Rumpundit

Captain Morgan booted from NYC Puerto Rican parade
(AP) – 15 hours ago
NEW YORK — Captain Morgan rum is no longer welcome as a sponsor of the National Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City.
Parade organizers say they’ve ended their relationship with the rum maker and U.K.-based parent company Diageo (dee-AH’-gee-oh) PLC over plans to [...]

Black Chamber urges Congress to stay out of battle over rum tax
By Kevin Bogardus – 02/17/10 05:13 PM ET
The National Black Chamber of Commerce is urging Congress not to interfere with a battle over a Caribbean rum distillery.
In a Feb. 16 letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Black Chamber — along [...]

David Cid sends a video celebrating the bar tender and cocktail crafter, lonely but essential tasks to keep civilisation as we know it ticking over. Click for the link!

This is actually more about the political system in Washington than rum. Interesting headline – would the deal have been acceptable if this were a domestic rum company?
Rumpundit
Lobbyists Help Smooth the Way for a Tax Break for Foreign Rum Maker
by Marcus Stern, ProPublica – February 3, 2010
Feb. 3: This post has been corrected [1].
A [...]

Here is a dispassionate and accurate summary of the great Cap’n Morgan hijack. Rumpundit has consistently suggested other Caribbean islands should get dibs on this cash, and in these times of stress, it’s worth pointing out that $13-50 a gallon excise duty on spirits is minimal compared with other countries’ duties – almost as [...]

Outages dim Chavez popularity
Power failures, unpaid civil servants and falling oil revenue play havoc with support for the Venezuela leader.

By Chris Kraul
November 21, 2009
Reporting from El Consejo, Venezuela – Power outages are hitting Henrique Vollmer’s rum distillery several times a week, interrupting production, damaging equipment and jeopardizing the jobs of his 375 workers.
President Hugo Chavez [...]

Rum Rescue Calls Out to Captain Morgan
TITAN Salvage’s and Crowley Maritime’s Herculean Efforts get Shipment to Safety
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PENNSAUKEN, N.J., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Captain Morgan abandoned rehearsals for a very a special music awards event on the west coast to welcome to safety a barge containing 90,000 gallons of his finest rum that is to [...]

Monday, November 16, 2009
Congressional Rum Fight Escalates
By Rich Edson, Washington Correspondent
FOXBusiness
With tax revenue and local pride at stake, the U.S. Virgin Islands escalated its multibillion-dollar rum fight Monday, harshly responding to charges of “unreasonable and excessive” corporate subsidizing leveled by the Puerto Rico congressional delegation last week.
“These disturbing attacks were launched solely because of [...]

Lawmakers lean on Pelosi and Rangel as rum squabble mounts
By Susan Crabtree – 11/12/09 The Hill
The tug-of-war between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands over rum taxes has grown more intense in the wake of House passage of the healthcare bill.
Puerto Rico’s top supporters in the lower chamber this week fired off letters to [...]

Interview: Don Navarro, master rum-maker
It was love at first sight when former professor of thermodynamics Don Navarro discovered rum-making – and it’s an enduring affair. He’s now the head master rum-maker for Havana Club. Here he tells Helen Ochyra about his passion for the spirit and why it’s an expression of Cuban culture
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