Miami business owners develop 'super premium' rum


The buzz is spreading about Zafra, an aged "super premium" rum,


You might say rum runs through the veins of business partners Lazaro Carbajal and Gardner Blandon, owners of Miami-based Dana Wine & Spirits Importers.
After eight years of importing Zacapa, a super premium rum from Guatemala that the partners introduced to the United States and nursed to become No. 1 in its category worldwide, half the brand was sold to Diageo in 2008.
Believing the market was still primed for a new super premium rum, Carbajal and Blandon worked for two years to develop their own brand, Zafra Rum Master Reserve 21, which they launched in October of last year.
``We felt there was still a tremendous opportunity in the premium rum category -- the aged rum category,'' said Blandon, 35, vice president and co-owner of Dana Wine & Spirits Importers.
Zafra, aged 21 years, is made at a distillery in Panama and retails for about $44 -- hence the ``super premium'' category. So far, it's available in eight states: Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, New York and New Jersey.
In the $35 to $45 category, it competes with Zacapa, Mount Gay Extra Old, Appleton Estate Extra 12, Rhum Barbancourt 15-year and Flor de Cana 18-year-old.
For their brand, the partners chose the name Zafra, the word in Spanish that means the act of harvesting the sugar cane.
The amber-colored rum is derived from sugar cane, as is all rum, which is processed into molasses and then fermented. Afterwards, it is distilled and aged in American oak casks.
Before bringing Zafra to the public, the partners labored over finding the right distillery with aged rum reserves, and testing the rum to perfect its taste.
They chose a company in France with experience in packaging and design for the spirits industry to print the labels and manufacture the thick-glass-bottomed bottles.
Already, the rum has won four taste awards, including the Ultimate Spirit Challenge in New York City, where it won 95 points, and an ``Ultimate Recommendation'' by the panel of judges.
``We always knew we had a great product,'' Blandon said. ``But when you enter a competition and the brand comes out with that result, you know.''
As the economy enters recovery, experts say Zafra's timing may be on target.
Rum is rising in stature in the United States, along with tequila, as it gains popularity among the younger generation of drinkers, said Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, advisors to the spirits market, based in Buellton, Calif.
``In the next year or two, you'll see the category really begin to light up, because we know that rum is the fashionable drink for young drinkers, trendy drinkers, when they're out entertaining themselves.''
In fact, despite the recession, sales by the case of premium rum in the United States rose 1.7 percent in 2009, compared to 2008, though super premium rums fell 1 percent, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council.
Overall, rum ranks as the second-largest spirit category, up 2.9 percent in sales in 2008, to 24.6 million cases, the Distilled Spirits Council's data show.
Demand has been driven by the popularity of the Mojito cocktail, the boom in flavored rums, the rising number of brands entering the U.S. market and the impact of Latin culture on the U.S. consumer market, according to the Liquor Handbook 2009.
But unlike vodka or Scotch, the super premium category of rum is still in its infancy in the United States.
``It's the only one left for people to take to the next level,'' said Carbajal, 47.
The partners' goal for Zafra -- which generated $320,000 in sales in the first eight months since it was launched -- is to sell 50,000 cases a year in five years.
``That's doable,'' said Pirko, the advisor to the spirits market.
``Our first-year goal was to be in four markets, and we are already in eight,'' Carbajal said. ``We are exceeding our expectations.''
Here in South Florida, a number of liquor store chains and independent liquor stores already carry the brand, including Crown Wine & Spirits, Big Daddy's, Total Wines & Spirits, Gulf Liquors and Mega Liquors.
Gulf Liquors, off Brickell Avenue in Miami, has been carrying Zafra since its inception, and sells about three cases a month, said wine and spirits buyer Luis Bordon Jr.
``We've actually turned people onto it that were taking other rums. People have switched over,'' Bordon said. ``It's obviously still in its infancy stage, but it is getting people's attention.''
Customers say it's a very smooth rum, a sipping rum, a rum-drinkers rum, he said.
Several local restaurants also offer Zafra, such as Smith & Wollensky, Prime 112, Abraci and Area 31.
``It's well-balanced, mixed in cocktails,'' said Gastón Gonzalez, Area 31's mixologist, who created a ``Papa Doble,'' for the bar menu, combining Zafra, maraschino cherry liquor, fresh lime juice and grapefruit juice.
Carbajal and Blandon began their careers in the retail liquor business. Carbajal co-owned two liquor stores in Kendall and Miami Lakes, Vintage Liquors and Lakeside Liquors, and Blandon was a manager. In 2000, Carbajal and his partners sold the stores, and he and Blandon started Dana Wine & Spirits Importers.
``We saw a great opportunity -- since we were based in Miami, and had a great relationship with [distributors] Southern Wine & Spirits, as clients of theirs -- to bring Hispanic -- Latin -- products into the U.S.,'' Blandon said. ``And market them correctly to the different ethnic cultures.''


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/23/v-fullstory/1785472/miami-business-owners-develop.html#ixzz0xRTMIxUE

Zafra Master Reserve aged rum from Panama
September 25th, 2009 1:07 pm
Dana Wine And Spirits Importers of Miami, Florida has released a new premium rum in the U.S. market that is gaining the attention of many rum experts.


Zafra Master Reserve rum from Panama
Zafra Master Reserve 21 year old rum is distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits with a suggested retail price of US$39.99. This 80 proof spirit is available in stores acorss the U.S.

This luxury rum is a masterful blend that's neither sweet nor dry, not too woody and without any one flavor dominating the profile. It exhibits a perfect balance of well aged marques brought together by a master blender.

Zafra Master Reserve 21 earned a Gold Award at the RumXP International Tasting Competition at the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival.

Dana Importers is best known for introducing the Zacapa line of fine rums from Guatemala to the U.S. market in 2001.

According to principals of Dana, Zafra Master Reserve is the result of working with Mr. Francisco "Don Pancho" Fernandez, a world-renowned master distiller and blender to create the finest premium rum from select Panamanian reserves.

The company is pleased to see the product well received among rum enthusiasts and upscale venues, with strong endorsements from leading rum experts around the world.

Let us hear from all the Connoysers or if you prefer Connoisseurs .....neat rum what do you prefer and is it all about age and second hand wood

BERMUDEZ CARTA DORADA THAT MY WINE.

Mount Gay Extra Old
A fine rum!
As far as my restaurant is concerned I stock a blended


A famous old brand, chosen by Sir Ernest Shackleton to accompany him on his Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition of 1914 'for medicinal and celebratory purposes'.


S.