A ‘Maestro’ returns to raise Manila’s rum game
They call him “Maestro de Ron” now, and with that title comes a respect for his ability to concoct the finest Bacardi libations in the world.
And so Atrophel “Troy” Arquiza, the very first Filipino Global Master Blender, returned to the Philippines, where Electric Garden BGC’s long bar was transformed into a wonderland of Bacardi bottles and special cocktails.
The day’s mission was to promote the premium Reserva range of Bacardi Rums, including the Reserva Cuatro, Reserca Ocho and Reserva Diez. Gurests — including local bartenders and the media — were happy to sample all of them as cocktails and served neat.
Arquiza, originally from the Philippines, has spent more than two decades with the family-owned company Bacardi, from Jamaica to Puerto Rico, honing his craft as a rum blender and training for many years under the industry legend, Jose “Joe” Gomez, who retired after 41 years with Bacardi. Arquiza now picks up the prestigious mantle.
Maestro de Ron Troy continues a legacy that began with his Bacardi predecessors in Santiago de Cuba nearly 160 years ago when Don Facundo Bacardi Massó created Bacardi Carta Blanca the first mixable rum and changed the industry. He now heads a team of rum blenders, ensuring the quality of every drop of Bacardi rum sold around the world.
Sure, Arquiza notes, Filipinos are well aware of Bacardi White and Gold, the mass-market bottles already popular here. Today at Electric Garden, though, was a chance to sample the premium rums that are remarkable for pure sipping. And we savored. There’s a leap of taste between, say, the Quatro and the Ocho (aged four and eight years, respectively), and it only deepens your appreciation for what Maestro de Ron does.
“Bacardi has always been successful with the White and the Gold — like, automatic,” he says. “But people are not fully aware that we also have these aged rums.” The Ocho is his baby. “I'm kind of biased with the Ocho, because that's the one that really I started working with, in the transition from the Bahamas going to Puerto Rico, I was the one responsible to make sure there was no big taste difference, and we could bring it as close as possible.”
He also has us sample the older expressions, the 10 and the Reserva Limitada. “Each of them caters to different consumers.” Troy also flew in samples of his other project rums like the Limitada, the Ocho Sevillana Cask finished and Ocho Rye Cask, which guests were able to try.
Is it a waste to mix aged rums with, say, fruit juices to make cocktails?
“I shouldn't say it’s a waste, but with aged rums and whiskies, to really appreciate the nuances of each one, you drink it with a little bit of ice or just a drop of water to open it up.”
But “as a consumer, you can do whatever you want. That's one of the biggest things about Bacardi: it's flexible.”
For its premium expressions Bacardi usually uses wooden barrels sourced from different parts of the world — not just American oak, but Spanish Oloroso sherry casks, and Japanese Mizunara oak, which “has its own unique character that even aficionados haven’t pinpointed yet.”
There was even talk, Arquiza hinted, of using mango-tree wood to create casks from the Philippines. While the idea is “feasible,” there’s not really enough mango trees here for mass or even premium Bacardi production. Still, the idea of mango barreling is intriguing.
How does Bacardi figure out their next blend? Arquiza says it’s a “really delicate balance” between what the market wants, and what the master blender wants to explore. “A rum blender may have an idea of what might resonate with a particular group of people, but you don’t know until you actually come up with a product and have it on the market. Say they want to introduce more bourbon finish in sherry casks; if people start recognizing the notes of that one, that motivates Bacardi as well.”
What resonates most with Filipino consumers today? “It's still mass market, but it’s started to become more sophisticated,” he says. “The more we introduce these aged rums, like Bacardi Ocho, people start appreciating it more and we get more traction.”
Alcohol, somebody must have said at one time, is also an education. That’s why Arquiza is the master — or more properly, Maestro de Ron.
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The Bacardi Reserva line is available in major liquor stores as well as Boozy.ph, Flasked.ph and Singlemalt.ph.
