1865. As with most rum distilleries, it was once the site of a sugar refinery and the distillery was a small part of the overall operation. Puerto Rico stopped producing sugar in the 1980s and the distillery became the important business.

As with distilleries in the United States, during Prohibition Destileria Serralles was closed. After Prohibition ended, they rebuilt the distillery, this time with column stills to replace the previous pot stills. One of those distillation columns from 1934 is still in use today.

Making Rum

The molasses for DonQ is purchased on the open market; the low-sugar stuff from the Dominican Republic or thereabouts, and the high-test sugar-rich stuff from Gautemala. (I learned only recently that with improving technology and higher prices for sugar, they are stripping more sugar out of molasses so they need to suplement lower-quality molasses with special high-sugar stuff so that there is enough sugar in the liquid to ferment.)

The molasses is shipped into the port of Ponce and then transported to the distillery, where it is pasteurized to prevent any spontaneous fermentation.

It is then fermented in stainless steel fermenters with their own strain of yeast until it reaches 8-10 percent alcohol by volume. They distill two rums that are later blended; a "light" and "heavy" version. The lighter version ferments for a lesser time than the heavy.

The heavy rum is distilled in the original beer column (the first column of a multi-column still) from 1934. It looks just as old as it is. 

The light rum is distilled in the newer, multi-column stills.

After distillation, the rum is aged. The barrels used at DonQ are used twice before they buy them: the first time by the bourbon industry (as with most rums, tequilas, and scotch because barrels can only be used ounce for bourbon by law), but also another time for "light whiskey" which I take to mean blended whiskey like Seagram's.

Thus there should be less wood influence from these barrels than on other products. Furthermore, they reuse them about 20 times and never rechar them.

The rums are aged at a few different proofs, aged separately as light or heavy-style rums, and some is aged as a "medium" rum; a blend of the two. There are also some solera-aged rums in ex-sherry barrels, which are added to some of the blends.

Sustainability Practices

Roberto Serralles is a sixth-gernation Serralles family member who holds a PhD in environmental sciences. He is responsible for making this distillery more eco-friendly with the goal of making it waste-free. If given the chance to see him speak, I highly recommend it because he is engaging, authentic, enthusiastic, and making a real difference. Some of the innovations he has helped develop are already being copied by other distilleries. 

The DonQ website has a great overview of the sustainability practices in place, though from what we learned on-site many of these are evolving from how they are described there.

The carbon dioxide released during the fermentation process used to be captured and sold to use to carbonate sodas, but a change in legal regulations has made this undoable in the short term.

The distilled molasses "beer" is only 8-10 percent alcohol, then is distilled up to 75 - 90 percent. That leaves a lot of excess water with organic material leftover - during the height of their production 350,000 gallons of wastewater per day. 

The goal is to separate out the organic matter from the water so that you can reuse the water. First they use anaerobic digesters, in which bacteria eat the organic matter and release biogass. (I want to write a book about distillery waste and call it "Everybody Farts".) This biogass is burned to produce heat at the distillery and reduces the distillery's oil consumption by about 50 percent.

The next stage is aerobic decomposition, which further reduces the organic matter and produces brownish water. They used water this for irrigation, but as I understand it the water isn't ideal, so they are replacing this system with a new membrane filtration system that Roberto Serralles was pretty proud of.

That and other systems are in development, but some of the development has been delayed due to a significant business change. You'll learn why in tomorrow's post.

A Monk Walks Into a Coconut Grove

Hey, here's another drink recipe. This one comes from Chicago's Charles Joly and it inspired me to finally crack open a bottle of coconut flavored rum; an accomplishment on its own. 

It contains DonQ coconut rum, Benedictine, lemon and orange juices and ginger beer. 

As I say over at the post on FineCooking.com, watch the sweetness on this one and use a spicy ginger beer if you can find it. 

The Rum Ramos

The cocktail that helped bartender Marc Bonneton win the Bacardi Global Legacy Cocktail Competition is a rather simple spin-off of the Ramos Gin Fizz.

(Image courtesy of Bacardi.)

Marco's Bacardi Fizz substitutes rum for gin and Chartreuse for orange flower water.

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I list both recipes.

I've left the original metric units for accuracy, and converted them to approximate fluid ounces, so some adjustment may be neccesary.

