Forget Cuba, Filipino rum is set to explode in 2023 – from Don Papa and Tanduay, to craft brands Palawan Blanco and Kasama, the Southeast Asian country is fermenting a spirit-ual revolution

Jan 21 , 2023

Gin and tequila have had their artisanal moment, now it’s rum’s turn to spout novel high-end varieties – and the Philippines is leading the way in Asia. Photos: Handout

Once seen as ‘only good for mixing’, rum from the Philippines is now enjoying a classy craft makeover, fuelled by the island nation’s rich heritage of sugarcane cultivation

After introducing craft gin and single malt whisky, Razorback rock singer Jose Mari Cuervo Crows launched the country’s first ‘agricole-style’ un-aged white rum, Crow’s Nest Agrikultura

Think of rum and you almost certainly think of the Caribbean. “But they were just the first to go global,” argues Janno Gironella, head of research and development at Tanduay Distillers in the Philippines. “The fact is that there’s a tradition of making rums in other places – like here.”

Indeed, the Philippines’ history is steeped in sugar cane and its by-products. Tanduay, in fact, is the world’s largest producer of rum by volume, and has been making the spirit there for 168 years. Historically most of that has been at the value end of the market, catering to the huge domestic market among a population of 110 million. That makes for what’s predicted to be a US$233 million domestic rum market by 2025, the third biggest after India and the US.

The ageing facility at Don Papa rum estate in Negros Occidental, Philippines.

But over the last few years the Philippines’ distillers – major and more niche – have begun to produce a smooth, well-rounded super-premium product for export too. Tanduay launched a seven-year, bourbon cask-aged reserve rum in Singapore and China two years ago.

“There’s the appeal of an Asian rum for the Asian market,” says Gironella, referencing how the vodka and gin markets have already gone through their own artisanal, locally sourced evolutions. “But I think the international market is eager to taste different styles of rum coming from the other side of the world to those now overexposed Caribbean brands. The Philippine palette leans towards sweetness and spice so rum is a natural fit too.”

Alexandra Dorda, founder of Kasama rum, with her father Tad Dorda, co-founder of Belvedere vodka

Alongside Tanduay also comes the likes of Palawan Blanco white rum, from the Limtuaco Distillery, established in the Philippines by Chinese immigrant Lim Tua-co five generations ago; and Kasama Rum, a seven-year-old, small-batch dark rum, launched last year by Alexandra Dorda, daughter of Tad Dorda, co-founder of Belvedere vodka. Coming soon are the single-barrel and blended molasses-based rums from Luisita, silver medallist at the 2022 International Wine and Spirit Competition.

More unusual is the Crows Craft Brewing and Distilling Company’s Crow’s Nest Agrikultura, the Philippines’ first “agricole-style” un-aged white rum – made from fresh-pressed sugar cane, without added sugar, and created by Jose Mari Cuervo, one-time lead singer of rock band Razorback. Cuervo was also responsible for the Philippines’ first craft gin, in 2017, and its first single malt whisky, in 2019.

“Rum is a spirit so closely associated with tiki culture, the cartoonised myth based around exotic tropical locations from Polynesia to the Caribbean, that it’s not often known that the Philippines has been a key player since the mid-19th century,” explains Rob Buckhaven, author of flavour guide The Alcorithm.