Campesino Rum’s Aged XIV, with a menacing jaguar on the label, blends 8-year-old rums from Barbados and the Dominican Republic with 6-year-old rum from Panama, all aged in bourbon barrels. The result is an oaky liquor with hints of vanilla and brown sugar that Smith has found appeals to bourbon drinkers.
Campesino Rum’s other spirit, Silver X, blends rum from Nicaragua and Trinidad and Tobago that’s been charcoal filtered to give it a clean, round finish. Smith finds Silver X, which sports a snake coiled into an infinity sign on its label, has been popular with vodka drinkers and fans of Blanco tequila.
For the moment, Campesino Rum is sold only in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, with Florida soon to join. But through its website, campesinorum.com, consumers in 41 states can order its spirits for delivery.
And Smith is just beginning. He soon expects to hire a consultant of some sort, to help him run the business as it expands. But he hardly seems concerned about the future or about Campesino Rum’s corporate prospects. As with everything, he prefers to live in the moment, letting life unfold for him at its own, steady pace.
Smith never intended to become a rum maker. He just wanted to live a life free and clear, like his friends, the campesinos.
“This thing,” he said, “found me.”
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