While major beer and spirits manufacturers spent millions of dollars on ad time during the Saints’ victory in the Super Bowl, one New Orleans institution wants to let its product speak for itself.Old New Orleans Rum, located on Frenchman Street, offers distillery tours six days a week to give customers a glimpse of everything from distilling to packaging. The $5 tours include tastings of their various rums and go toward the purchase of a bottle.”We want to let the rum speak for itself,” said distiller Julie Perschall. “We like to rely on word of mouth, which has worked really well for us here in New Orleans.”Geoff Hingle, contruction management senior, said he took a a tour of the distillery and found the process very interesting.”After seeing how the rum is made, I can really appreciate it,” he said. “I really enjoyed the tasting part at the end and learning about all the spices involved.”Founded in 1995 by artist James Michalopoulos, Old New Orleans Rum is the oldest premium rum distillery in the continental United States and the only rum distillery in Louisiana. A product of an artist rather than a businessman, Perschall said all the rum products strive for creativity.That creativity became evident after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Master distiller Chris Sule began working for the company right after the storm when the distillery was still under 10 1/2 feet of water.”After Katrina I lost everything, too, so it was a make it or break it type moment,” said Sule, a University alumnus. “I had a chance to raise the city and myself up at the same time.”Post-Katrina, Sule said it only lost seven of its 80 aged barrels of rum to contamination. In the months after the storm, Sule worked feverishly to restore the distillery and bring its recipes to new heights.”We rebuilt the place and redesigned it and made the rum a lot better,” Sule said. “It really kind of caught on and started opening the eyes of New Orleans that we have a distillery here.”And Sule’s work has paid off. Seasoned with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, the distillery’s Cajun Spice Rum was deemed the best flavored rum in the world by the Beverage Testing Institute in 2007, 2008 and 2009, Sule said.”For me, it means everything to contribute to Southern culture,” Sule said. “I can’t believe people love it — it’s the wildest experience.”Though Old New Orleans’ clientele is more concentrated in the city, it distributes across Louisiana and several other states including Florida, Texas and Tennessee, according to marketing coordinator Morgan Ford.Despite its national reach, Morgan said the distillery plans to maintain a local focus.”Right now we’re just trying to conquer our region,” Morgan said. “We’re trying to get more involved in Baton Rouge because college students are early adopters, so we need to take advantage of that.”Students can find Old New Orleans Rum products in Baton Rouge stores like Winn-Dixie and Albertson’s and at bars like Chelsea’s Cafe and the Roux House. Alison Edginton, bartender at the Roux House, said the bar sells the Crystal and Cajun Spice rums as call liquor. Steven Gremillion, bartender at Chelsea’s, said the rum has been out of stock, but it sold well when it was available.Old New Orleans Rum offers four varieties of rum, including Cajun Spice. Crystal, the only rum not aged in barrels, is a light-bodied variety seasoned with molasses and cranberry and is best suited for mojitos, Sule said.The Old New Orleans Amber comes from aging Crystal in oak barrels for three years and is the distillery’s flagship product and bestseller, Sule said. It goes well with soft drinks and ginger ale.Old New Orleans 10 Year Special Edition survived Hurricane Katrina’s wrath on the distillery, with specimens from 2005 being salvaged. It is the distillery’s highest quality and most expensive product. Sold in a wax-encapsulated bottle for $60, 10 Year is only available at the distillery, Sule said.Although Old New Orleans Rum may be more expensive than nationally sold liquors, Sule said he is eager to reach out to college students.”I really like to show the rest of Louisiana and especially LSU that it’s not just for the rich people with money — it’s for all of us,” Sule said. “It’s really something we can revel in and enjoy. The awards we won are incredible, and nobody knows that it’s some of the best rum in the world, and it’s made right here in New Orleans.”—-Contact Ben Bourgeois at [email protected]