Cruzan has new look

[TheRumelier]

Cruzan rums have officially been taken over by Beam Brands as of October 1. V & S had already started a re-design for their complete rum range before the takeover. The bottles look pretty good, hopefully the rum will remain at the high standards we are used to. No picture of the single barrel though for some reason. I hope they continue to produce this great rum.
I have a couple of photos of the new labels here:-
http://www.therumelier.com/id62.html


I wonder if the new bottles hold the same rum or are new blends, I think I saw discussions on this topic before.

[rumdog007]

I'm with you hoping that they keep the fine quality of these rums. The replacement of the 2 Year with the 14 Month was a slight volley fired across my bow. The absence of the ED5 was a much bigger shock. Luckily, I had time to stock up for life. Let's hope that this new era is marked by some stability. Yes, I know, we are are talking about the spirits business! But, one can hope. Beam Global/Fortune Brands is a diverse group which has kept their flagship Beam product tasting great for many years.

[Rum Runner]

I agree with you both...I hope Cruzan has found a home for a long while.

After the revolving door of ownership recently I imagine that Gary may have created an introductory "form" letter to the tune of,

"Dear (insert owner name here); We are looking forward to a long and prosperous....."

[Edward Hamilton]

I have no idea why this thread is misformed in the template. I'll try to sort it out or move it soon.

[TheRumelier]

After the revolving door of ownership recently I imagine that Gary may have created an introductory "form" letter to the tune of,

"Dear (insert owner name here); We are looking forward to a long and prosperous....."

I was thinking along the same lines. It must be a Guiness book of records record for ownership of a distillery. My US Virgin Island rum shelf has had to be put on the bottom shelf due to the volume of Cruzan rums. Now I will have to add all the new bottles. (and try them of course.!!)

P.S. I love the Cruzan Website though, great fun to watch if you have a few spare minutes.

[Carbon]

What the hell? Have you noticed they changed the label on the Clipper rum recently? I only could tell because they have both types of bottles at the local liquor store.

The other weird thing is that after hearing how the Estate Diamond 5 year was discontinued from you guys (and it's absent from the site now), I still see bottles everywhere at the different stores. Thankfully, most of the people who buy Cruzan just go for whatever is the cheapest, so they aren't exactly flying off the shelves. The other weird thing is that the liquor stores know nothing about it and have said they continue to get shipments of it.

I recently bought a bottle of the Estate Diamond and enjoyed it, especially at the low price point of $16 or $17. Should I stock up while I can?

[rumdog007]

The other weird thing is that the liquor stores know nothing about it and have said they continue to get shipments of it.

I recently bought a bottle of the Estate Diamond and enjoyed it, especially at the low price point of $16 or $17. Should I stock up while I can?

There is still a lot of it in stateside warehouses, now. They will continue to restock stores as long as it lasts. In some places, you might even see a close-out when the distribution system needs the shelf space, after they have realized it has been retired. The great thing about ED5 is that it was sippable, not a stellar sipper, but good. It really shines with some lime and tonic because it's has a ton of flavor. If you have friends that only allow for rum and coke, their eyes bug out when you use the ED5 instead of Bacardi Superior! The Single Barrel was double the price for so many years that the ED5, being so close in character and quality, was a bargain. Ed has rightfully pointed out that most consumer goods don't survive after a hiatus (at least, Cruzan once claimed it was merely a hiatus 2 buyouts ago!). I am finding the Single Barrel for $16.00 in Phoenix. BTW, the 750ml of Goslings Gold (completely different rum on all fronts, but a great product) is $10.00 at Trader Joes, now. That said, I stocked up, BIG TIME.

[rumdog007]

One other thing, I seem to recall that The Minister of Rum got me doing a 50/50 blend with Barbancourt 5 Star and ED5 after I read one of his posts. Wow, what a great house rum. It threw me off completely when I first tasted it. The sum of its parts were nothing like the 2 components. thankyou.gif, Ed!

[RumBarPhilly]

In PA, 3 months after Cruzan Diamon was discontinued, they still had nearly 78 units. They are currently down to 28. Once it hits 12, Im buying the stock out. This might take some time, although it is on closeout.

[Hank Koestner]

Yes, my friends, stock up! This is a great one, and sad to see it go. I grabbed 6 bottles, and it has all but disappeared from the shelves in the greater Orlando area.

[Carbon]

In PA, 3 months after Cruzan Diamon was discontinued, they still had nearly 78 units. They are currently down to 28. Once it hits 12, Im buying the stock out. This might take some time, although it is on closeout.

I'm worried because the state warehouse currently has it listed as out of stock, so the only bottles left may be the ones currently on store shelves. They say it's on order, but I can't be sure that order will ever get filled.

http://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/out_of_stock.pdf

[rumdog007]

They say it's on order, but I can't be sure that order will ever get filled.

http://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/out_of_stock.pdf

Bet the house, whatever fulfills the order, someday, won't be the same rum.

[RumBarPhilly]

If the State warehouse lists it as "On Order" it probably means it is gone for good, since they wont be able to attain anymore from Cruzan's importer.

I'm worried because the state warehouse currently has it listed as out of stock, so the only bottles left may be the ones currently on store shelves. They say it's on order, but I can't be sure that order will ever get filled.

http://www.olcc.state.or.us/pdfs/out_of_stock.pdf

[Carbon]

If the State warehouse lists it as "On Order" it probably means it is gone for good, since they wont be able to attain anymore from Cruzan's importer.
That's what I figured. I had a lot more of my bottle last night and, while it is a pretty good rum especially for the price, I don't think I see it as amazing enough to go out and buy up all the remaining stocks in town. I may grab a bottle or two more just because it's discontinued, but I didn't fall in love with it enough that I'd grab whatever I can while I still can.

