TALKING SHOP WITH THE MAN BEHIND NEW ORLEANS’ FORMATIVE CHERAMIE RUM
WRITTEN BY RICH MANNING PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHERAMIE RUM
J
ason Zeno wasn’t born in New Orleans. He originally hails from Pittsburgh. But you may not realize this when you start talking to him and he shares his wisdom through his dry sense of humor. As director of operations for Porchjam Distilling, his understanding of the Louisiana landscape and his involvement in producing New Orleans on-premise staple Cheramie Rum practically makes him a Big Easy native by proxy. His move down South may not even be the biggest move he made in his career. He made his bones at Beam Suntory as a commercial distiller before jumping into the craft sector. Recently, we sat down with Zeno to talk about Porchjam’s place in the burgeoning Louisiana rum scene, how his work at Beam Suntory impacts him in the craft sector, and whether the public is fully prepared for spirits from the Pelican State.
ARTISAN SPIRIT MAGAZINE: What are some of the projects you’re
currently working on at Porchjam?
JASON ZENO: At this moment we are working on finishing up
producing, processing, and barreling Cheramie distillate for the 2023 harvest. We just released our “Aged Gold” expression and that will need some marketing and sales support to get everyone in the know. We also have some other liquid coming of age that needs to be harvested, transferred, blended, or sold. There are several steps along the way that lend themselves to constant supervision and maintenance. We live in freaking New Orleans, so in our opinion maturation can jump the shark if one is not diligent in managing barrels, oak, and blending. In addition to the above we have been approached by several independent bottlers and some on-premise groups to purchase some rum in larger volumes. Not trying to be coy with my wording: Some people want totes or tankers of new make, some want barrels or blends of barrels. This is all great if we can balance the business, so to speak. We have also made friends with someone who is interested in learning fermentation and distillation that also imports products from Jamaica. Mainly sugar and coffee products, so you can use deductive reasoning to figure out how we are involved. (Spoiler: it’s rum). I also have this itch to make a Cheramie coffee liqueur. Besides that? Mostly cleaning.
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