> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.redeyebr.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Cane, meet Destiny - URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/cane-meet-destiny/ - Published: 2026-08-14T01:20:44.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-17T16:33:27.000Z - Description: Galvez Rum is the most recent distillery making rum. A visit to its tasting room will show why it won medals at the international spirits competition this year. - Author: Mukul Verma - Tags: Get Out Rum was inevitable. Louisiana has long grown sugarcane and mastered the complicated business of turning its juice into sugar. The next step took surprisingly long, although it now seems obvious: turn the cane into molasses, the molasses into rum, and try not to drink all of it at a football tailgate or music festival. South Louisiana has accumulated a small flotilla of rum makers: Oxbow Rum, Jean Baptiste Spirits, Seven Three Distilling and Wildcat Brothers. The newest distillery to launch a product is [Galvez Rum](https://galvezrum.com/?ref=redeyebr.com) in Jackson. In fact, it’s the oldest of the group, but Galvez took its time perfecting its rum and bringing it to market. Its tasting room is a leisurely 25-minute drive from Mid City, winding through small towns where speed traps are fuel for municipal budgets. Drive slowly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c8/1d/c81d6c92-592f-461e-97d4-7573bc659b2b/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-13-at-1.21.24---PM.png) **(Galvez Rum image)* When you arrive at Galvez’s tasting room, you will likely be greeted by Belinda Brown, a charming woman who readily admits that her knowledge of rum-making does not approach that of Elio Villasmil, the local rum master from Venezuela. This is not much of a confession. Most of us know considerably less than a rum master. When the master is away, Brown fills in, conducting tastings with Louisiana warmth and mixing cocktails with the assurance of someone who understands that rum—still less familiar here than bourbon—must be shared if the word is going to spread. Brown has worked for the distillery’s owner, George Schaffer, for nearly 20 years. He owns Crompion International, a Baton Rouge sugar-engineering and specialty-steel firm. He traveled the world with his father, a renowned sugar engineer, before settling in the city. Schaffer and William Manso, the distillery’s Panamanian “Rum Maestro,” decided they wanted to open a distillery. Ordinarily, such impulses amount to little more than conversation over dinner. When you possess expertise, equipment and sufficient resources, however, the occasional whim can become a public service. In this case, it did. The rum is quite delicious. Galvez makes three rums, although only two are readily available. The elusive third, Founder’s Limited Edition, is a blend of rums aged from 12 to 30 years. It tastes less like the foundation of a poolside Mai Tai than a complicated old bourbon—the sort of spirit that expects an appropriate glass, a comfortable chair and your undivided attention. The lightest of the three, Galvez Silver, is made in Panama and aged in Oloroso sherry and French Armagnac barrels. It earned a silver medal at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Unlike many white rums, it does not burn the throat on the way down. It is smooth and entirely at ease in a Cuba Libre or a cocktail made with tropical fruit juices. Between the two, though hardly neglected like some middle child, is Victory Blend. This Cuban-style rum spends six to eight years in Kentucky bourbon barrels, part of that time at the distillery. It is Belinda’s favorite, which ought to carry more weight than any medal, although Victory Blend won a gold medal at the same competition this year. It deserves to be sipped neat, but mixing it into a daiquiri is no insult. Rum is not so easily offended. Just make the drink properly, by hand. Finally, Galvez has found a purpose for the persimmon, the Louisiana fruit that divides us. The distillery turns it into a liqueur. It deserves to join the regular rotation at local bars and clubs as a mixer or an after-dinner drink. Galvez recently signed up with a new distributor, so its rum might become easier to find in the coming months. Until then, drive through the rolling hills of Louisiana to Jackson. Belinda will happily pour you an ounce or two to sip, or draw you a frozen concoction from one of three rotating machines. On a hot Louisiana afternoon, principles about handcrafted cocktails have their limits. ## Sign up for RedEye Journalism to kickstart Baton Rouge Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.