Rolling with the poncha
Pedro Ferreira looks to elevate Madeiran rum with O’Reizinho
Perhaps like many others, I discovered O’Reizinho through a Boutique-y Rum bottling released here in the UK. Firstly, the idea of rhum agricole coming from Madeira, Portugal excited me, but on the first sip I was impressed by the ripe fruity notes balanced with a herbal olive note and became keen to know more about the people behind it, and of course the spirits.
Will we see more rum coming from Madeira soon? I hope so. If we do, it seems likely that Pedro Ferreira and his family at O’Reizinho Distillery will have played their part in making it happen.
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF? WHO ARE THE PEOPLE AT O’REIZINHO AND WHY DID YOU START PRODUCING RUM?
I’m 41 years old, born in Madeira, but moved to South Africa when I was six, hence my reasonably good English. We moved back to Madeira for a few years in my teens, but then I returned to South Africa again.
Due to some health problems, I was advised by doctors in South Africa to slow down a bit (if running a distillery is slowing things down).
My father too, always visited my family and myself in South Africa and would tell me and my wife to move back to Madeira and he suggested that we could build up the distillery that he had on the island.
So, seven years ago I moved my family back to Madeira with the idea of expanding the distillery. At the time my father would do it more as a hobby and would just distil for friends in small quantities.
We quickly legalised the distillery and started growing. The first year’s production was about 1,300 litres, but this year we did 14,000 litres. It was still in very small quantities, but crucially top quality. So, I guess to sum up, it’s my dad and I here at the distillery, with the help of family when it comes to bottling etc.
FOR PEOPLE YET TO TRY YOUR RUMS, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THEIR CHARACTER? AND COULD YOU PERHAPS ALSO TALK ME THROUGH THE PRODUCTION METHOD?
Our rum is very fruity, with clear hints of sugarcane and olives. In my opinion, it’s one of the few white rums that I know that are both very nice to drink neat or in a cocktail.
We squeeze the sugarcane which the goes into a 10,000-litre stainless steel drum. It then ferments for two-three days. Once it has fermented, I will distil it on our pot stills.
WHAT IS THE RUM SCENE LIKE IN MADEIRA AND PORTUGAL IN GENERAL? DO PEOPLE HAVE A SPECIFIC PALATE THERE?
Unfortunately, the rum scene at the moment is poor here. Everyone in Madeira wants rum quick and cheap so that they can make the local drink “poncha”. We are slowing moving away from that and are investing more in ageing and in export, where our rum is generally more appreciated.
WHICH RUMS OR DISTILLERIES INSPIRE YOU – IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ANOTHER STANDOUT RUM PRODUCER, WHO WOULD IT BE?
I can’t say I have any distillery that inspires me. I love my work and I naturally always compare any rum to mine and I find that mine is superior. I do however love the marketing behind World’s End Rum. I haven’t tried them, but I like their labels and packaging.
IF YOU WERE TO MAKE A COCKTAIL WITH YOUR RUMS, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I’m terrible at cocktails. I’m too generous with rum. Someone made a daiquiri with my threeyears-old rum once and it was amazing.
WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS FOR O’REIZINHO – WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IN A YEAR, FIVE YEARS OR 10 YEARS?
Naturally I want to expand as much as possible, but with that in mind I will still always be keeping the top quality that my followers love.