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StateWays | www.stateways.com | July/August 2017 20 RUM | CATEGORY UPDATE "One of the things that rum brands, specifi cally the aged rum segment, need to do to establish themselves as premium is educate consumers about quality credentials and liquid com- plexity," says Flor de Cana Senior Brand Manager Amy Bidwell. "The rules on rum are so broad and can be confusing, so a lot of rum makers shy away from this. But it's an important step to continue to support the growth of super-premium and ultra-pre- mium brands." Duggan believes establishing agreed-upon standards by the world's rum makers would help. "In order to gain additional traction, we would like to see a category-wide, global regulation of rum. Many countries in the Caribbean region (and across the world) have varying regulations on the production of rum and packaging laws. The category would greatly benefi t from consis- tent regulations, which would allow consumers to become more educated on the craftsmanship of rums." CONSUMER EDUCATION NEEDED "Rum is a very misunderstood category, and one of the main bar- riers that the category faces is lack of consumer education. There is a huge opportunity for the industry to create more uniform standards for rum and to better educate consumers. Ultimately this will help the category to premiumize, and become more valued by our customers," Duggan says. This is especially true for Millennials, who are notably brand disloyal and seen as searchers for the new, the rare and the spirits with stories to tell. Getting them to search the rum category the way they have with whiskey would be key, and with few small, independent American distillers creating new rums, it's up to the traditional rum producers. It's not as if the rums aren't out there or that some pro- ducers haven't been trying, says John Eason, COO/EVP at Serralles USA. "A few companies have been working this really hard over the last few years. I think people like Richard Seale [Four Square], Alexandre Gabriel [Plantation], Ben Jones [JM, Clé- ment, Damoiseau], and our own Roberto Serralles are all doing great things to educate people on the category. Rum making has many different styles - I love the pot still versus column still debate, but confusing packaging and bogus age statements hurt the category's credibility." Eason believes rum is starting to break out on the premium, with both bartender and consumer interest on the rise. And some brands, like Don Q and Appleton, have been focusing there for some time. Appleton Estate is in the third year of its "Cane to Cock- tail" educational program aimed at bartenders through tast- ings and blending seminars hosted by Appleton Estate's senior blender David Morrison, with cocktail expertise from a local bartender ambassador. Other rum reps are equally optimistic that rum's time is nigh. "As consumer tastes evolve, we anticipate the demand for super-premium spirits will expand into the rum category," Hodari says. "To gain traction in this realm, we expect to see rum brands take a page out of whisky's playbook and more ac- tively communicate their heritage, provenance and production processes to premium rum fans." Eason agrees. "Bourbons have really shown us the way. Consumers have become so educated on bourbons and any- time we can make a comparison helps." Hodari says the path worked well for other premium spirits