For young Filipino males getting initiated into the world of liquid spirits, their first taste is always either with beer, gin or rum.

If it’s rum, it’s almost inevitably Tanduay Rum which has over a century of history in Philippines. First bottled from oak casks in a small distillery in the San Miguel district of Manila in 1854, it has come a long way.

Since 1876, it has won scores of international awards for excellence including three at the International Rum Festival held in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2003.

As its marketing spiel goes, Tanduay rum "keeps pouring on the good times" and it was just a matter of time before it reached Canada.

In late 2004, Tanduay Regular Dark Rum was listed with the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission and shipment arrived Winnipeg in early 2005.

Before the end of 2005, Tanduay Superior Rum was listed with the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch and it is now available in most the liquor stores in the province. It is the same particularly Tanduay rum product that won the gold award in the 2003 Halifax rum festival.

Henry Cheng of the Ontario-based Icos International Inc., the Canada distributor of Tanduay, said the current volume is still "very insignificant but the key point is we get the opportunity to penetrate into this market."

"Eventually we will have the chance to grow big in the near future," Cheng says.

Imports to Canada are only around 400 cases per year.

"As a general practice for all the Provincial Liquor Control Boards in Canada, when it comes to products from the Asian countries, i.e. Philippines, Japan, China, India, Korea etc., the liquor boards would only consider those products mainly targeting ethnic groups and communities, and are not for the Caucasian consumers," Cheng explains.

"It’s going to take quite a while to be recognized and accepted by the local consumers before the sales will increase.

"That’s why we urge the continued and extensive support from the Filipino community to make Tanduay rum a household name in Canada," he adds.

Tanduay products are also marketed in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Saipan, Guam, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and the mainland U.S.

"Currently we are exploring the market in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, hoping that within the very near future, Tanduay rum will be listed in all these provinces," Cheng says.

One of our goals is to give local Canadians the opportunity to taste one of the most elite products from the Philippines," Cheng also says.