Exclusive Interview with Mr. Jerry Gitany, Co-Founder of La Confrerie du Rhum

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Exclusive Interview with Mr. Jerry Gitany, Co-Founder of La Confrerie du Rhum, Rum Gazette and The Rum Embassy

Q: What is your name, title, company and location?

A: My name is Jerry Gitany. I am cofounder of: La Confrerie du Rhum, Rum Gazette and The Rum Embassy. I am also Rum ambassador at Christian de Montaguere, the largest rum store in France. I live in Paris, France.

Q: Your grandfather lived in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, right? Was this the beginning of your relationship with rum? If not, what was your inspiration or reason to get involved with rum/rhum?

A: Yes my grandfather Pedro Gitany was living in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. But my relationship

with rum came from my other grandfather, my mom’s father Hypolite Durieu, who was the director of THE SAINT-JAMES distillery at St. Pierre in Martinique where I was born. I also had an uncle who was the accountant of the DEPAZ distillery at St. Pierre where I spent most of my holidays with my cousins in the 60’s. Therefore I started to be interested in rum very soon. I remember when I was a teen, preparing Ti -punch for my grandfather and his friends while they were playing cards or dominos. Later on I was sometimes allowed to taste it.

Q: When average rum consumers hear the terms “French Rhum” or “Agricole Rhum”, some of them think that the terms refer to ANY rhum distilled in a French territory, but this is not the case. Authentic “Rhum Agricole” has very strict requirements, involving minimum distillation column diameter, for example, which leaves many small “craft” distillers out of consideration. Could you elaborate on this topic?

A: We have to be precise. “French Rhum” is not necessarily an “Agricole Rhum”. Agricole Rhum is rum made from fresh cane juice as opposed to rum made from molasses. Both can be found on the French territory even though Agricole Rhum is the most important. As a matter of fact, Agricole Rhum is a specificity of the French departments: Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique and Reunion Island. Even rum made from pure fresh cane juice in other French territories like Tahiti, for example, cannot be labelled “Rhum Agricole”. And you can find rum made from molasses in Guadeloupe and Reunion Island. The requirements you mentioned above are related to the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) regulation that exists only in Martinique. To obtain the AOC you have to respect many rules such as: the land of your field has to be agreed, a number of plates of your column still have to be in copper, you can’t distill over 75°, pot still is not authorized…. Etc.

Therefore craft distillers can produce Agricole Rhum but won’t have the AOC label.

Q: In the British West Indies, some of the island nations are having a hard time justifying the agricultural use of the land, when compared to the potential additional income of devoting that land to tourism (hotels, golf courses, etc.). This situation has -sadly- resulted in a partial or total reliance on imported molasses for rum production. Do the French territories face the same threat?

A: The French territories do not face the same threat, as the situation was different since the mid 19th Century. At that time, due to the worldwide sugar crisis, in most of the Caribbean Islands the sugar cane factories disappeared, and they started to import molasses. Meanwhile in the French colonies, you had a restructuration of the economic model. Central sugar factories replaced the small bankrupt factories. The planters continued to grow their fields in order to sell their sugar canes to the central factories. But some of them, instead of selling their sugar canes, kept them to produce rhum from the sugar cane juice. That was the birth of “Rhum Agricole”. Nowadays with the uprising demand for Agricole Rhum, the trend is to have more land for growing sugar cane.

Q: A couple of the driving forces behind the rise in consumption of rum are the growing popularity of speakeasy and Tiki establishments and themes, both of which use rum quite extensively. Have these same trends helped increase awareness and sales of Rhum Agricole?

A: Of course the growing popularity and the increase of speakeasy, tiki and rum bars have an impact on the increase awareness and sales of “Rhum Agricole”. But also the popularity and the multiplication of Rum Festivals in many big cities all over the world, along with the dissemination of information on the net through many websites dedicated to rum.

Q: Some craft distillers in the USA, specially those using traditional pot (whisky) stills are trying to make rum, using the same approach they know for whiskey/bourbon. The result is a heavy distillate more akin to a cachaça or rhum agricole, which is not always well- received by American consumers when it is un-aged. Do you see a parallel with rhum agricole?

A: Yes it is almost the same. The unaged Rhum Agricole that we call white rum, represents the biggest part of rum consumed in the French West Indies, principally through our “national cocktail” the Ti -punch. In Europe and even in France, the consumer drinks principally aged rum. Nevertheless with the emergence of premium white Agricole Rhums, more and more consumers are discovering and star t to appreciate white Agricole Rhum.

