The Rum Experience - Tapa blanda

After almost a decade of writing about rum, I find myself converted into a "rum preacher," always trying to improve people's opinion about my favorite distilled spirit.

Looking back, I can see how this happened. For centuries after its invention, society's upper class considered rum to be a drink fit for sailors, dockhands, rowdies and such. "Fifteen men on the Dead Man's chest, yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" comes to mind as one of Robert Louis Stevenson's most quoted phrases.

Despite its origin on the island of Barbados in 1703, England's Commission on Whiskey and Other Potable Spirits did not accept rum as a spirit until 1909! It is no wonder why rum has always faced an up-hill battle when it comes to convincing people of its high quality.

As I write these words, I realize that society and consumers are changing. More restaurants (from small eateries to five star establishments) are starting to carry wider selections of rum, distilleries are expanding and diversifying their product line to reflect new and evolving trends, and the mass media is more eager to jump on rum related stories and events.

Beverage retail experts suggest the reason for the move is an ever-changing shift in the metaphorical "spot light" which graces individual liquor segments from time to time. Single Malts have been under it, so have Vodkas and Tequilas. Is rum next on the list? Experts all agree it is.

For the past six years, author and rum consultant Luis Ayala has been serving as a judge in the world's most acclaimed annual Rum Tasting Competition. When he is not judging, Luis spends most of his free time researching rum, writing books on the subject, travelling to distilleries around the world and promoting this wonderful spirit. He lives in Round Rock, Texas with his wife Margaret, where they own one of the largest rum collections in the world.