ONLINE PORTAL PROMOTES MADEIRA RUM
A new website dedicated to Madeira rum features information about the production history of one of the ingredients of the traditional Poncha drink
It is the ingredient of one of the region's most renowned beverages: Poncha. Perfect to be paired with a cigar or serve as the highlight of some exotic cocktail. Over the past few years, Madeira rum has gained fans within and beyond the island and now there is a website collecting all the information about its history.
The website dedicated to rum was launched last June by the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts Institute (IVBAM) and is the result of this regional institution's continued strategy of promoting regional products.
For Américo Pereira, Madeiran sommelier and one of the ambassadors of Madeira rum, this was an important step towards the affirmation of the product, which follows the example set by other producers and countries, helping to put Madeira on the map of the world's rums.
Américo Pereira frequently participates in international competitions dedicated to the rating of wines and spirits and for this professional there is no doubt that Madeira rum deserves the privileged position it has come to earn over recent years.
As the Madeiran sommelier explains, Madeira rum is easily identifiable and there is a reason for this: 'In agricultural rums, we see a great intensity, specially in white, younger ones. They feature a blend of aromas ranging from floral to fruity and herbal, which is not the case for beverages with different origins.
Our rum has a very clean aroma and is easily told apart from others'.
As it turns out, the origin of rum in Madeira is tied to the culture of sugarcane, introduced into the region around 1425, when people first started to settle on the island. And, if at first, sugarcane culture was meant for the production of 'white gold' – as sugar used to be known then, due to its high commercial value –, in the 19th century, it became associated with the production of rum instead.
Beyond the history associated with rum, the website created by IVBAM also details the production process for sugarcane – which produces the juice that is alcoholically fermented and used to make rum – and the specificities of this spirit. But it also speaks of the different types of rum and about the people who dedicate themselves to its production.
More than a competition between producers, there is a joint effort in promoting Madeira rum, which is now more foregrounded with the launch of the website.
William Hinton Rum's Mário Gomes highlights that cooperation and synergy between several local producers even dating it. Cooperation has 'intensified since 2011, since Madeira rum was given a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for the production of agricultural rum, that is, rum that is distilled from sugarcane'.
The ambassador for the William Hinton Rum brand, one of the five producers of agricultural rum in Madeira further explains that with the growth of the sector in old rums – that is, rums which have been subjected to an ageing process in oak casks for a minimum three years –, which are 'more desirable for export markets', the convergence of producers has been beneficial to reach other places.
For Luís Faria, one of the overseers of producer J. Faria e Filhos, the primary markets of agricultural Madeira rum include France, England, Germany, Italy, Belgium, South Korea and the United States of America.
According to producers, rum production is increasing more and more and there are already innovations with proven success abroad, like ageing in Madeira wine casks. The website also doubles as a means through which to take news such as this to other places in the world.