Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week

HATTON SMITH

President of Campesino Rum

 

1. Who is Hatton Smith?

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama in the early 90’s, and was fortunate to grow up in the coffee industry which allowed me the privilege of traveling to many Latin American coffee producing regions at a young age.  When I was 19, I spent a summer living in the jungles of Panama leading hiking expeditions for a team of biologists. Thereafter, I went to school to study Economics and International Trade and by the age of 21 I moved to New York City to start a career as a green coffee trader. The jungle kept calling me back, and after a while I returned to Panama to live off the grid and set up a sustainable bio-char coffee roasting operating in the jungle. In the woods by my coffee roasting operation there was a 125-gal pot and column rum still. This is where I learned my new craft: distilling. This is also where I learned the ways of the rural farmers and cowboys: El Campesino’s. They’re dedication to the quality of their craft inspired me to produce a rum they would all enjoy. Within a month or so, I took over the operations of the rum-still with a factory-like approach opting for quality, efficiency, and cash flow. One of the first things I did was to create my version of a dunder-pit where I grew a wild version of what I hoped was Clostridium Saccharobutyricum, the fabled bacteria from the Arroyo rum papers.

The implementation of dunder gave my rum some extremely potent esterification in nose and taste that customers seemed to love. This process not only was better for quality, but also for efficiency, environmental and sustainability practices. I could re-use old stillage in my next fermentations in the place of water to save water and avoid dumping the run-off stillage into the near-by river. This new rum was a hit and the cash soon began to flow. I was a gringo in rum paradise.  I loved living in the jungle I had everything I ever wanted or needed: an amazing girlfriend, great friends, community, exercise, outdoors, wildlife, but I could feel my ambition getting to me. How can I share this life with the world? How can I capture this feeling? I thought the only way I can do this is by creating a rum that is so fine and rich that one taste will transport you to the magical world of the Campesino.

In a few words, I am Coffee Man, Rum Man, an Explorer, an Adventurer, and a Future International Man of Business. After a year and a half of distilling rum in the Panamanian jungle, I have come back to the United States to bring the people of the modern world to the experience of the jungle lifestyle through a blend of Unadulterated Straight Rum from the world’s finest rum distilleries.

 

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

Allowing someone to taste Campesino Rum and have them close their eyes and go to that magical jungle world somewhere between mythology and reality where only the imagination exists.

 

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

I was 14 years old at the base of a Mayan ruin in Tikal, Guatemala, and an old man came up to me with a bottle of rum. He made me promise before drinking the rum that I would never ever mix it, ice only. From then on that’s the only way I drank it.

 

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

I believe in the inevitable evolution of the educated consumer. I want to see people catch on that rum with “natural flavors” isn’t quality rum. Kids my age care about where their food and beverages come from, and that’s a great thing for rum. In a category so loosely defined, the educated consumer will eventually be the person who dictates the quality of the spirits that producers choose to make. No more sugar-coted new make spirits with natural flavors and added colors.

 

5. Favourite Drink + Recipe

I love a Campesino straight, but lately I’ve been doing a bit a bartending and have got into Fat Washing craft cocktails.

I call this one “The Duck Hunter”

-2oz Campesino Aged XIV that has been Fat Washed with pure Duck Fat.

-1/2oz of Spiced Honey

-4 dashes of Orange bitters

-Serve in a rocks glass on a big rock with a flamed expressed orange. No garnish.

How to Fat Wash:

Take equal parts (1:1) of duck fat and Campesino Aged XIV and mix together at a hot temperature, but not boiling.

Place mixture in large container, not a bottle, shake vigorously and immediately freeze for 24 hours.

After 24 hours in freezer take container out and separate rock-solid duck fat from your new fat washed aged rum. Save the fat; it’s great for cooking and will have the Campesino Aged rum flavor.

 

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

In 5 years I predict the Rum industry will be closer to where bourbon is today, but crossed with the single origin style trends of specialty coffee.

 

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

There needs to be a series of small specialty brands, like Campesino, that produce pure, quality rums, and focus on educating the consumers to the world of ultra-premium rum.

8. Which rum would you recommend a person that?

–  Sipping a premium rum for the 1st time: Campesino Aged XIV. Don’t mix it. Ice only.

– Scotch Whisky, or Bourbon: Campesino Aged XIV because the flavor profile is similar to a premium sipping Whiskey, yet it has the unique Campesino Rum taste, created from the blend of the world’s finest rum distilleries, like Foursqaure Distillery in Barbados. Campesino is broadening the pallet of a person that is bored with the same rigid mash bill requirements of Scotch and Bourbon.

–  Likes Gin or Vodka: Campesino Silver X. It will go head-to-head with any premium vodka on the market. Campesino Silve X is clean, dry, with a very slight tint of vanilla, from the two to five years of maturing in an ex-bourbon barrel before being charcoal filtered. Try with soda or tonic and a lime.

–  Likes Cognac: Zacapa 23 Solera, because it has added sugar and sweeter than most rums it may be an easier cross over between to the perceived sweetness of Cognac.

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

-My Father: Great Businessman and community leader. He has done a lot for my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama which inspires me to do the same. People I’ve never met before stop me on the street and tell me how he has helped them and our city in some way. He has a drink named after him at The Atomic Lounge, and that’s pretty cool.

-My Grandfather: Great Businessman, and teacher. A Former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors of the United States, my grandfather is one of the smartest people alive right now. He is an extremely wise individual and has an incredible inner compass and innate ability for decision-making. I love to hear his stories from travels and business endeavors. He taught me many lessons in life.

-My Mother: A traveler, and one cool lady. If I got any “coolness” from my parents it’s not from my Dad. My mother is one of the coolest people I know. She loves new cultures, great music, and new people. My mother has taught me how to be a natural person, how to vibe with things when they feel right and recognize when they are not meant to be. She’s quite a businesswoman herself and has a great background in banking, financial projections, and advising entrepreneurs.

 

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

– Successful launch of Campesino Rum in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida with an eye on California.

– Get a Campesino Rum drink on as many drink menus as possible.

– Go for a surf.

 

11. Any last words?

Those who do, win.

 

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

Follow the journey on Instagram @campesinorum and check out our website www.campesinorum.com for some cool interactive experiences. Anyone can always follow me personally on Instagram @capt_rumcoffee or shoot me an at Hatton@campesinorum.com.