Long associated with the Caribbean and Latin America, rum’s appeal is going global, and investors are taking note, says Vicky Major of Cask Trade
What is rum? Is it white, or clear – the essential ingredient to a much-loved mojito or daiquiri cocktail? Is it spiced and perfect when paired with a mixer like ginger beer or coke? Or is rum dark and best enjoyed neat? Rum is all of these things and its versatility is one of the reasons for the huge market growth that is forecast to continue over the next five years and beyond.
Rum’s roots
Rum is the oldest distilled spirit. Although the Caribbean and South America are its heartlands, it is made and enjoyed worldwide. Craft rum is increasingly becoming a firm favourite of whisky and spirit connoisseurs as distillers continue to innovate in the category and drive the product forward. Independent bottlers are seeing a demand for aged rum as consumers get a thirst for an exciting range of flavours and ages from around the world.
The next big thing
For more than a decade, many experts have regarded rum as the spirit that hasn’t quite broken through. However, in the last couple of years this seems to have changed. As with whisky, it takes a little time for its popularity to expand from the experts to the new cognoscenti, and then in turn to the general public. For proof of this, one just has to look at the expansion of rum on our shop shelves.
The audience is already becoming established as more and more limited edition bottles come to market, regular rum tastings are being hosted and even auctions are taking place.
Investment grade
There has been a huge expansion of rum across specialist retailers. Small batch and single cask rums are frequently seen, and cask strength offerings sell out very quickly in a manner reminiscent of whisky. The difference at the moment is that there are substantially fewer well-known rum distilleries than whisky distilleries by quite some way. So, as the demand rises, production is going to take some time to catch up.
Added to this there are (as with whisky) closed distilleries like Caroni, and cult distilleries like Hampden. The bottle auction prices of these rums have increased dramatically over the last couple of years. And so, the investment opportunities become obvious. It’s not a matter of the possibility of rum being the next big thing, simply a matter of where on the curve will you get in? Could cask rum add a little spice to your investment portfolio?
Further information
Cask Trade Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the FCA. No information provided constitutes the provision of investment or professional advice subject to regulation under FSMA 2000. The value of your purchase may go down as well as up, and your capital may be at risk. Cask Trade Ltd cannot be held responsible for market fluctuations of rum prices.