Marco's Bacardi Fizz
by Marc Bonneton

50ml (1.75 fl. oz.) Bacardi Superior rum
40ml (1.5 fl. oz.) Cream
15ml (.5 fl. oz.) Green Chartreuse
15ml (.5 fl. oz.) Lemon Juice
15ml (.5 fl. oz.) Lime Juice
15ml (.5 fl. oz.) Simple Syrup
1 egg white
Top with soda water
Mint sprig for garnish

Dry-shake the egg white in a shaker with no ice, then add all the other ingredients and ice and shake for a long time to emulsify to egg white and the cream. Fine-strain into a tall glass and top with soda water. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Get both recipes here.

Vintage Bacardi Ads from Casa Bacardi in Sitges, Spain

A couple weeks ago I was in Sitges, Spain for a quick visit to the Casa Bacardi. Don Facundo, founder of the company, was from Sitges.

In their little visitors' center they had a bunch of vintage ads so I thought I'd share a few of them here.

Perhaps the Best Bar Customer Loyalty Program Ever

The first three customers who sampled 200 rums at Smuggler's Cove were treated to a trip, not to a tropical isle, but to Portland, Oregon where they distilled their own rum.

It was aged and bottled and labelled with pictures of the three guys, and the launch party is in early May. 

Amazing. The full press release is below. 

Here at Smuggler’s Cove, we’re proud of our carefully selected collection of 300 rare and premium rums. But we’re particularly excited to announce our latest addition: Triumvirate Rum. Made to celebrate the first three customers at Smuggler’s Cove to drink 200 rums, Triumvirate Rum is a very limited edition hand-crafted artisan rum from House Spirits in Portland, Oregon. From a barstool in San Francisco to a microdistillery in Oregon and back again, here’s how the journey took place:

At Smuggler’s Cove, enjoying rum is not just a great way to spend an evening, it’s also an educational adventure. The Smuggler’s Cove Rumbustion Society guides our guests through an enlightening tour of the many varied styles of rum. New members begin with twenty unique rums, and upon completion become Disciples of The Cove. Traveling through another eighty rums earns you the title Guardian of The Cove. One hundred rums is no easy feat, but beyond that level, two hundred rums earns you the rare distinction of the title Master of The Cove. The reward for reaching Master status is a distillery tour to see rum being made in person. Last fall, we embarked on our first Master Trip – to the exotic shores of Portland, Oregon. While not quite the sun-drenched sandy isle you might expect, the choice was a very special one, indeed.

The Masters (Ron Roumas, Mark Holt, and John Boatwright) and myself were welcomed to House Spirits Distillery by Christian Krogstad and Matt Mount. For the seven days prior to arriving in Portland, House Spirits had been fermenting a batch of 100% organic molasses from Barbados. Masters tasted the molasses, the fermented molasses wine, and then the still was fired up to begin distillation. The Masters received a hands-on understanding of how the still works and how heads and tails cuts are chosen- the art and science of distillation. After a day spent with House Spirits, it was time to hit the town for a night of great food and drinks in the City of Roses.

We returned to House Spirits the next day for a second run through the still, followed by a little science lesson in how to measure and adjust proof. That evening, samples of the new rum were taken to local favorite Beaker & Flask, where the freshly made rum was expertly used in four superb cocktails & paired perfectly with a wonderful four course meal. The rest of the evening is hazy, but apparently ended with some very large donuts after a few farewell cocktails at Daniel Shoemaker’s Teardrop Lounge.

Over the next five months, the rum was allowed to rest in a used whiskey cask while samples were sent periodically to us for review. After tasting it at a higher proof in a traditional daiquiri, the decision was made to bottle it at 105 proof so that its bold & vibrant flavor would shine through in cocktails. Triumvirate Rum has now arrived!! Featuring an image of the first three Masters of The Cove on the label, a wax sealed cork, and a beautiful pale honey color, this exceedingly rare and limited rum will be available at the following events:

TUESDAY, MAY 3: Launch Party at Smuggler’s Cove at 6pm

Triumvirate makes its debut at Smuggler’s Cove with a featured cocktail menu, and some very special prizes. Meet the Masters and taste it for the very first time!

