Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week:
KNUD STRAND
Left Hand Spirits Founder

 

1. Who is Knud Strand?

I grew up in Denmark, France and Mauritius, lived in Spain and Venezuela. My formal training was business school and a bit of law school. I started in the business of Danish Designer Furniture in Denmark, then High End Cosmetics in France as a Global Export Manager, then 7 years with Bacardi Martini doing sales. With all those experiences I now use them in my day to day job, working with my own company to bring high end, locally sourced batch/organic spirits to the market, either locally or globally.

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

Being a part of the Mhoba Rum adventure, with its creator/owner Robert Greaves, who created Mhoba Rum in South Africa and built his own stills, sugar cane press. Robert has 400 hectares of own organic hand cut sugarcane. I have worked closely with him to take Mhoba Rum from an interesting brand. People were already talking about at the Uk Rum Fest some years ago (that they went to thanks to the interest of Ian Burrell), to a sellable high profiled Quality Rum that is successful in France and more and more countries each month.

After working closely together on the whole range the owner of the company even named my blend, Strand 101. Besides the commercial success (for a small noncommercial brand), it is for me an achievement to put the Focus on quality Rum from the African continent, opening the way for many new brands in the future.

African Rum has already been here for years, coming from places like Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion or Cap Verde, but in my opinion they all have their own identity and terroir, we are now bring the whole African continent to the table.

 

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

In my upbringing I had my first encounter with sugarcane at the Age of 5 in Mauritus (It was the only sweets around), then with Rum as a bartender at 18, Rum and Coke and Piña Colada. Later I traveled to Brazil 5 years straight, a month every year, with my French Brazilian girlfriend, drinking Cachaca trying a new one almost every day in Caipirinha Cocktails, and loving it, but i did not see it as Rum, it had its own character, it was Brazil.

Then I met and married a Girl from Venezuela: Women and Rum.

While living in Venezuela, visiting Distilleries like Santa Teresa, going to concerts there, Rugby Matches, playing domino, going to baseball games, drinking Guarapita (Fruit infused Rum) on the beach, enjoying their Rums straight, with a bit of lime, with coke, going out in the sugar cane fields again, and being in a culture where, even if wasn’t considered fancy back then, Rum was/is big part of the culture. I definitely fell in love with Rum.

Coming back to France the two worlds met in the shape of French Rhum tradition (with both pure sugar cane juice rums and molasses Rums), and that’s what convinced me Rum/Ron/Rhum is everything you want it to be, with each its style, its terroir, history, and after 12 years in this, of making my passion for Rum my work, I feel I am just beginning to scrape the surface, every time I think I know a lot, more pops up.

 

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

The world of Rum is so big, so old, so much history, so many interesting terroirs to explore, from the Funky rums of Jamaica, the great Rums of Barbados, to the delicate Asian Rums, small South American producers that have been making pure sugar cane juice, rum that only few people outside those countries have tasted.

The Mexican Rums coming out, like their Aguardientes and Charanda, or Japanese Rums like Nine Leaves, making a rum just as good as the best Japanese Whisky’s, and of course the great continent of Africa with all its different flavors. I love Molasses Rums but i think the future for me, lies in the pure sugarcane juice Rums (only 5% of rum today) with all its variety of flavors from Delicate Rums like Issan Rum or Chalong Bay from Thailand, Depaz or Trois Riviere in Martinique, to powerful funky Rums, being produced in South Africa by Robert Greaves at Mhoba Rum, so many things to discover and develop.

 

5. Favorite Drink + Recipe

For the moment it’s a simple Daiquiri. 1 part Mhoba Select white, 2 parts lime juice, sugar, shaken on Ice. It is such a simple cocktail, but from there you can go anywhere. A close second will be what we call an African Mule: Mhoba Rum Strand 101, lime, Ginger beer.

 

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

The Rum industry is growing and getting more attention. And I see it going from Rum is Fun (which did attract a lot people), to everybody having their own favorite style, a bit like wine, and the more the big companies try to create standardized products, the more there will be people saying. I have tried the standards what else is out there?

Every year “small” especially Rums are gaining market shares, with both adulterated sugared rums but also with high quality, cleaner/organic products. Some years back the mayor brands represented 95% of the market (even if those numbers weren’t correct), following the same numbers they now represent 80% and those 20% are made up of hundreds of small brands, independent bottlers, and a dosing larger ones growing and fighting for their place in the global market.

To sum up, I see rum in the future being as global as Whisky is, in the future Rum is not the New Gin, but the new Whisky.

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

More transparency, more people like Richard Seale (Foursquare/Doorleys), more people like Luca Gargano (Vellier) doing a great job in the premium Rum Category, more people like Robert Greaves (Mhoba Rum) pushing it to the extreme in organic and craft production, more new companies like Copalli going organic right from the start, more companys like Hampden bringing new life to traditions, more companies like Flor de Caña realizing that as a large producer you have to act responsibly, more consumers asking for High Quality products and information about production methods.

 

8. Which rum would you recommend a person that?

• Sipping a premium rum for the 1st time: Nine Leaves (Japan)
• Likes Scotch Whisky: Foursquare/Privateer
• Likes Gin or Vodka: If you like Gin, go for a Spiced Rum like Boukman (Haiti). If you like Vodka you have a wide range of unaged Rums to go to from light Rums to heavy hitters it all depends of wich kind of vodka you drink.
• Likes Cognac: If you are a Cognac drinker, L’essentiel from Saint James or in general old blended agricoles.

 

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

The Rum world is so big and international, that I have tried to learn from people in the global Rum family, you can’t be good at everything and it’s already difficult to be good at one thing! But I do have my go to people, people that know more than most about their area of expertise.

For taste and history I rely on Alexandre Vingtier (French writer of Rum/Rhum books), he can tell me, why I like a certain Rum. Andrés Contreras (Master Ronero in Venezuela, 45 years in the Rum Aging and Mixing business) knows about rum aging.

For Anything about Agricole Rhum it all started with a friend of mine Jerry Gitany (He sells, Writes, and speaks about Rum), since then, I am now lucky enough to know several producers around the world. And the most interesting thing has been my collaboration with Robert Greaves who creates the Rums that he and I imagine, more than a Mentor, a sparring partner.

 

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

Traveling, talking about my passion, meeting interesting people, but on a more serious note, opening up the US and Australian markets, making the rest of Europe as big a success as France. And on a personal note, taking my kids to Italy and visit the city of Florence, and going back to Venezuela where I haven’t been for 5 years, to go diving with the Sharks.

11. Any last words?

It’s a pleasure and great honor to be interviewed by The Rum Lab. I am looking forward to hear from your readers, when they try Mhoba Rum.

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Strand_101/

Email: ks@lefthanspirits.com

Web: www.mhoba.com