New Market For Louisiana Sugar Cane

New Market For Louisiana Sugar Cane

The Stewart family owns and operates the historic 45,000-acre Alma Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish.  Now Walter Tharp, one of the family members, is launching a venture which will provide a new market for one of Louisiana’s most basic agricultural products.  Tharp, his wife Yvette Bonanno-Tharp, and partner Jim Massey have begun Cane Land Distilling Co., which will distill and market rum at a distillery they are building on River Road in Baton Rouge.
All their raw materials will be produced at Alma Plantation.
Tharp says his mission is to “Embody Louisiana in a Bottle”!  He says he wants to bring “an honest agriculturally-based spirit to market.”
Alma Plantation produces more than 100,000 metric tons of sugar, and Tharp believes the new distillery will be able to use some of that production to produce a high value product that will bring jobs and income to the Baton Rouge area.
Cane Land plans to produce rum in three ways: 1) fermented immediately for rhum agricole, 2) cooked and concentrated into a syrup, and 3) processed into both molasses and crystalized sugar.
Tharp said that “because of our close association with Alma Plantation, Cane Land will be in a unique position to use all of these processes to create our rum.”
Tharp said direct fermentation and immediate distilling produces the highest quality rhum agricole, which is often produced in the French West Indies.  This is used t produce the world’s highest quality rum and will be a mainstay of the company, he said.  Tharp said, “Rhum created from sugarcane juice has a different flavor and aroma profile from other rums.”
His partner, Jim Massey, is a member of the American Distillers Institute.  His wife Yvette is a celebrity chef and restauranteur.  Their Master Distiller, Rory Donovan, was named Distiller of the Year.  Tharp plans to start production in 2014.
For more information, go to www.canelandrhum.com/canelanddistilleryco-investorbook.pdf.

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