Will 2020 be the year of the (h)um?

Rum: The next big trend?

Same procedure as last year? Same procedure as every year! Every year we read it again: this year will be the Year of the R(h)um! Finally! But really! R(h)um is "in" and will finally take off. Every year. Always the same. And every year we ask ourselves, where is it now, the unstoppable rise of the R(h)um?

What is the reason? It's because of our expectations! We expect a spirit, like gin in the past and whisky in the long term, to take off and become "the" spirit category for all to see. But is that really the case?

Isn't gin just a hype, an unusually long-lasting but transient fad? At the end of the hype, we will certainly find more distilleries and brands in the gin segment than we did just a few years ago.

But isn't that simply because gin can be produced by (almost) anyone without much knowledge; that gin can be produced without one's own fermentation and thus alcohol production skills and thus virtually invites one to quickly produce one's own new gin and then distinguish oneself with one's "own brand"?

Timeless. In the "El Floridita" bar in Havana, Ernest Hemingway once Ernest Hemingway drank his daiquiris.

R(h)um can only do this in part, which perhaps also explains why the big breakthrough and meteoric rise has been a long time coming - or perhaps will never come.

Of course, today I can also produce r(h)um with bought-in finished product by bottling in third countries outside the actual production countries without any problems and thus create my own brand, but many r(h)um producers do not get involved in this.

They buy molasses on the not small world market, convert this into alcohol in their plants and then distil it themselves to the desired R(h)um quality. This requires skill and the art of distillation.

When storage is added, the true art of production is revealed: the interplay of distillation, maturation and time. This is the only way to create the liquid works of art of the R(h)environment that can make the breakthrough to a classic possible in the first place.

Patience is needed

If one takes a closer look at the individual countries in the world of R(h)ums, one finds that the necessary restrictions and rules have only been found in recent years, in some cases only today or even in the planning stage. These, as well as the quality definitions that go with them, are necessary for sustainable success.

It is not for nothing that Scotch Whisky, American Whiskey or Irish Whiskey are so successful in the world: they have had clear rules for production and origin for decades, sometimes even centuries, and thus protect the categories and their qualities. The fact that the R(h)um is now doing the same can only be a good thing!

Another comparison should remind us to be a little more patient: whisky, especially Scotch whisky, also took many years, even decades, to make it to its current popularity. Let us never forget that it was not until 1963 that the term Pure Malt (comparable to the later Single Malt) came into use and that it took from the early 1960s until well into the 1990s for the category to gain perception and broad acceptance among the most diverse groups of buyers.

This is also accompanied by the trend towards pure enjoyment and no longer the exclusive use "on the rocks" or as a cocktail ingredient. Here, too, we see a parallel in the world of r(h)um: even today, many still see r(h)um only as a cocktail or long drink ingredient. The trend towards pure enjoyment has only been increasingly promoted, propagated and perceived in recent years!

"The trend towards pure enjoyment has only been increasingly promoted, propagated and perceived in the last few years at all!"

So why not give rhum the necessary rest and time to become a lasting classic of pleasure? On the one hand, it's because of our fast-paced world: it always has to go faster, higher, further. Consumers are increasingly demanding new, trendy, hip products.

And this is further fuelled by the industry, because sales figures and the resulting profit are the most important indication of a brand's success - especially if it is owned by shareholders! An investor does not ask for pleasure, he asks for returns! And that has to come quickly!

Who today still takes the time for pleasure and thus relies on the slow, organic growth of a brand? Everyone should ask themselves this question once... and then look around. Why are products with simple and very fast production so much in focus (and thus in trend)?

But enough of the ranting and lamenting about why R(h)um is still not where we connoisseurs (want to) see it for a long time. Let's look at what R(h)um is all about and how it all began.

This article appeared in
Issue 1-2020

BAR NEWS magazine as single issue

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