It’s hard not to think about rum cakes when the name Tortuga Rum Company comes up, although the company started by blending and bottling rum from other places and selling it under the Tortuga label in 1984, it gained notoriety as the producer of high-quality rum cakes starting in 1987. Since then, Tortuga Rum Cakes have gained international acclaim and are the largest export of the Cayman Islands, going to more than 50 countries around the world.
But Tortuga is much more than just a rum cake producer. They still blend and bottle imported rum under the Tortuga label – having added aged sipping rum to the product line – but Tortuga has also become the largest duty-free liquor business in the Cayman Islands.
Tortuga also has 10 duty-paid retail outlets and a wholesale arm, Tortuga Wine & Spirits Ltd. Barnaby Richardson, the sales and marketing manager of that company, said Tortuga commands an 85 per cent share of Cayman’s duty free market.
“We also have 30 to 35 per cent of the duty-paid market,” he said.
Tortuga has improved its duty-paid market share by acquiring several small independent liquor stores, including most recently JD Liquors on Batabano Road in West Bay and the package store associated with the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm.
The expansion of retail outlets is just one way Tortuga is developing the local business. Expanding its brands is another.
“We’re known as the Tortuga Rum Company, which is our core businesses – cake and rum… but my responsibility is to develop the wholesale division,” he said.
“Our goal is to have [distribution rights] to one or two major brands in every category of spirits,” Richardson said.
In addition to its Tortuga label rums, the company has the distribution rights to Flor de Caña, the premium sipping rum from Nicaragua.
“That brand is doing very well for us,” he said, adding that Stoli vodka is another major brand. Jagermeister and Hpnotiq are two other very successful brands.
The list of spirits that Tortuga distributes will expand greatly in the coming months, with notable additions like Frangelico liqueur, Cinzano vermouth, famous aperitifs Campari and Aperol, Cabo Wabo premium tequila, Wild Turkey bourbon and Carolans Irish Cream Liqueur.
But the brand expansion doesn’t stop at spirits. The wine shelves will soon be crowded with many new brands from the United States, Italy, France and several other countries.
To gain these distributorships, Richardson travelled to wine regions all over the world.
“I’ve been to every major wine region except for New Zealand,” he said.
The list from the United States is particularly impressive, with Tortuga getting the distribution rights to wineries like Clos Du Val, Hess, Schug, Kenwood, Silverado, Cline, Smoking Loon and Cain 5, to go with already existing brands like Clos Du Bois, Wente from the US and the extremely popular Kim Crawford from New Zealand.
The real coup in the group of new wineries is Clos Du Val, a long-established winery in the Stag Leap District AVA in Napa Valley. The winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon placed 8th in the original Judgment of Paris wine tasting, but then placed first in the French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986, held on the 10th anniversary of the original Judgment of Paris tasting. Tortuga will get a full line of Clos Du Val wines, including Ariadne, a white blend of Semillion and Sauvignon Blanc; Chardonnay; Pinot Noir; Merlot; and Cabernet Sauvignon. Tortuga will also carry the winery’s flagship wine, the Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon.
Richardson said Tortuga’s goal is to have strong brands in every price range and every wine region.
“We want segmentation, having something for everybody,” he said, adding, however, that the smaller district stores would likely stay mostly the same.
“We’re not going to change any of the mom and pop stores. We’re still going to sell what the customers who come to those stores want. They’re not going to become fine wine stores.”
Tortuga also wants to make sure its wines are kept in top condition by shipping them in temperature controlled, insulated containers and then storing them in a temperature-controlled warehouse.
To back up its commitment to handle and store the wines in the best way, Richardson said Tortuga would be offering a wine quality guarantee.
“We want to look after our wines from cradle to grave,” he said. “All it takes is 24 hours exposed to heat for corks to start popping.” WH