StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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19 StateWays Q www.stateways.com Q July/August 2014 and Rum for All M ojitos. Caipirinhas. Mai Tais. Cachacas. Rum is a spirit as popular in cocktails as it is on the shelf, conjuring the tropics, beaches, summer and tiki bars regardless of the season. "With rum, traditionally, there is a lot more play factor," says Josh Hayes, senior brand manager, Malibu. "Rum tends to come from a more fun place." And that smell you get when opening a bottle of rum, that tropical scent, transports you to the islands. But there's no fooling around when it comes to this spirit, the second largest behind vodka. "Rum, in general, has a very bright future. Bartenders love it as it is so versatile — so mixable — in cocktails. It also has a lot more personality and character than many other spirits categories," say Kevin Oglesby, brand direc- tor-Bacardi Rums, and Kelly Adams, brand director for Flavored Rums. It has such a bright future that the category is buzz- ing on all fronts. Puerto Rico's Destilería Serralles, which produces the premium rum brand Don Q, is increasing its rum production in the next three years. Bacardi Lim- ited has begun an environmental initiative that includes recycling the water used to produce its rum. Don Q itself is undergoing a packaging redesign. Malibu is experi- menting with different packaging formats and sponsoring a summer concert tour. "According to a report from Distilled Spirits Council released in February, rum has increased nationally in both volume and revenue each year since 2010," explains Tom Herbst, vice president of marketing, Rums, for Diageo North America. "A key contributor to this growth is be- cause distillers — including us — have experimented with innovative spices and fl avors." But the focus isn't solely on the cat- egory's biggest brands. That growth stems from the smaller labels, too. "Smaller players, like us, will likely continue to see sig- nifi cant growth as we bring new excitement and high- quality offerings to the category," says Brendan Lynch, senior director of Rum & Cordials, for Beam Suntory. With the category growing as a whole, it's still far from reaching an end point. "Rum has a lot of room to grow," Hayes says. It's far from reaching a saturation level with consumers. Spiced Success "T he rum category continues to offer a high-quality spirit — now including new innova- tions and fl avor extensions," Herbst says. "In the last three years alone, there have been nearly 60 new entrants in the Spiced Rum category — a com- petitive trend we don't foresee chang- ing anytime in the near future." Diageo's answer: honoring Cap- tain Morgan with the brand's latest expression. Released in May, Cap- tain Morgan 1671 is a limited-edition commemorative blended spiced rum, Diageo has been busy debuting new Captain Morgan iterations this past year with Captain Morgan White Rum and the recently launched limited edition 1671 Commemorative Blend Spiced Rum. Top-selling rum Bacardi continues to innovate, with the recent introduction of its new fl avor Mango Fusion and its recent release of the ultra- premium Facundo Rum Collection, a set of four sipping rums. By Kate Strandness