Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week:

ERIC KAYE

Holmes Cay Rum Owner

1. Who is Eric Kaye?

I’m a New Yorker and longtime rum aficionado.  I have also been a producer and composer of music for film, TV and commercials for the past 25 years.  In 2019, I created the US independent bottling company Holmes Cay with one simple premise: to seek out the world’s best rums and release them unadulterated and at cask strength.

A devoted scuba diver for more than 30 years, I’ve traveled the world, having visited more than 100 countries.  Throughout those travels, which included nearly every island in the Caribbean, I came across spectacular rums never seen in the States. In Europe too, I discovered other incredible Caribbean rums, many bottled at cask strength, and almost completely unknown back home.  I wanted to bring these rums home and share them with American lovers of rum and fine spirits, and thus Holmes Cay was born.

2. Biggest achievement you personally feel you have accomplished for the rum industry.

I’d like to think that I’ve shown it’s possible for a quality independent bottler of ultra-premium rums to exist in the United States.  It’s definitely far more difficult than doing it in Europe, but it can be done, provided you’ve got a lot of passion and are willing to put in a ton of sweat. I am an active cheerleader for the traditional rum distillers that promote honesty and integrity in their products. Holmes Cay will continue to promote and honor traditional rum production methods.

3. What made you fall in love with rum and when did it happen?

I have been drinking rum for over 30 years, but the first half had largely been constrained to the “Cocktails of the Caribbean”: Painkillers, Piña Coladas, Cuba Libre and the like. I think the first rum I ever had was in a Bahama Mama on the island of Grand Bahamas in 1986.  Back then there were two types of rum – light and dark.  The thought of sipping a rum straight never occurred to me until a fateful trip to Guyana and Barbados in 2003.  On that trip, I got hit with a double whammy of the El Dorado 25 in Guyana, followed by the Mount Gay Tricentennial in Barbados.  It completely and forever opened my eyes to what rum could be.  The past 16 years have been a wonderful journey, exploring hundreds of amazing rums distilled all over the world.

4. What is that thing that makes you want to continue in the rum industry?

There are so many incredible rums that are completely unknown in the United States.  I want to continue to bring these rums home and share them with both rum lovers and lovers of other fine spirits.  I want to spread the gospel of the incredible work of these talented distillers.  I’d love to convert a fair share of bourbon drinkers and introduce them to the wonderful world of rums.

5. Favorite Drink + Recipe

Favorite drink: A neat glass of Holmes Cay Barbados 2005 with the tiniest splash of water.

As for recipe, a Probitas daiquiri is hard to beat.   2oz Probitas rum, 1oz fresh lime juice, 1/2 oz simple syrup. Combine them in a shaker with ice, shake until chilled and strain into a chilled glass.  With the Probitas, you’ve got the best of Jamaica and Barbados in one bottle.

6. Where do you see the rum industry today and in the next 5 years?

Right now, I see the rum industry as full of promise and potential.  Thankfully, there’s been an increasing trend towards transparency in production, and towards a more knowledgeable consumer.  There’s still a long way to go, since much of the broader US public’s conception of rum goes little beyond mass produced rums such as Bacardi, Captain Morgan and Malibu.  I think there will be a continuation of the recent growth of craft rum production.  In five years, we will start to finally see some great aged American rums as well.

I also think there will be an increased acceptance of high-end rum on the top shelf alongside the best whiskeys, bourbons, and now even tequilas. There are many retailers that stare at you in disbelief when you request or suggest a rum costing $100 or more, yet have no problem pushing $650 bourbon.  We are here to help change this mindset.

7. What do you think needs to happen to grow the premium category of rum?

It’s an interesting question, because unlike scotch, which only comes from Scotland, and tequila, which comes from Mexico, rum can come from anywhere in the world.  WIRSPA are doing great work promoting Authentic Caribbean Rum, but a group of several countries is I think less influential than one nation putting a lot of promotion and regulation toward a source of national pride. The decentralization of rum production is one challenge.

There needs to be a weeding out of the less than transparent producers at the high end.  When you have a “23” year-old aged rum selling for under $40 a bottle, it’s hard for the uneducated consumer to understand and properly assess the quality of a true tropically aged spirit. Holmes Cay is here to increase transparency and talk more about craftsmanship and traditional distilling methods. Growing the premium space means educating the consumers of mass-produced rums and gaining the trust of those who enjoy sipping other fine spirits.

