rum definition in Japan?

[scheer]

I am afraid this will be a little technical, but may be some rum wizzard could help me out.

Could anyone help me with the official rum definition in Japan.

I know the official rum definition in the E.U. which is more or less:

*) it must be of sucar cane

*) distilled beyond 96% alc.

*) must have the organoleptic characteristics of rum

Some one is telling me that Beta-Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol and Ethyl Caproate must be detected in the rum otherwise they can not import rum as rum, but only as Ethanol. It sound a bit odd to me!

May be a link to a certain website might help me, I have not found this one yet.

Thanks for the help,

Ed Melief

Amsterdam

[ctgm]

I will ask some of my Japanese clients who are into their rums and see if they will be kind enough to reply.

[ctgm]

Not sure if this helps or not, but I received this from a Japanese importer friend of mine. Hope it is of some use.

1. Importing

As far as we import rum as a rum, there is no regulations. When we import the goods the law forces us to categorize the goods. There is a huge table listing thousands of categories. We have to put the goods into one category.

For example when importing cognac we put it into category "brandy". For port wine we put it into "fortified wine".

When it comes to rum, there is no category "rum". There is only "spirits", such as gin, rum, vodka and tequila.

This means therefore it should not be just rum but should be at least Spirits.

2. Definition

It is bit weird but we do not have any official definition for rum as the government doesn't rule it. Therefore the general(not official) definition of the rum in Japan is I believe as follows.

1. "distilled" alcohol (Spirits)

2. made of sugar cane

For your information we have the official definition for Spirits as follows.

1. must be Spirits with the extract degree of less than 2

2. must be Spirits with no carbonic acid.

[Ed Hamilton]

Under US federal regulations, "rum" is defined as "an alcoholic distillate

from the fermented juice of sugar cane, sugar cane syrup, sugar cane

molasses, or other sugar cane by-products, produced at less than 190 proof

in such manner that the distillate possesses the taste, aroma and

characteristics generally attributed to rum, and bottled at not less than 80

proof; and also includes mixtures solely of such distillates."

In reality the biggest distilleries distill to almost 190 proof, 95% alcohol, 94.5% alcohol seems to be the standard.

the official rum definition in the E.U. which is more or less:

*) it must be of sucar cane

*) distilled beyond 96% alc.

*) must have the organoleptic characteristics of rum

I'm surprised that the EU would specify more than 96 % alcohol since that would be a neutral spirit and very hard to achieve. I don't know of any Caribbean rums that are distilled to that proof.

[scheer]

Dear Ed,

I am afraid I have used the wrong word, of course this must be below 96% alc. You're right, above 96% alc is considered as alcohol instead of rum.

By the way you do not have perhapes sailed the Japanese Islands and came across the official text of the Japanese Rum definition have you?

Regards,

Ed

[Ed Hamilton]

No, I don't have a clue how it is defined in Japan. But I would imagine they use something from the EU or the US since rum isn't made in Japan. There are a few rums sold in Japan now but very few.

[ctgm]

Ed.

You say that there are only a few rums sold in Japan. In fact I have found that there are very few rums from around the world that are not imported into Japan. I have one customer there who only wants to import rums that no-one else is doing but am having difficulty finding too many of them!! (Maybe if you know of some producers who want to be imported into Japan you can send me an e-mail and I would love to help out!!)

Japan is a funny place. I get the impression that some producers decide that Japan is the first port of call as they are perceived as a bit gullable and prepared to pay high prices. This used to be the case but those days are long gone.

[scheer]

Charlie,

i will get back to you when I am at my office, but I can tell you that their are loads of smaller rum bottlers, and each of them have their own specific blend who only sell locally/regionally, or others who just sell exclusief rums.

So if you're japanese collegue is looing for rums which nobody in Japan is selling, I absolutely can help you out, but I have to know what exactly you are looking for.

By the way I have the Japanese version of the spiritsbook, with all the wines and spirits sold or imported in Japan, very interesting.

And just some extra information: A big part of rum sold in Japan goes into the confectionery industry, and you know what: Te biggest seller are the rums from the DOM of France, because the chief patissiers in Japan tend to educate themselves in France ( Lenotre e.g) where of course they will get in contact with the Cane-Juice based types of "Rhum".

So if the other caribbean islands want to promote their rums; just start a top Patissier "University!?

Regards,

Ed

Scheer

Amsterdam

[Ed Hamilton]

Thanks for informing me about rums in Japan. I've only met Japanese who were interested in importing from the Caribbean and they told me a different story but things are changing fast, just seven or eight years ago you couldn't find a dozen rums in the biggest stores in Chicago, now that has changed.