A couple of weeks ago, during the second German Armagnac Festival, a certain mister K. from A. told me that I have become really quite, in the sense that I have been much more vocal about certain topics and issues in the past. He is right of course, but it got me thinking nevertheless… Perhaps I simply became tired of gossiping and trash talking, maybe I got more mature, or there just aren’t as many interesting topics in the realm of Rum to discuss anymore as everything has been said already. Or I just did reach that particular point in my Rum journey where that becomes true inevitably. At the end of the day, it is most likely a mix of everything.
Anyway, today we have something slightly unusual, something I typically do not do. It is time for some random thoughts and opinions related to my love affair with Rum and you will find you will probably be able to find some of the above in each of the following bits. I will try to keep it short – of course we can always elaborate on some of the more interesting ones in a separate post in the future.

1. When I was extremely unhappy with my PhD back in the day, I seriously thought about quitting and writing a Rum related book about Rum for a year or so. I abandoned that thought when I learned that others are doing the same (no surprise, of course) and it was obvious that they would do a much, much better job at it. I still have that thought in the back of my mind. Perhaps we will pursue it again once my kids have grown up and I have more time for it.
   
2. Outside of the mainstream bottlings and Rums for the masses, I still do not understand why someone would bottle Rum at a drinking strength. We can always dilute the Rum ourselves. Sure, slow dilution is a science in itself and it can without a doubt enhance a Rum’s quality, but please leave that decision to me nevertheless.
   
3. Related to that, my interest in high ester, ultra complex and high abv Rums has diminished considerably. Most of the time I just want to sip something good and easy going, without having to devote too much time and concentration to a Rum, i.e. I just want to relax.
   
4. Also related, blogging has become a lot of work. What used to be 100% fun, is now split between fun and real work. I still enjoy dissecting a Rum and comparing it to others, exploring new distilleries, vintages and even just different casks, but writing about it requires a lot of time and effort. As I have said above, at the end of a long day I typically just want to relax instead of continuing where I have left, i.e. typing on the computer. Keep also in mind that the little revenue I have is just more or less enough to pay for the costs of running this site. And than there are all these bad Rums which we dissect nevertheless and write about. That is not a lot of fun most of the time.
   
5. I would love to have more “Blog bottlings” but that also requires a lot of time and effort.
   
6. I am open to reviewing Foursquare again. I feel like when you are the more mature person in an argument, you just have to let it be. We do lack the samples at the moment, however.
   
7. While I believe that GIs are important, I also believe that they are overrated. Even as a Rum nerd, I don’t really see the difference in “[Country Name] Rum” and “Rum from [Country Name]” or “Distilled in [Country Name]”, and the average Rum drinker will see it even less. Yes, adulteration is an issue but I do not think it is a core topic, at least not anymore.
   
8. I wish people would focus more on their products and what they do instead of what others do and have to say. That is true in general and thus also in Rum. Live and let live.
   
9. Related to that, while I think and always thought that the criticism against Maison Ferrand is justified, the hate they receive but some people of the Rum community is way over the top.
   
10. I have always made fun of people and companies that come up with crazy and, most of the time indeed, shitty innovations. However, I also admire them and their (financial) courage. Without them, our hobby would be much more boring and we would have even less to talk about.
    
11. I have tasted soo much Armagnac, Cognac and Whiskey over the years as well and always integrated them here and there on this blog as well (well, Whisky not anymore). They all have their gems but at the end of the day none of these spirits can compete with Rum. Especially Whisky is absolutely overrated. Mezcal and most other sipping spirits still aren’t my cup of tea. Calvados is certainly interesting, however.
    
12. I wish more distilleries would be more open to selling selected casks from their warehouses to bottlers, as the latter typically have a much better understanding of what the gems are, how to find them, and how to bring them to market.
    
13. I also wish that more independent bottlers would have their own warehouses where they store and manage (!) their Rum casks.
    
14. Nevertheless, I still believe that who releases a particular Rum is often times more important than the Rum itself. Put differently, a subpar Rum released by a renowned bottler will typically have more success than a good Rum by a random bottler.
    
15. All in all, I believe that the quality of Rums has increased over time. We often times focus on and mourn the greats (think old Guyana, Caroni etc.) a bit too much and tend to forget about what else we’ve gained (think Fiji, those Chairman’s Reserves from St. Lucia Distillers, Savanna’s portfolio etc.). Ten years ago, the availability of the latter was totally different.

I could keep on going with this but feel like this is enough for now. Next time we will have proper reviews again.