Rum issue brews in Barbados
By George Alleyne
There is a dispute over the identity
of rum and what makes it authentic
brewing in Barbados that filters
all the way to France.
Three of Barbados’ four traditional
distilleries are up against the
fourth, which was two years ago
bought by a French firm that is now
insisting on adding sugar to the
liquid instead of the molasses used
for hundreds of years and probably
ship it to France for ageing instead
on the island, but still call it Barbados
rum.
The trio, Mount Gay, Foursquare,
and St. Nicholas Abbey and are
saying that not only is West Indies
Rum Distillery’s (WIRD) proposal
a no-no and goes against hundreds
of years of tradition, but also ageing
the liquid elsewhere takes away
the Barbados identity and should
not be associated with the island in
branding.
At the heart of the debate is the
concept of ‘Geographical Indication’,
which the World Intellectual
Property Organisation described as
“a sign used on products that have
a specific geographical origin and
possess qualities or a reputation
that are due to that origin. In order
to function as a GI, a sign must
identify a product as originating in
Caribbean L 22 ife, February 7-13, 2020
a given place. In addition, the qualities,
characteristics or reputation
of the product should be essentially
due to the place of origin”.
Many international conventions
and organisations including the
World Trade Organisation subscribe
to this view and therefore give trade
and copyright protection to a brand
based on GI.
For this reason, a government
agency, Barbados Investment and
Development Corporation, is seeking
to compose a definition of the
island’s rum to use as its GI, giving
protection to the four producers,
who must all agree to it.
The trio who claim to account for
90 per cent of rum bottled on island
say they agree with the definition
proposed.
WIRD is mainly a bulk producer
and its new owners, Maison Ferrand,
a French drinks maker wants
to add to the proposed definition.
The trio issued a statement this
month making known its agreement
with the proposal that among
other things, “under the GI, Barbados
Rum will be required to be
matured in Barbados as the climate
of maturation has a defining impact
on the nature of a spirit”.
They noted, “either fresh juice,
syrup or molasses may be used. Any
yeast may be used, but non saccharomyces
strains must be native”.
“Unlike nearby volcanic Islands,
Barbados is an Island of coral limestone
with underground aquifers.
Barbados is famous for the quality
of its water and the GI retains a
requirement for the use of Barbados
water to make Barbados Rum.”
But Maison Ferrand wants the
rum produced in ‘diverse and innovative
ways’.
In a statement to Spirits Business
magazine, Maison Ferrand asked,
“why should we handcuff future
generations of rum makers to one
particular style of rum and lead to
rum standardisation in Barbados?”
“We at West Indies Rum Distillery
are all for an inclusive GI, not
an exclusive GI. We are fighting to
protect the heritage of rum and its
future.”
According to the magazine, Ferrand
believes the rum could be
fermented and distilled in Barbados
aged on island for the first year
then transported to another territory,
possibly France, to grow older
in a process called ‘double ageing’.
This has not yet degenerated into
a drunken brawl, but for Barbadians
fond of reminding anyone that rum
was invented on this island, it could
get there. A Barbados rum. Photo by George Alleyne
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