Rum Connoisseur Interview of The Week: JOE SWANSON – National Spirit Specialist
Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week:
JOE SWANSON
National Spirit Specialist
1. Who is Joe Swanson?
I am the National Spirits Specialist for Vision Wine & Spirits, the import division of Martignetti Companies, where I work to deliver the spirit culture of our global partners to our partners in the US trade. I began with the company in 2015, and I see this work through the lens of brewing and distillation: I look for texture and the signature of the maker. When I taste a new spirit, I want to know why it exists. My work in the industry began in 2004 as a brewer at Harpoon in Boston, Massachusetts, and later as a brewer at Allagash in Portland, Maine, where I grew up. After that, I worked as a distiller for the Cold River Distillery in Freeport, Maine for over 10 years, and I later served as the distillery’s National Sales and Marketing Director. A craft spirit enthusiast and rum/whisk(e)y educator, I spend my time traveling the US sharing my passion with spirit audiences. I currently live in Maine with my wife and six children, where I am an avid musician and lifelong student of philosophy.
2. Biggest achievement you personally feel you have accomplished for the rum industry?
My biggest achievement in the rum industry is bringing two brands to a broader audience in the US: Ron Centenario from Costa Rica, and Ron del Barrilito from Puerto Rico. Ron Centenario is the beloved national rum of Costa Rica and is a classic example of what it means to be a great solera-matured Spanish style rum. The cocktail space (by its nature ahead of its time) tends recently to heap praise on hard-to-find high-ester English-style potstill rums or grassy French AOC Agricole rums, and this makes it essential to remind rum lovers that Spanish-style solera-matured rums deserve our equal admiration and respect. Ron del Barrilito, matured exclusively and entirely in Oloroso sherry butts at Hacienda Santa Ana in Bayamon as it was in 1880, is a cult brand historically made by the Fernandez family primarily for the Puerto Rican market. Our team is honored to have earned the responsibility to import this rum into the continental US on a broad basis for the first time. The texture, aroma, and Oloroso influence apparent in Ron del Barrilito is extraordinary. To have the opportunity to share this family heirloom is a great achievement for our company.
3. What made you fall in love with rum and when did it happen?
In a way, I fell in love with rum when I fell in love with my wife and her Puerto Rican heritage. We travelled to the island together in the winter of 2011 with our youngest child at the time to visit relatives and enjoy San Juan. It was there that I encountered Ron del Barrilito, and ever since, in my own way I have been under the spell of rum in general and Las Estrellas in particular.
4. What is that thing that makes you want to continue in the rum industry?
When I speak to groups about spirits and begin to talk about premium rum, I delight in seeing the surprised faces of rum novices looking in disbelief at their friends, who find that they can no longer hide their enthusiasm for the rum category and their secret love for their own rum experiences. I cannot help but smile when, as lifelong friends turn to one another, one admits to the other that while in the past they have always exclusively enjoyed whiskey together, it is really for rum that one has been pining. With so much information available across modern spirit categories, enthusiasts often dive so deeply into their avowed interest (Scotch whisky, for instance) that they fail to see that the well is equally deep in the world of rum.
5. Favorite drink and recipe?
I must admit that a proper daiquiri made with Ron del Barrilito 3 Star is always a correct decision. 2 ounces Barrilito, ¾ ounce fresh lime juice, ¾ ounce simple syrup, 1 dash of orange bitters, shaken, strained, no garnish. Barrilito parries the lime unmistakably. It is a classic for a reason!
6. Where do you see the rum industry today and in the next 5 years?
Today’s rum industry is still quite wild. While global brands continue to dominate the market, consumers are beginning to understand that rum from different places tastes different. Geography and craftsmanship are beginning to emerge as powerful differentiators. Some of the newer brands in the US have helped crack this door open in a meaningful way. Maggie Campbell from Privateer Rum, for instance, is measurably improving the rum category through her work. I think that in 5 more years, we will start to see more transparency in rum marketing, especially regarding age statements and additives. The modern spirit consumer demands this transparency, and premium rum can embrace that demand.
7. What do you think needs to happen to grow the premium category of rum?
I think the industry needs to do a better job telling the story of blending. Marketing efforts in other spirit categories have prioritized the distillery of origin as the defining chapter in a brand’s identity. Unless an aged spirit is offered at cask strength from a single cask, everything is a blend, whether it is single malt scotch, añejo tequila, or very old rum. The time-honored skills of the blenders behind the brands are what ensure that the consumer experience is of the highest quality. The industry doesn’t tell this story well enough, and we need to develop better language for ourselves as narrators.
8. Which rum would you recommend a person that:
Is sipping a premium rum for the 1st time? Talk to a bartender you trust and get a recommendation based on your preferences. Try the premium rum neat at room temperature beside any famous leading global brand. Do a fair comparison without the usual camouflage and celebrate the differences.
Likes Scotch Whisky? Ron del Barrilito 3 Star from Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The sherry character will speak to anyone who has ever fancied a sherry-matured single malt such as The Macallan. You may never go back.
Likes Bourbon? Smith & Cross Jamaican Navy Strength. The spice and prickly-warm mouthfeel will feel familiar to lovers of high-proof rye and bourbon.
Likes Gin or Vodka? Privateer Silver Reserve from Ipswich, Massachusetts. White rum that still has the fingerprint of the maker firmly upon it will impress anyone with an affinity for gin’s botanical dimension.
Likes Cognac? Ron Centenario 25 Year Old from Costa Rica. Chocolate, spice, mocha, and tobacco carry over beautifully into the world of Cognac.
9. Share some (2-3) of your mentors and how they have helped you.
Luis Planas, the Master Blender for Hacienda Santa Ana and Ron del Barrilito in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, originally the Master Blender for Bacardi International, has forgotten more about rum than most of us could ever hope to learn. He is a true gentleman who is both proud of what he creates and honored to carry on a long family tradition.
Susana Masis Quiros, the Master Blender for Centenario Internacional in Curridabat, Costa Rica, has impressed me with her vision as a blender. Her ability to see a baby photo and instinctively know how the child will look as an adult is the epitome of practical wisdom. At first glance, it seems impossible, but the results speak for themselves.
Carmen & Carl Martignetti are the owners of the Martignetti Companies and of Vision Wine & Spirits, and they are easy people to look up to. Passionate, involved, and supportive ownership is the secret ingredient to our team’s achievement and we are very grateful for it.
10. What 3-5 things do you have on your bucket list for the next 12 months?
We have some unique and very limited single-cask cask-strength tropically-matured rums from Fiji and Guadeloupe coming over to the US through Valinch & Mallet, an independent spirits bottler based in Milan with whom we have a new partnership, and I am very excited to take those to market in 2019.
I am already planning to bring the rest of our US team down to meet the people at Hacienda Santa Ana in Bayamon in 2019. There is no substitute for first-hand experience, not to mention tostones and mofongos!
As a life-long New Englander, I am looking forward staying warm with fine rum and great friends over a few cold snowy nights this winter. It is worth remembering that well-packed snow can be an ideal Tiki weapon.
11. Any last words?
Thanks very much to the folks at The Rum Lab for helping raise the profile of premium rum. We appreciate what you do!
12. How can people learn more about you? Website? Social media page?
I’m a bit social media shy, but you can learn more and follow Vision Wine & Spirits at:
https://www.facebook.com/visionwineandspirits/
https://www.instagram.com/visionwineandspirits/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/vision-wine-spirits/
