There’s news today from Jamaica regarding small but important revisions to the country’s rum geographical indication, aka GI. In what follows, I will outline the revisions, then follow-up with my analysis of each revision.
Very helpful analysis. Overall, I applaud the effort to clarify matters and generally like the changes. The cask size is a bit troubling as it seems to artificially limit creativity.
Hi Matt, just for the record, our Madeira barrels we brought into Jamaica for aging are 225L so our Madeira rums still fall within the requirements of the Jamaica Rum GI.
Hey Zan! Thanks for noting this. I've added a note to the story. Also important for folks to know that since this WP rum was bottled before the limit was in place, so all good regardless.
The rum industry continues to learn about its own history, so a lot of these rules are still premature. One concept that may even encourage larger cask/vat sizes is that esters, to some degree, are oak phobic. Elevated ester contents enflame oak character making it taste cheap. If Jamaica wants to promote ester contents it has to grapple with esters' sensory relationship to oak. Larger casks will allow blends to be made "heavier" and be aged longer without risking too much oak extraction which would compromise the distinctive Jamaican identity.
Interesting news for sure… Could you share a link for the respective applications from both sides? As of now i‘m not sure i completely understand what both sides exactly wanted…
Cask used for aging spirits are rarely the same ones used to actually age madeira/marsala/sherry/etc. instead they are casks built specially for spirits maturation that are seasoned with the previous contents. As such, the sizes don’t have to be the same as the traditional seasoning casks – Sherry hogsheads (230-250l) are common in whisky and other usual previous occupants often sit in casks of similar sizes, hence WP’s casks. While it’s sad that Jamaica are nixing larger casks and vats, I suspect there are still lot of interesting legal casks out there.
Great comment. I'll have to look closer at this topic. With that said, the question still remains: why restrict the use of many traditional casks? Sure, there are workaround if you want a finish, but what's fundamentally *not* Jamaican about putting it into, say... a puncheon? Or an actual sherry butt, or a Madeira drum? A cynic might observe that a particular, well-known Jamaican brand is considered by many to be more cask-forward and less fermentation-forward than other Jamaican brands.
from the new G.i looks like the sherry butts (500 Liters) are not allowed anymore, however sherry hogsheads are in the range of 250 Liters, so I think not as bad as it might look.
Very helpful analysis. Overall, I applaud the effort to clarify matters and generally like the changes. The cask size is a bit troubling as it seems to artificially limit creativity.
Hi Matt, just for the record, our Madeira barrels we brought into Jamaica for aging are 225L so our Madeira rums still fall within the requirements of the Jamaica Rum GI.
Hey Zan! Thanks for noting this. I've added a note to the story. Also important for folks to know that since this WP rum was bottled before the limit was in place, so all good regardless.
The rum industry continues to learn about its own history, so a lot of these rules are still premature. One concept that may even encourage larger cask/vat sizes is that esters, to some degree, are oak phobic. Elevated ester contents enflame oak character making it taste cheap. If Jamaica wants to promote ester contents it has to grapple with esters' sensory relationship to oak. Larger casks will allow blends to be made "heavier" and be aged longer without risking too much oak extraction which would compromise the distinctive Jamaican identity.
> The rum industry continues to learn about its own history,
We both know this all too well.
Interesting news for sure… Could you share a link for the respective applications from both sides? As of now i‘m not sure i completely understand what both sides exactly wanted…
Best regards
To my knowledge, there's no public link of the applications.
Cask used for aging spirits are rarely the same ones used to actually age madeira/marsala/sherry/etc. instead they are casks built specially for spirits maturation that are seasoned with the previous contents. As such, the sizes don’t have to be the same as the traditional seasoning casks – Sherry hogsheads (230-250l) are common in whisky and other usual previous occupants often sit in casks of similar sizes, hence WP’s casks. While it’s sad that Jamaica are nixing larger casks and vats, I suspect there are still lot of interesting legal casks out there.
Great comment. I'll have to look closer at this topic. With that said, the question still remains: why restrict the use of many traditional casks? Sure, there are workaround if you want a finish, but what's fundamentally *not* Jamaican about putting it into, say... a puncheon? Or an actual sherry butt, or a Madeira drum? A cynic might observe that a particular, well-known Jamaican brand is considered by many to be more cask-forward and less fermentation-forward than other Jamaican brands.
Great analysis!
from the new G.i looks like the sherry butts (500 Liters) are not allowed anymore, however sherry hogsheads are in the range of 250 Liters, so I think not as bad as it might look.