A rum revolution

There is a gecko on his face, a tarsier on his neck and a snail on his shoulder. He believes in the gods and he believes in magic – black, white and what-have-you. He is a shaman, fighter and rebel. He is all these and more.

He can be you or your son, or your father before you. Or he can be me, or my mother before me.

He is Don Papa – maverick, rebellious, fighter and he can be all of us.

It is a character inspired by a real life revolutionary, Dionisio Magbuelas or Papa Isio. He was a leader in Negros who fought the Spanish and American colonizers.

Not much is known about him, but it is his revolutionary spirit that would inspire the character of Don Papa, the face behind the popular Filipino-made rum.

“Don Papa is not Papa Dionisio, but he is inspired by the character of Papa Dionisio,” says Monica Garcia, co-founder of Bleeding Heart Rum Co., the company behind Don Papa rum.

Monica and her co-founders have imbibed Don Papa’s character and are out to revolutionize the rum business.

I met Monica and her fellow co-founder, AJ Garcia, in a recent rum tasting session at the swanky Riedel Room in Makati.

They were introducing the Don Papa Rare Cask, a premium rum from the wilds of Mt. Kanlaon in Negros.  Rum is made from molasses – known locally as black gold – which comes from sugarcane.

Aged for several years in American oak casks, the Don Papa Rare Cask has a rich and powerful taste, with a long, fresh finish. Think single malt whisky.  Or maybe even Bourbon.

It has a complex flavor of oak, cacao and even fruitcake. I like it better than the seven and the 10.

Whichever Don Papa you choose, be proud because it is a homegrown Filipino brand that is now in 20 countries around the globe since it was launched in 2012. It will soon penetrate South America and other markets.

What happened to British American Tobacco?

On the flipside of this success story is a sad one – a global brand is leaving the Philippines.

British American Tobacco, maker of Lucky Strike, is packing its bags. I wonder why.

I first learned about this from the enterprising Chino Leyco of Manila Bulletin who broke the story on BAT’s impending exit.  Chino, president of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, said BAT felt it could no longer penetrate the Philippine market when it was unable to acquire Mighty Corp.

This really surprised me because five years ago, BAT dangled a promise to invest $200 million in the Philippines on the condition that the government levels the playing field in the cigarette industry dominated by PMFTC, the merged entity of Philip Morris and taipan Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco.

Now exactly five years later, when the playing field has significantly improved, BAT decides to wind down operations, breaking the promise it made five years ago.

BAT gave up too soon when things were getting more exciting, says the executive of a cigarette company.

Joey Concepcion on Joseph Calata

Speaking of troubled companies, another troubled firm, Calata Corp. has found an ally in no less than presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.

Concepcion, big brother to new entrepreneurs, believes businessman Joseph Calata should be given a reprieve amid his company’s impending delisting. Calata and his company are at the center of a stock market scandal for allegedly failing to disclose price-sensitive information.

“The guy is a young entrepreneur and he made a mistake…When you are new you will make mistakes. You will forget because it is something new to you,” Concepcion says.

What does the Philippine Stock Exchange think of this? Let’s wait and see.

The Air Force One and ASEAN ladies

Last week, I congratulated Solaire’s security team for its successful hosting of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

Props, too, to another hotel, Andrew Tan’s Belmont Hotel Manila for rolling out the red carpet for the crew of Air Force One. The crew and an advance party, led by two pilots, occupied 62 rooms in all. They left quite happy, leaving the hotel with a rare photograph of the Air Force One up in the air, signed by the lead pilot.

Perhaps all the hotels that hosted world leaders during the ASEAN Summit deserve a pat on the back.

My sources tell me it wasn’t easy hosting them, with some of the VIP guests turning out to be as demanding as a world leader – ordering, a rare drink in their suite, requesting for a certain scent or some other quirkiness.

Even the wives of the world leaders had their own demands.

One wife shopped and shopped, but never dropped, while another requested for the staff of a high-end jewelry company to bring some jewelry to her suite so she could shop in private. Such requests had to be taken care of by the hotels that graciously hosted them.

One wife went home with so many suitcases after the five-day “working visit.”

It’s quite an irony, this is. While they were choosing thousand dollar pearls or shopping for silk, their world leader hubbies were talking about saving the world – or at least pretending to.

Iris Gonzales’s e-mail address is [email protected].