_____________________________________

Rum may be a treasure trove of wonders and gems, but within it there are also buccaneers threatening to damage the category’s future. ‘Rum’ covers white, dark, spiced, amber – and that’s before you consider the rather contentious age statements. It’s a spirit with a fun, ‘yo ho ho’ image and efforts to pull it into the premium and quality tier are being seriously shackled by issues of sweetness and brands that are adding lord knows what without declaring it or being made accountable for it.

“Havana Club is not messed around with in any way,” says Nick Blacknell, Havana Club international marketing director. “There is no sugar, no spice.

“I think rum is probably a somewhat difficult category to navigate because it is one of the few that extends all the way from an unaged white through to some of the finest drinking spirits in the world,” he says.

“I can’t think of another category that has that breadth of range. In different markets consumers tend to consume different parts of the rum category. In Latin America, for example, it is all about quality aged rums.

“In the industry, we are looking at the whole category. Consumers, depending on the market, don’t have quite such a broad view. It is probably not as complex as it looks from the outside.”

Havana Club has taken a punt on aged, dark rum and streamlined its portfolio, phasing out its Blanco in all markets except Cuba. “We are all about aged rum,” Blacknell says. “It is our bread and butter business and it is where the future lies. Aged rum is our big bet.

“A big bet,” he reaffirms. “We don’t do spiced or unaged rum.” The reason for this is twofold, according to Blacknell: “We are looking at other spirit categories and seeing where there are areas of strong growth.

“Generally, it is in quality, aged products, with the exception of gin. We also really believe that rum is a category consumers are getting more and more educated about. There is both a global spirit trend toward quality and ageing and a trend within the category itself.”

Blacknell suggests that, rather than competing with other rums, Havana Club actually competes with other spirits.

“We look at rivals,” Blacknell says. “Our attitude is more about occasion than price. We ask ourselves: ‘What category are you competing with?’ We have a good aged rum, Especial. It is more about what the consumer is expecting. So if it is a premium market then we will put in our premium product. The way we tend to price is that if people are drinking a lot of premium scotch or bourbon then they are more likely to drink a premium rum.”

It won’t come as news to anyone that, globally, white spirits – with the exception of gin – are less on-trend while brown spirits are thriving. And Blacknell says Havana Club wants to be “in the game” by offering the consumer aged, dark rum.

He suggests that drinkers of other dark spirits, including whisky, can be enticed into rum if they can be persuaded to try it. “It’s a different tasting experience for the consumer,” says Blacknell. “More and more, category boundaries are getting blurred for consumers.”

If boundaries are being blurred so too has the way consumers are being recruited become more fluid than it has ever been, according to Mauricio Bermudez, Bacardi Rums director of marketing. “In the past, generally consumers traded up to more aged, darker versions as their palates evolved. However, with the recent momentum behind brown spirits, some consumers are entering the category via aged/dark rums, instead of trading up from white rums.”

Unsurprisingly, Bacardi says it is leading the charge with the release of its Facundo rum collection a few years ago. Bermudez says the collection, released in 2013, had the unique opportunity to fill a void in the market and become the world’s first true luxury rum.

“We hope the Collection is reshaping and redefining people’s notions of rum and creating newer, higher-order rum occasions and sipping rituals.”

All Bacardi’s rums are aged – light and dark. Bermudez says: “We see premiumisation as the future for the category for both light and dark rums. Rum’s versatility and diversity in profiles has awakened interest and continues to drive the upward trend in the category. With so many regions, styles, and profiles to choose from, it’s no surprise we see more and more bartenders reviving rum classics and creating innovative cocktails with rum.”

Before premiumisation can happen, many think category confusion should be addressed when it comes to regulating rums. “I genuinely feel there is a lot of confusion and limp categorisation such as colour doesn’t help. You don’t buy ‘dark’ scotch or cognac – why buy dark rum?” asks Peter Holland, owner/writer of TheFloatingRumShack.com.

“Disclosure of all additions will help consumers and professionals alike, but who will enforce it? If you add caramel, why shouldn’t you say that?”

Holland says that further tags, almost along the lines of ‘champagne brut’, would help consumers. “I dislike the hiding aspect. I don’t like being lied to. Perhaps a list of ingredients would help.”

It’s not that there aren’t regulations in place – rum isn’t a category without rules – but enforcement is lax.

“There are regulations but I don’t think everyone enforces them. Jamaica, for example, has very defined rules, as does Barbados. But, they are making rules to suit their own country and style,” Holland says.

“This is fine, but the world of rum doesn’t have an overriding authority to enforce the regulations. But then neither does whisky in general. Scotch and bourbon do.”

Without someone to enforce the rules, there can be a flagrant disregard for them which goes unpunished and, in turn, damages the category. Holland adds: “There are a few brands that are quite obviously adding all manner of things to their rums. If they were calling themselves ‘spiced rums’ then I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But they are not.”

