If all goes according to plan, we may, in the near future see ‘The Mighty Sparrow: Aged Rum with Spices’ hitting the market.
US singer/songwriter Lane Steinberg and US producer, director and screenwriter Lenard Dorfman are the rum’s founders and they reached out to the Mighty Sparrow about using his name for the product.
He said “yes” and the rum was introduced on his Facebook page on May 14.
However, the product’s website was launched on June 8.
The producers are looking for partners to bring the product to market and all the details are available on the website.
The rum falls under The Mighty Sparrow Company, headquartered at 10 Center Street, Irvington, New York.
Sparrow, in an interview with the Newsday, said he was approached three years ago with the idea.
He said he was not deeply involved, and wished the founders success.
The website describes the rums as being “blended with rare TT rums that have been aged in ex-bourbon, American Oak casks. Of this blend, 51 per cent is aged for ten years, and one per cent is aged for 15 years. This age profile is unique and unprecedented for the category.”
It said most spiced rums use an “unaged, neutral base spirit” and added flavourings to mask “harsh-tasting inferior-quality spirit.” However, this rum’s producers were taking a different approach: it was blended at 80 proof, and was complex, deeply rich and with a “velvety, smooth finish.”
The “ultra-premium blend” was then infused with a big, bold taste, it said.
The history of the rum is told on the site: it said Steinberg discovered that Sparrow – his childhood idol – lived nearby. He picked up his guitar and knocked on Sparrow’s door in the hope they could sing together.
“Before long a friendship developed that evolved into a musical partnership. Together, along with Sparrow’s band they performed to enthralled fans throughout the world, until covid19 struck and put an end to the sold-out performances.”
Steinberg was a senior sales executive at an alcohol spirits distribution company and would often share industry tales with his childhood buddy Dorfman.
“Since their formative days spent in the south Florida sunshine, Dorfman went on to be an acclaimed internationally recognised commercial director and marketer,” the website said.
It added that late one night during the pandemic, Sparrow, Steinberg and Dorfman were talking about their mutual love for aged rum and how “there is not a delicious-tasting premium spiced rum on the market.”
Sparrow agreed and shared memories of “big, bold, delicious-tasting, high-quality, aged rums he tasted travelling through the most exclusive Caribbean hotspots.
“Following in the footsteps of the King of Calypso, we created the ultra-Premium, Mighty Sparrow Aged Rum with Spices,” it said.