Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week:

LUIS ALFONSO RÍOS

Master Blender at Ron Viejo de Caldas

 

1. Who is Luis Alfonso Rios?

He is a Chemical Engineer and specialist in Industrial Microbiology. He has studied all his life in the spirit industry. Currently, he works as a Master Blender in the Industria Licorera de Caldas (Colombia), in the area of Development and Innovation Research.

 

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

Make premium Colombian rum Ron Viejo de Caldas León Dormido, with the strength and fortitude provided by the raw materials that are born in the South American Andes. It is rum produced 100% in our distillery in Manizales (Colombia), where we get a high mountain aging. I have also contributed in my company in the design of the bottle, the lid, the label, the individual box.

 

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

You fall in love with rum when you belong to a big company in Colombia like mine, called Industria Licorera de Caldas and it weighson you more than 114 years of paste experience from generation to generation. My story in the Company happens 31 years ago, when I arrived, remaining faithful to its canons and strong principles forma king good rum.

 

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

The rum industry is so changing, it challenges you every day to think about projects, developments and creations with a better lineage than your competition. The thirst for knowledge is another pillar that gives strength to continue in this wonderful community.

 

5. Favorite Drink + Recipe

There are two:

In the Company:

12 years old rum, Ron Viejo de Caldas SINGLE BARREL, That is not on the market yet, but that share with me all afternoons.

It is a recipe that is unique and easy, 2 ounce of rum, half an ounce of softened water and a small bucket of ice. They are the perfect combination for enjoy in the best way this amazing experience.

At home:

Ron Viejo de Caldas 5 year (my favorite) in maceration of a wild fruit that represents the roots of the Colombians: the uchuvas.

His recipe is personal: this mojito of three uchuvas is sifted with 3 grams of brown sugar; the fruits are macerated only to explode and added 3 ounces of rum, ice to taste with two drops of angostura

 

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

In Colombia we have not stopped growing, we are the largest rum culture. The rest of the world develops their industry very slow. However, our rum is dynamic and gives us the opportunity to have this unique drink for about 500 years more from now, as long as the people who develop these new products continue to study and innovate to be meeting the demanding expectations of the consumer all the time.

It might be better if some manufacturers did not call themselves the kings of the rum style without taking into account that in each region there is a way to ferment, distill and age rum complying with all principles.

The best rum is the one you like. It’s the rum you know and understand how they make it and how they manage to encapsulate that flavor you love so much. Every person has the right to know everything about their favorite rum and they can have their own criteria about different rums and decide which one is their favorite. Here in Colombia the amount of rums to try is unlimited

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

The premium route of rums is the one I like the most but understanding and respecting the codes of rum and the regulations of the regions. We cannot continue in the suicidal race of sugar, sweeteners and aggregates, even if they are of natural origin.

But you have to grow from the basics, from raw materials to a stylish fermentation, today all the people has forgotten or left a side the microbiological part where real rums are really formed and it has been changed in to irrelevant differentials of distillery and some end up lying and exaggerating ends in barrels exhausted from other liquors that are not our identity.

 

8. Which rum would you recommend a person that?

First you have to understand that there are three different styles of rums, French style, English style and Spanish style. All these styles have been developed over 5 centuries.

• Sipping a premium rum for the 1st time: Ron Viejo de Caldas LEON DORMIDO
• Likes Scotch whisky: Foursquare 2005
• Likes Bourbon: Appleton State 12 years
• Likes Gin or Vodka: Ron Viejo de Caldas 5 years
• Likes Cognac: Barceló Imperial

 

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

They are already 31 years in this community, learning from so many and receiving experiences of more than 100 years and it would be unfair to name some. The dignity of the profession of Master Blender is made in all areas of the company from where the liquid is born to how it is bottled, by understanding each research that all owes us to know what kind of consumers a products going to.

A great engine of development will always be my wife Adriana and my daughters Maria Camila and Isabella, they make me maintain the permanent energy to continue in these arches for the best and they are that flame that allows me to continue studying.

 

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

• Works hard on the scientific development of our wood, Colombian white oak is the base of our rums and outside the rest of the world rump know very little about it. I want to show the world the magic of the Colombian white oak.
• Put all the effort for our new white rum to take the market, to get the people to know the magic in all the flavors in the rum, especially in the countries of South America where we see that it is a very promising liqueur.
• Develop and educate to achieve a cultural change towards rum culture. Rum is strong in cocktails but people are still prejudiced.
• Learn French. As a Master Blender, French is a key for searching new horizons.

 

11. Any last words?

The Rum community must continue to live up to its identity; this can only be achieved with honesty and the normalization of our processes. Today there are very few companies certified with an ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standard, modern generations believe and know that these seals are a symbol of order and certification of correct and well done operations.

 

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

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luisalfonso.riosossa

Mail: luisalfonso.rios@ilc.com.co

Web: www.ilc.com.co