What do you look for on the label?

[Bill Poster]

Her opinion did not cover women in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds

Edited October 15, 2006 by Bill Poster (log)

[ctgm]

Bill, I think that your GF might be right and that Bacardi has transcended the boundaries of being a rum and is a brand in its own "right" with the non-cognoscenti. I suppose that when talking about other spirits there aren't too many that have done this. Malibu - I doubt many know that this is rum based and maybe Jack Daniels (for those that mix).

When it comes to wine the only example of this sort of thing happening (but different as no one prducer is favoured) is with Pinot Grigio. A lot of people will order Pinot Grigio because they (think they) like it but have absolutely no idea of who the producer is nor do they care. I presume that they know that (the majority) comes from Italy. Strange also that they would not consider the far far far superior (in a lot of cases) (Tokay) Pinot Gris from somewhere such as Alsace.

[Bill Poster]

ctgm- spot on. If I wanted to launch a rum product(for the UK), I would want a quality product ie taste, but the packaging would'nt look like a rum at all..

Edited October 16, 2006 by Bill Poster (log)

[ctgm]

expanding on JLo mein's point about rum based cocktails. I think that there is a difference here in that rum is purely an ingredient in making the final product and not seen as being a rum with a few things added.

[jlo mein]

expanding on JLo mein's point about rum based cocktails. I think that there is a difference here in that rum is purely an ingredient in making the final product and not seen as being a rum with a few things added.

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I have to agree. When those types of drinks are ordered in a club or restaurant, it is for the taste of the mixers, not neccessarily the rum.

In regards to Ed Hamilton's post, I have yet to meet anyone else locally who has even the slightest interest in rum. However, I do know several people who have high interests in beer, wine, and vodka.

[cdh]

This leads to an interesting question-- has anybody redistilled a rum enough times to turn it into a vodka? You see the grape brandy vodkas out there... how about cane spirit vodkas? That might give you a bridge product if you market it right... call it vodka (if local laws allow) but market it with a tropical ad campaign... Seems an easy comparitive ad campaign to compare frozen slavic vodka to cheery caribbean vodka and make the rum/vodka seem appealing. What tiny remnants of flavor survive might give people who actually taste their vodka a hint of what rums are like and inspire a less skeptical attitude when presented with real rums.

All this is, of course, premised on my unfounded belief that the rummy flavors can be distilled out of rum... I don't know enough chemistry to know what the flavorful compounds are, or whether they'd go in an ordinary redistilling... anybody know?

[Bill Poster]

Don Q white is almost vodka-like. V.Good idea though- Canespirit Vodka.

[Ed Hamilton]

Nearly every large distiller in the islands also produces some cane spirit vodka complete with a Russian sounding name and a rendering of the Kremlin on the label. Vodka, in the US, can be made from any raw material. A few of my friends in the islands who get a headache from most vodkas can drink molasses-based vodka without any undue problems.

There are a few rums which are closer to vodka than rum. Bambou claims to be four times distilled, which would border on being distilled to 95% alcohol by volume. In the US, rum is defined as a spirit distilled from any cane derivative to less than 95% abv. The bottom line is that outside the US no one actually checks the distillate to check the distillation proof.

The bulk of most molasses-based rums are distilled to nearly 95% abv. Most vodka is filtered after distillation.

[DerekW]

...I have yet to meet anyone else locally who has even the slightest interest in rum.....

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...and yet, we do exist

[jlo mein]

DerekW, you have a PM. I refrained from taking this thread more off topic by discussing rum in Vancouver.