*Press Release*
ALL EYES ON RUM AS SPECIALITY DRINKS AND THE WHISKY EXCHANGE UNVEILS A NEW CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM
Move follows years of industry debate over how to offer clarity and better education in the rum category
Fine spirits retailer The Whisky Exchange along with its market-leading wholesale business Speciality Drinks, is pleased to introduce a new classification system for the rum category. Spearheaded by the company’s head of buying Dawn Davies MW, the new system aims to give consumers and the trade a more informed understanding of the rum category based on flavor profiles, and production methods, instead of purely colour.
More than 500 rums featured on TheWhiskyExchange.com and listed within the Speciality Drinks wholesale price list are illustrated within new categories along with further snippets of information including additions of sugar and other flavourings, and whether the product is fully aged at origin. Although the category will also remain searchable by the classic ‘dark, golden and white’ labels for now, customers will be armed with easily navigable information to encourage more-informed choices.
Taking inspiration from systems of classification previously mooted by two driving forces of the rum industry Luca Gargano and Richard Seale, Davies has primarily focused on production method for a technical classification. However, The Whisky Exchange website will also list each rum into one of six ‘flavour camps’ with the aim of letting consumers know what flavour profile they’re buying.
The Classification
Single Distillery Rum:
Single Traditional Column
Rum distilled at one distillery in traditional column stills.
The detail: these are stills that consist of just an analyser and rectifier, including the scenario where either column is split to produce a total of more than two physical columns
Single Traditional Pot Still
Rum distilled at one distillery in traditional pot stills.
Single Traditional Blended
A blend of traditional pot still and traditional column still rums from the same distillery.
Single Modernist
Rum made at a single distillery using modern multi-column stills.
The detail: These stills consist of more than an analyser and rectifier, and include a hydro-selector/purifier column
Multi-distillery Rum:
Blended Traditionalist
A blend of rums from multiple distilleries that only includes traditional column and/or pot still rums.
Blended Modernist
A blend of rums from multiple distilleries that includes single modernist rums.
‘Flavour Camps’
- Light and Uncomplicated
- Herbaceous and Grassy
- Tropical and Fruity
- Fruity and Spicy
- Dry and Spicy
- Rich and Treacly
Having worked on this new system for more than a year, Davies knows it won’t instantly be perfect but feels it’s a very positive place to start. “We know the consumer, and the trade to some extent, is crying out for more education on the different styles of rum – confusion abounds when Wray & Nephew white rum tastes nothing like Veritas white rum. The flavours you find in rums are very different according to their production method and so when that information is combined with flavour profiles we can help people start to build a picture of the category. We know it may not be an immediately perfect solution but this is the jumping off point and we look forward to the industry working with us to create the ideal scenario for everyone.’
Co-founder and owner of The Whisky Exchange and Speciality Drinks, Sukhinder Singh, believes this is the beginning of a new world of rum. “As consumer demand grows, and sales of rum reflect this, so too does the number of products entering the market. In recent years we’ve seen an influx of what we’d call ‘sipping rums’, meaning gone are the days when rum was reserved for a mojito. Artisan distilleries, independent bottlers and big brands playing with production methods and ageing, has increased the desire to sip rum instead of only mixing it. This really is the new world of rum and the new system of classification is our education tool.’
*End*
Pretty interesting stuff. I’ve been keen to see what The Whisky Exchange and Speciality Drinks would come up with as a classification system with them having taken a front seat role in pushing Pure Rum, especially through the Speciality Drinks portfolio. Still allowing you to search via outdated but familiar colour classification the new system should hopefully push people towards thinking differently and changing their perceptions of what the outmoded classifications actually mean as far as the experience that the Rum will give you. Hopefully its similarity to the Gargano Classification should mean that education on production method permeates the mainstream and the flavour camps should maybe give an idea of the bottle contents to supplement the classification.
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