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Next month, the leaders of all twenty CARICOM countries will be in Grenada for the Heads of Government Meeting. And at that meeting, they'll be sampling rum from 13 different nations, including Belize. Travellers Liquors has crafted a special blend to commemorate CARICOM's 50th anniversary - the CARICOM 50 Reserve Rum. And yesterday evening, they presented it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Courtney Menzies was at the ceremony and has this story.
The Caribbean Community is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, and what better way to capture the spirit of the West Indies than with specially crafted spirits:
Perla Perdomo, Chair, Board of Directors, Travellers Liquors
"This is a culmination of a project organized by the West Indies Spirit and Rum Association over a year ago to not only gift rums to CARICOM secretariat and members states on its golden jubilee but to use the occasion to bring out a special occasion rum to bring tribute to the 50 years of unity and progress of our region. The Caribbean is the birthplace of rum and rum making is part of the West Indian tradition and culture. Within CARICOM we produce a variety of high quality rums and rum is a significant contributor to foreign exchange earning and job creation. In the Caribbean, the rum industry produces foreign exchange of about 600M US dollars and employment of about 10,000 persons and rum is the largest agri based export product for CARICOM."
It's a toast to CARICOM - using rum, which was born in the Caribbean, as a form of diplomacy and unity. And Belize's own Travellers Liquors has released its "Caricom 50 Reserve Rum" as part of the project. And bottles of it will be boarding a flight to Grenada with the Minister of Foreign Affairs next month.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I'm very happy that Belize was included and that our Travellers Liquors stepped up and said they wanted to participate and produce a rich blend for CARICOM so I think 13 member states have participated. We're having our CARICOM heads of government in Grenada on July 3rd to 5th, I will be representing Belize and so I will be taking a few bottles with me but Travellers will also be sending some to the secretariat so that they can give out and distribute."
Perla Perdomo, Chair, Board of Directors, Travellers Liquors
"Belize, until not too long ago, I would say about 30 years ago, was not known globally for rums but with the first export of One Barrel in the 90's and private label exports to Europe during the past 15 years, Belize and Travellers have become recognized for excellence in the premium and super premium rum segments."
And the expert distiller at Travellers Liquors explained what you can expect from this special blend:
Myito Perdomo, Distiller, Travellers Liquors
"It's a premium rum produced in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of CARICOM, it's aged for a minimum of five years in selected American oak barrels. The aging process results in a smooth well balance spirit with notes of vanilla, caramel, butter scotch, complimented with an array of oak spices and prunes. The rum can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, but it also serves as an excellent based for a rum connoisseur's delight."
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I went into the warehouse, they gave me a tour of the warehouse, I tasted about five different blends, and then of course we got to taste the special 50th anniversary blend which is absolutely more then two thumbs up, it's excellent, it's smooth, absolutely rich in flavor and so exquisite blend, nothing less than what we would expect from Travellers liquors."
And Fonseca says that he's sure Belize will be the highlight in Grenada:
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"The Travellers Liquors, the Perdomo family have been very important members of our society, trailblazers, pioneers in the rum industry. So I have no doubt that Belize's blend from Travellers will be the best in the region."
