While Louisiana is no stranger to rum distilleries, one new company — Cane Land Distilling — is setting up shop in the heart of Tiger Country and intends to squeeze out its first batch of rhum by winter 2014.
Cane Land plans to produce traditional rum made from molasses, but what makes the company unique is that they will make rhum agricole, a rhum made from fresh-pressed sugar cane juice. Harvesting and fermenting fresh sugar cane juice for rhum agricole is a difficult process, which is a challenge for many distilleries in the U.S.
However, Cane Land will have direct access to the cane fields and the milling process at all stages to deliver what its owners are calling “the true cane-to-glass experience.”
“We are big fans of Louisiana rum and we pull for other companies to do well, but we will be different than any other company,” said Cane Land co-owner Walter Tharp. “Our focus is on our unique access to our source of sugar cane and sugar mills. Not a lot of people realize that Louisiana produces more sugar cane than all the Caribbean Islands combined, so we feel Louisiana is a natural for rum. There will be more companies to come, I am sure.”
Tharp’s family has owned Alma Plantation and Sugar Mill in Pointe Coupee Parish for more than 150 years. Tharp grew up in Baton Rouge and said the area is dear to his heart.
Tharp said he and fellow co-owner Jim Massey chose the distillery’s River Road location because of its close proximity to the sugar mill, downtown Baton Rouge and LSU.
“LSU will be an integral part of our company,” Tharp said. “In addition to neighboring LSU, we have plans to introduce an LSU intern program that will range from agriculture [and] marketing to our community outreach program and general business operations.”
While none of this is in the final stages yet, Cane Land wants to first create internships for LSU marketing students. Cane Land’s owners plan to approach the University with ideas in the next few months.
The distillery’s owners haven’t forgotten to include the beloved Tigerland and downtown Baton Rouge in their plans for distribution.
“Our focus really is on LSU folks, former alumni and LSU of-age students,” Tharp said.
The owners have plans to produce 60,000 cases of rum and rhum in their first year. If all goes well, they have a secondary plan to meet the demand. The plan allows for greater fermenter capacity for 200,000 cases within nine months.
“The success of this rhum will depend on the product’s placement throughout the state,” Tharp said.
Third Street, along with Tigerland, will likely be an integral part of that process. In addition, Tiger fans will be able to tour the distillery on game days and even have a drink or purchase a bottle.
To integrate Cane Land into the community even more, the distillery’s owners will invite residents of Baton Rouge to sign up online and actually go into the distillery to bottle Cane Land spirits. Participants will be given a tour of the distillery and partake in a five-hour “how- to” training session on bottling Cane Land spirits. Upon completion, they will be given a bottle of rhum and a t-shirt.
Despite the owners’ big plans, Cane Land may not have a huge impact on the local economy, according to University AgCenter professor Mike Salassi, who specializes in crop production economics.
“Since these are small companies, the impact on the Baton Rouge economy will not be that great,” said Salassi. “It will be positive, but relatively small.”
In 2012, AgCenter professor Kurt Guidry said the Louisiana sugar cane industry produced more than 3 billion pounds of raw sugar and 101 million gallons of molasses, so the use of these products in rum production would represent less than 1 percent of total Louisiana production.
“While the potential for increased demand for sugar and molasses from these companies can certainly be viewed as a positive for the sugarcane industry, its impact will likely be fairly limited in terms of being able to drastically change the current price situation for sugar and molasses,” Guidry said.