The Rise of Rum Part 2: Reaching a new generation

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 17 August, 2016

In an increasingly tough economic landscape, some have speculated that rum's rise in popularity could be down to something as simple as its ability to give consumers a taste profile allied to its appealing sugar cane origins

As Jamie Fleming at Purple Creative - the agency responsible for revamping Wood's Navy Rum - puts it, "Rum is a happy drink. It's not stuffy like cognac, overly traditional like whisky, depressing like gin, or superficial like vodka. It's made of sunshine."

Mark Dent, retail manager at Birmingham-based wholesaler and retailer The Drinks Emporium, has some ideas about why the younger generation seems to be slurping up the majority of the spirit.

"Rum has a broad appeal because its ingredients are sugar cane and molasses," he explained. "I've noticed that the younger generation like a lot of sweetness in their drinks. My generation, the over fifties, prefer bitter flavours, but always something inventive and creative."

And while no sugar passes through the distillation prcess into the final spirit, many rums do often deliver more of an apparent 'sweetness' in their flavour profile than other spirits, perhaps with the exception of bourbon.

Dent's theory is widely believed, and why not? After all, millennials are the McDonald's generation - the children who had enough pocket money to gorge on fast-food and sweetshop treats.

And statistics from William Grant and Sons' annual report released last month, backs Dent up.

According to the report, all types of rum have a younger customer-base compared to the average for spirits, with well over half currently under 45-years-old.

Nick Rendall, co-owner of Brimingham specialist rum bar The Cuban Embassy, agrees that the sweet profile effect is driving its success with millennials.

"Rum is sugar-based so it is more of an upper rather than downer. It's suited to late night bars and rum-based cocktails like mojitos and daiquiris. We stock everything but sell more rum than anything else," he said.

But although the sweet stuff forms rum's base, this doesn't mean it can't be diverse.

"While the raw material should be the same (i.e. sugar cane), the choice of juice, syrup or molasses, yeast type, fermentation time, still type, barrel type and ageing time, to say nothing of the historical traditions, global spread and climatic conditions of rum production, all lead to unique and distinctive characteristics for many brands," says Neil Morris, global ambassador for The West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association (WIRSPA).

"The trade loves this - it gives them the opportunity to learn, adopt and impress," he said.

Check back for Part 3 tomorrow.

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