New Orleans rum maker prospers in Katrina's wake

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Life!) - As well as flooding it with water and stinking mud, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 also gave the Old New Orleans Rum distillery a new lease of life, plus a new brand of rum and a series of awards.

"Ever since the storm people around the country have been very sympathetic to products from New Orleans," said Ben Gersh, general manager at the distillery.

"We happen to make a very good product in New Orleans," he added.

Founded in 1995 by local artist James Michalopoulos - whose vividly colored oil paintings of ornate, balconied buildings in the city's French Quarter adorn the inside of Old New Orleans Rum bottle labels - the distillery was a small venture producing a few hundred cases before the hurricane hit almost three years ago.

Now the distillery - run by Michalopoulos' company Celebration Distillation - is in the process of boosting production up to 9,000 cases a year due to demand.

"It's amazing to think that in just three years since Katrina we have gone from a mud pile to a world-class producer of rum," said distiller Chris Sule, a former brewer.

After the hurricane that flooded more than 85 percent of the city Gersh said no one knew what to expect when workers were allowed back into the distillery.

"Most of the equipment is stainless steel so that was easy to clean up," he said. "The big question was what had happened to the rum we had here in the barrels and whether we were still in business."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that only six barrels were contaminated by the flood waters while one floated away and was never found.

HIDDEN TREASURE

While testing all the barrels for contaminants, workers stumbled upon 17 barrels of 10-year-old rum that had been forgotten. The company bottled it and sells it to a few bars around the country.

"We don't sell this 10-year-old in New Orleans because if we sold it to one bar everyone would insist on having it," Gersh said.

"For us, the 10-year-old rum shows that good things can come out of terrible events."

The awards haven't hurt either. At the 2008 International Rum Festival Competition all four types of rum made by Old New Orleans Rum - a clear variety, a three-year-old, its Cajun-spiced brand and the 10-year-old - won medals.

Gersh said the three-year-old rum, in particular, is a local favorite on Bourbon Street for mixing mojitos - a cocktail made with rum, lime, mint fine sugar and soda water.

He added that the secret of the distillery's success is that it uses molasses in the distilling process.

"We're also the first distillers to say we're a real American rum and proud of it, and that resonates with rum drinkers," Gersh said.

The distillery runs daily tours, including a sampling of Old New Orleans Rum.

"We try to do find something new, local and original once in while and this is the best thing we've found yet," said Gayle Klein, a local resident who took a recent tour.

Pointing to a mark on the wall about eight feet (2.4 meters) from the ground, Toni Serpas, who was also on the tour, said: "Just look at that. It's amazing how far they've come since Katrina,"