SATURDAY, MAY 14: Retail Launch Party at Cask at 2pm 

Join the Masters for a chance to buy a bottle of Triumvirate at San Francisco’s own Cask (17 Third St.). One of the best liquor stores in the United States, Cask features a wide array of rare and premium spirits. Because of its very limited quantity, this will be the only retail opportunity to get your hands on a bottle of Triumvirate. There will be no other distribution. Limited to one bottle per person.

LOOK! SEE!
Photos of the trip on our Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.181926528521701.35491.116511321729889

Some Prefer Dark Rum

In today's FineCooking.com blog post, I talk about how rum geeks get peeved when you say "dark rum" when you mean "aged rum."

The funny thing is, much "white rum" is also aged a little bit and I don't hear any complaining about that.

Rum lovers, you just can't please them, except with rum.

Also, there's a cocktail recipe for the Lime Bumboo by Jestset John Deragon. It uses a brown sugar syrup made with lime juice instead of water and aged overnight. Weird.

Angostura Rums Distillery Visit

In my last post I talked about the history and production of Angostura Bitters. In this one I'll talk about the history and production of Angostura Rums. I visited the distillery on Trinidad in March 2011.

History of Angostura Rums

The House of Angostura was in the bitters business since 1824, but didn't enter the rum business until after their move to the island of Trinidad in 1875. At first they were dealing with bulk rums rather than distilling their own, but in 1945 they purchased their own distillery. It wasn't until the 1960s that the profits from rum outsold those of bitters. In 1973 they purchased the Fernandes Distillery located next door and incorporated those brands (including Vat19) into their production.

According to the film we watched at the distillery, in 1991 they had a production capacity of 22 million liters of alcohol per year. According to their website, it's now 50 million liters. Wow! The distillery takes up 20 acres of land. They make both their own brands, rum for other people, and sell bulk rum. More on the other brands later.

Production of Angostura Rums

Currently all the products are made on enormous column stills. They say they've been experimenting with some pot still stuff, but they're not making anything yet.

No sugar has been produced on the island since 2003, so all the molasses to make these rums is purchased on the open market. (10Cane, which is also made on Trinidad but I don't believe at this distillery, uses some fresh local sugar cane juice in their rum blend.) We tastes molasses off the grate where it is poured into the system- it reminded me of old-style black licorice.

(Grate through which molasses is poured.)

For different rum products made at the distillery they use different strains of yeast. Their barrels are ex-bourbon barrels. These are reused to age rum three times before they're discarded or recycled. We weren't allowed to enter the aging warehouse as they said it's a bonded property. From outside, it didn't look nearly big enough to age all the rum produced here, but they said it's their only aging warehouse it turns out they have five other aging warehouses also.

For further reading, I suggest Ed Hamilton's write up on MinistryOfRum.com. 

The Line of Rums

After the distillery tour we did a tasting of some of the rums with Master Distiller Jean Georges. Oh, by the way, the line of Angostura rums is finally coming to the US soon, and they are tasty. 

The 3-year reminded me (keep in mind my tasting notes aren't supposed to make sense to anyone but me) of the insides under-ripe banana peels, with a soft creaminess that wasn't too vanilla-y. 

The 5-year, interestingly, is actually filtered to remove some of its color. It has the caramel-vanilla notes you'd expect from a rum of this age, but with a nice fuzzy texture. I was also picking up a lot of notes of liquid limestone. The finish had some mint/oregano spice to it and it was just a touch tannic. 

The 7-year rum is actually the 5-year rum which is blended and then put back into casks to marry for 2 years. The nose is all warm caramel apple and cheesecake pie crust on this one, with a spicier mouth with notes of peppermint. It's also oily in texture and slightly ashy. 

One thing Jean Georges said about all of their rums is that they have a short finish. "None of our spirits overstay their welcome. They do their thing and move on, leaving you to want another sip."

I am not sure if their "single barrel" is coming to the US or not, but I enjoyed drinking that during my visit. Most of the time I drank that or the 7-year-old. When I wanted a mixer, I'd mix it with their soft drink Lemon Lime & Bitters, locally known as LLB. (Note to Angostura: you should consider bringing this to the US also in select markets.)

Angostura also produces Zaya rum, The Kraken spiced rum (according to MinistryOfRum), Vat 19, and White Oak (which is very popular in Trinidad).