Also, we need to move beyond palm trees and pirates in selling premium rums.  We designed the Holmes Cay label to be minimal and elegant because we don’t see rum as a vacation or an exotic drink. Like other premium spirits, rum should be celebrated for traditional distilling methods and for not taking shortcuts to achieve an ultra-premium product. Those who choose Holmes Cay rum can trust that the contents are exactly what is stated on the bottle without post-distillation additives, and that it will be an amazing sipping experience.

8. Which rum would you recommend a person that:

• Sipping premium rum for the 1st time – Appleton 21 – Joy Spence is a national treasure of Jamaica.  The fact she can produce this amazing rum at such a relatively low price is simply incredible.
• Likes Scotch Whisky – One of the El Dorado Single Barrel/Rare Cask rums (Enmore, Port Morant, Versailles).  Some of them have a wonderful almost peat-like quality, and unlike much of the El Dorado line, have no added sugars.
• Likes Bourbon – Holmes Cay Barbados 2005 – The Foursquare Distillery is often lauded for making rum to win over bourbon fans.  The Barbados 2005, our own independent bottling, is already winning over many bourbon fans in its short existence.
• Likes Gin or Vodka – Privateer Silver Reserve – Maggie Campbell is making the best rum in America, hands down.  This white rum has just enough herbal notes to make it appealing to a gin drinker, and mixes with a tonic to create something spectacular.
• Likes Cognac – Foursquare Empery – Richard Seale is the Wizard of Rum in my eyes.  The Empery, partially aged in ex-sherry casks, manages to bring out a sweetness rivaling the best cognacs, yet no sugar is added.

9. Share some (2-3) of your mentors and how they have helped you.

Thankfully, most of the rum world has been extremely supportive in our rum journey.

Richard Seale is someone who has been extremely supportive and helpful to us, every step of the way.  He’s been wonderfully generous with his time and advice, offering guidance, while producing some of the best rum on Earth. I don’t think we could have possibly launched Holmes Cay without continual encouragement from Richard (and Gayle!).

I must also credit Ed Hamilton. In creating the Ministry of Rum forums so many years ago, he made it possible for this small world of rum fanatics to connect and learn together.  In the days before Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram, the MoR forum was THE place to learn about and discuss rums.  In addition, Ed not only showed us that it was possible to create an independent bottler in the US, but helped us to figure out how to get there.

There are a great many other folks in the rum community who have also been extremely supportive and helpful in our journey, but I’m hesitant to list them all for fear of accidentally omitting someone!

10. What 3-5 things do you have in your bucket list for the next 12 months?

– Travel to at least 3 to 4 distilleries around the world, and release several new limited editions of Holmes Cay.

– Celebrate my 50th birthday somewhere tropical surrounded by friends and family.

– Return to Panama to sail the San Blas Islands.  They’re completely unspoiled, like visiting the Caribbean 500 years ago.

– Take a live aboard boat to dive in a place I haven’t been to yet.

11. Any last words?

“Rum is for sipping, not flipping.”

Other than that, since we aren’t a distiller, we aren’t searching for a single taste, but for a variety of tastes that we curate for our customers. Our goal is to introduce US rum drinkers to tastes and expressions they haven’t had access to before. That is an independent bottler’s reason to exist. Rum is such amazing liquor because it has so many different expressions. The differences between English and French style rums, for example, which start with the different uses of sugarcane as molasses or fresh pressed cane or cane juice, respectively.  You have different processes and extremely different resulting tastes.

We want those who love rum already or who are learning about rum to be able to compare really well-made examples of different-making rum styles and different terroirs. This is what gets people excited about the category and what is exciting to us. They should be able to trust that the rums we offer were made in a transparent process without additives post-distillation. There are no shortcuts to achieving amazing taste through distillation and aging, and there are choices that great distillers make. We want to celebrate that artistry.

For our future editions, this may mean bringing special casks from distilleries that haven’t yet been sold on the US market, or that aren’t available currently.  Or like the Barbados 2005, we are bottling a great aged Foursquare at full cask strength. That strength hasn’t previously been available in the US.

12. How can people learn more about you? Website? Social Media Page?

Website: http://www.holmescay.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holmescay

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holmescay/