Another misconception is that all rum is sweet. Holland says: “Rum is not sweet by default, but carries the perception of such, and we need to get past this.”

Sweetness in itself is a contentious issue. Rum also struggles under the weight of the label, ‘fun’. Its image as a party drink means a lot of consumers don’t and won’t take rum seriously.

RUM IS FUN

Holland says that, in some respects, the category has an anchor with this fun image and appeals to the Captain Jack Sparrows of the world. “People associate it with pirates. People don’t think of it as a high-value spirit”.

He says brands such as Zacapa have spent a lot of time building a quality image and everyone who wants to raise the category’s image is doing a good thing.

Havana Club’s Blacknell believes rum can maintain its fun image and still be respected for its quality. “It is a serious spirit but fun,” he says. “When you think about the industry it is sort of divided into the two: serious product, like malt whisky, or a fun spirit. Why can’t it be both?”

KK Hall, director, global strategic marketing, rums, at Appleton Estate owner Gruppo Campari, agrees: “Similar to the establishment and success of premium tequila, we believe rum can maintain its accessible and fun image and be understood as a premium spirit.

“We define this as of low-key sophistication instead of pure fun, which has a broader set of interpretations. Rum represents the best of both worlds – it has tradition, history and authenticity and also this low-key sophistication which appeals to consumers who are potentially tired of a more stuffy, uptight type of sophistication.”

The ability to straddle both spheres is unique to rum, Havana Club’s Blacknell says. “Rum is one of the few spirits that can play in quality and fun. This is what I mean about category and consumer thinking starting to break down.”

But rum hasn’t broken down for all. Blacknell says: “Clearly not everyone plays in the quality stakes and some of the people doing quality are doing it in a serious way. I suspect others will take another view and it is a legitimate view. In the category I think you can see there are brands doing different things.”

This may be by desire or by design.

“Not everyone is equipped [to bring quality and fun]. It has taken a lot of investment to do this. I suspect it is a debate that is happening in the industry,” Blacknell adds.

He’s not wrong. Holland picks up the point: “In scotch, trying to get rid of the jokers in the pack has paid dividends but we have not got to that point in rum.” One of the reasons for this is that too much emphasis has been placed on packaging over the quality of the product, which results in people paying above and beyond for the vessel rather than the liquid.

“People are trying to kid people into thinking that what is in the bottle is quality,” Holland says. “There needs to be a drive to make good quality, authentic rum.

“Appleton 50 Year Old is a good example of something that is really special.”

Ultimately, Havana Club’s Blacknell says it will be obvious whether his company’s bet has paid off in the sales. “Rum as a category stretches so far. It is a complex sector because it is so big and so broad.” Blacknell fully admits that his company has put all its eggs in one basket. “If you are in the white spirit [rum] game it is tough.” Havana Club 3 Year Old is only growing at 2%-3%, according to Blacknell. “So we are not really playing in the white.”

PREMIUM PUSH

Rum is very candid about being a bit late to the premium party but Bacardi says now is the time to strike.

“It is the right time to premiumise, educate and spark a conversation among the new generation of drinkers about the versatility, variety, mixability and craftsmanship of rums, leveraging Bacardi as the lighthouse brand,” Bermudez says. “All other spirits categories have already migrated to the super-premium-plus segment and rum still has the opportunity to evolve to where other categories have gone in terms of premiumisation.”

Hall at Appleton says premiumisation is the key to the growth of the rum category. “Rum has all the elements that appeal to a premium consumer base – a rich history and heritage, authenticity and quality liquids, as well as a more light-hearted side, which consumers find very appealing.

“Rum is also one of the key major spirits categories that has not had significant premiumisation on a global level and we believe the time is ripe for the category to premiumise.”

But patience is required. Creating quality rum doesn’t happen overnight and true quality is not instant. The “smoke and mirrors approach” is not fooling anyone or doing the category any favours, according to Holland.

He puts forward vodka as an example. “Vodka has many examples of ‘premium’. It is a smoke and mirrors approach – neutral spirit in a pretty bottle with no authentic value. A lot of rums do the same thing.”

That’s not to say that some rums don’t warrant their price tags. “I understand that if you are making small batch it has a higher cost. Some of the craft rums that are coming out are amazing but some are not and it can put people off.”

AGE STATEMENTS

Age statements can also put people off. Holland says: “Older is not always better. We need to get past that as well – the taste profile is paramount and once people realise that there is amazing complex, tasty and downright lovely rum/rhum/cachaça out there, they rarely turn back.

“Some of the most exciting rums/rhums/cachaça I’ve tried have been unaged. Consumers just need a route to experience it – so education, sampling and getting in front of people is key. Fewer jokers in the market will seriously help.”

Rum will always be a vast and complex category. If the jokers in the pack can be weeded out and dark, aged rum can finally be realised as the next big thing then sales might recover, but it is generally agreed that you have to scratch the surface and dig a bit deeper to find the true quality through the smoke and mirrors.