Q: Can you describe to our readers the concept of an “habitation” and what makes it unique in terms of sugarcane varieties and micro climates?

A: One could write a book on the concept of “Habitation”, so I’ll try to describe it in a few

words. It is an economic and social model that appeared in the French colonies at the 17th Century. They are altogether production, transformation and export units for sugar. The owners were named “habitants” whilst in the British Colonies they were names planters. By the way that ’s why Agricole Rhum was called “rhum z’habitant ” at that time. Nowadays the term “Habitation“ is still devoted to the old Master House even though there is no distillery anymore. Nevertheless it is true that each distillery, depending on its geographical situation, has its own sugar cane variety, micro climate and soil called “terroir”, which make it unique.

Q: You have done an excellent job educating consumers and increasing awareness of rhum agricole, but there is still a lot of work to be done. What are the biggest obstacles you face?

A: Yes, but a lot has still to be done.

Few years ago rum was not well known and had a bad reputation. Poor quality rums were used principally for cooking and pastries. Now with the growing interest of consumers toward rum, we have to explain, inform and educate the consumers as well as the professionals (bar tenders, liquor store owners…) about the differences between Agricole Rhum and molasses rum. Then the consumer can choose easily according to his taste. The biggest obstacle remains ignorance, but as soon as you explain and make taste, it becomes so easier!

Q: When it comes to drinking rhum agricole, I particularly prefer sipping the “Vieux” and “Trés Vieux” of ferings, but I also enjoy the “Rhum Blanc” in a Ti-Punch. What about you, how do you prefer to enjoy your rhum?

A: As a Martinican, I love my ti–punch -a small drop of sugar or cane syrup, white ”Rhum Agricole” and a peel of green lemon- as an aperitif, and the “vieux” for sipping very late at night in a quiet moment!

Q: There have been distilleries (large and small) outside of the French West Indies who have at tempted to sell their rums labeled as “Rhum Agricole”. What are your thoughts regarding this, should they be allowed, as long as they are adhering to the same criteria outlined in the DOC?

A: It doesn’t bother me as long as they are produced from fresh cane juice, and respect certain criteria. As I said earlier, it is a matter of French law. You have for example a good agricole rum in the U.S as the St. Georges, but if they want to sell it in France they would have to change the label to pure cane juice rum. Even in a French territory like Tahiti, which is not a French Department, they cannot use the label Rhum Agricole. It’s the same with foreign countries which produce pure cane juice rum like, for example, Thailand, Mauritius, the US, etc. In my opinion, they should be allowed to use the term Rhum Agricole.

Q: Saint James Rhums (from Martinique) recently recruited you to help promote Agricole Rhums in Europe. Why did you choose this task with Saint James and can you tell us a little about who Saint James is and their role in the Rhum world? Last month you at tended some rum shows/ festivals in Austria, Italy, Belgium and Germany ( just to name a few). What was your experience like in promoting/ education consumers about Agricole Rhums?

A: In fact, I haven’t been recruited by Saint-James. With my partner of The Rum Embassy, Benoit Bail, we are representing 12 brands (7 from Martinique and 5 from Guadeloupe) to promote “Rhum Agricole” in Europe. Here is the list of brands we are representing:

• From Martinique: Saint-James, HSE , La MAUN Y, Trois-Rivieres, La Favorite,Clément and JM

• From Guadeloupe: Damoiseau, Bologne, Longueteau, Reimonenq and Bielle.

Of course Saint-James represents something special for me since my grandfather was one of the directors for many years and I was born on the Plantation. Saint-James role is very important, it’s one of the oldest world’s distillery still operating and it’s the world’s number one producer of “Rhum Agricole”. 

Q: Luis and I have been teaching rum classes through our Rum University. We offer 5-day Rum Courses where we teach the students about the business of rum, fermentation/distillation of molasses based rums, barrel aging and blending. Do you offer anything similar in the Rhum world?

A: We don’t offer such rum courses, even if we do many master classes about rum.

Q: If people want to reach out to you, how may they contact you?

A: Of course and with pleasure, people can contact me at: jy.gitany@orange.fr

Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

A: Nothing special except that it was a real pleasure to meet you and Luis for the first time three years ago at the International Rum Conference in Madrid.

Thank you for your interest in Rhum Agricole. Cheers to you and all your

readers!

Margaret: Again, Jerry, thank you for this opportunity and I wish you all the best as you

continue your Rhum journey.