Rum rising: South Africa riding the exploding wave

About 18 months ago, a seemingly innocuous immigrant landed on our shores. Born in the Philippines, the seven-year-old had been slowly making a name for itself around the globe. In the UK and France, it had made friends with all the cool kids. In Japan it loosened ties and in the US and Canada it helped set fire to the night. It was in South Africa, though, that something surprising happened. It grew. Brought to our shores thanks to a fortuitous conversation, Don Papa rum was something of an experiment, to see how we'd take to a premium rum product. It turns out South Africans were ready to see rum as more than just something with which to flavour a glass of Coke.