*Edit: After thinking about it, the way in which I drank the rum last night did not really give it much of a chance to impress. I'll go back to my more favorable initial impression in my mind for this one.

[rumdog007]

The "new look" Cruzan bottle for the Aged 151 has landed at HiTime in Costa, Mesa. It's very nice. The ones that I saw were 1L.

[Carbon]

The "new look" Cruzan bottle for the Aged 151 has landed at HiTime in Costa, Mesa. It's very nice. The ones that I saw were 1L.

Yeah it's a weird pale pink now. What's odd is that this may get dropped for whatever new label as in the original post.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2397937959_332c74628f.jpg?v=1207674901

[rumdog007]

Yeah it's a weird pale pink now. What's odd is that this may get dropped for whatever new label as in the original post.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2397937959_332c74628f.jpg?v=1207674901


No, Carbon, that's one of many old-style labels for the 120 Proof Clipper Rum. Please see the pictures posted at the start of the thread by The Rumelier. Those which he shows is the new look, very upscale labels with the sexy shaped bottles.

[Carbon]

No, Carbon, that's one of many old-style labels for the 120 Proof Clipper Rum. Please see the pictures posted at the start of the thread by The Rumelier. Those which he shows is the new look, very upscale labels with the sexy shaped bottles.

I had never seen this pale pink one until recently (next to bottles with the old red label). Are you saying the new new label (that TheRumelier posted) is already on store shelves? Wow.

[rumdog007]

Are you saying the new new label (that TheRumelier posted) is already on store shelves? Wow.


Yup. But, just the 151. HiTime still has plenty of the old style bottle 14 month light and 2 year dark. I bought a bottle of the 151 and it tastes exactly the same as the older bottling. BTW, I have 5 different bottle/label styles of the Cruzan Clipper dating from the tax stamp days. The older, island-only distribution rum is, in fact, a spiced rum. At one time, it was imported, here. I got that pink-y label around a year ago at Bevmo.

[Edward Hamilton]

In an earlier year in my career, after buying more than a hundred cases of Cruzan Estate Dark rum I went to my favorite St Thomas discount liquor store and didn't see this rum on the shelf. After about ten minutes of scouring the shelves I found it. The bottle, label and closure had changed and I had discounted the new look as a wine bottle that was misplaced near some other rums.

Since that day I've never relied on what I knew to be the Cruzan bottle again.

[Carbon]

I just spotted the new light rum in the wild. I wonder how the new bottle design will affect the flow characteristics of the rum inside. The current bottle pours better and more smoothly than most of the fancier bottles (especially short stubby ones like Pampero).

The new bottles were behind the old ones, but the clerk didn't seem to care if I left the new one out front or not.

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/7852/img0273sb0.jpg

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3936/img0274ph9.jpg

PS: How do you pronounce Cruzan? Apparently I've been saying it wrong.

PSS: BevMo has this picture for their Clipper which I'm guessing is a couple generations ago since I've never seen it before.

http://www.bevmo.com/Media/Images/ProductImagesFull/59218.jpg

[TheRumelier]

Good photos, I think the actual design photos I showed look better than the actual label you showed, it doesn't look as good in "real life"!! Did you buy one and get a chance to taste it??

[Carbon]

Good photos, I think the actual design photos I showed look better than the actual label you showed, it doesn't look as good in "real life"!! Did you buy one and get a chance to taste it??

It looks better in real life than in the photos I took. I just snapped them with my iPhone camera in a poorly lit liquor store. I think the new bottle is quite nice. I will say though that the press photo of the light on your blog makes it seem almost clear, while the real rum has more of a straw tinge to it (as I'm sure you guys are all aware) kind of like Mount Gay Special Reserve. Or at least it looks that way while in the bottle.

I didn't buy it and taste it. I haven't tried the Cruzan light at all. Shouldn't they be the same, though? I wasn't aware of any changes to the rum itself. The next white rum I have on the list to try (it's in my cabinet) is Oronoco.

[TheRumelier]

I know the gold rums had changed their blends and was wondering if the white had as we don't sell the white here. There is only a limited white rum market here and Bacardi have that cornered. Their closest competitor here is their sister brand Castillo.

[lperry]

PS: How do you pronounce Cruzan? Apparently I've been saying it wrong.

If you go to their website, you can watch a video where the owner pronounces the name.

http://cruzanrum.com/

[Rum Runner]

PS: How do you pronounce Cruzan? Apparently I've been saying it wrong.


The "Hooked on Phonics" version would look something like "Krew-shen".

[primate77]

The "Hooked on Phonics" version would look something like "Krew-shen".

I brought bottles of Cruzan coconut and 2 yr light to a party a while back, and the host was delighted when he saw me taking them out of the bag. He said he toured their operations this summer, and he pronounced it the way you have it above.

[RumBarPhilly]

I did a side-by-side of the new Cruzan Light bottle and the old. I was surprised by one MAJOR difference...

The old bottle (claiming 14 months of aging) has a burn that the old "2 Year" rum didnt have. The new bottle (claiming 1 year old) is without the burn. It tastes much like the Cruzan rum of 6 months ago prior to the change of age statement.

Soooo.... it claims to be much younger, yet tastes that much more smoother. I'll have to give a tip of the hat to Cruzan white, looking forward to trying its dark and 151 brethren when we get them in.

[Carbon]

I did a side-by-side of the new Cruzan Light bottle and the old. I was surprised by one MAJOR difference...

Good to get some solid info, thanks!

Interestingly, the Cruzan website is not updated to reflect the new bottles. Hell, even the labels still say 2 year instead of the XIV from the newer bottles. The discontinued Estate Diamond 5 year is absent, though.