From the Editor
Romance vs. Reason
Why are we passionate about the things (or people) we love? Is it because we understand them logically and that pleases us or because of the irrational or unexplainable way in which they make us feel?
Did our favorite rum gain that title through our understanding of every scientific facet of its creation or because it makes our taste buds happy, or because it helps us recall pleasant memories from our past?
Luis Ayala
I think that John Denver put it best, in his song “Perhaps Love”:
“Oh, love to some is like a cloud,
To some as strong as steel,
For some a way of living,
For some a way to feel,
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go,
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know.”
Our reverence towards our heroes is much like our passion towards our favorite drinks or foods. Why then, do people advice against meeting our heroes? In the case of human heroes, meeting them in person often results in the discovery of traits previously obscured to us (“oh, he is sooo short”) and in the case of food and drink, learning how they are actually made can uncover unpleasant facts that are hard to ignore later (“is THAT how sausage is made?”).
Distilled spirits in general, and rum in particular, are no exception to the rule about meeting our heroes. I often hear comments after people visit their favorite distillery, remarking how unpleasant the smell of the oxidation ponds was or how dunder pits are “so gross”.
Perhaps this is why people also say that “love is blind,” because the blindness allows us to enjoy life’s pleasures without being bogged down by the aspects we find annoying or irritating. To love and to reason are human, but to do both at the same time is divine!
Cheers!
Luis Ayala,
Editor and Publisher
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rumconsultant