I can't help feeling that there wouldn't have been this defensive reaction if, for the sake of argument, there were suddenly umpteen reports of Cadence rods breaking while striking, casting, or even threading the line through the rings while the rod was in a rest.
I couldn't even guess what might happen, nor could I care. All I can say is that I couldn't comment one way or another as I don't own a Cadence rod and have only met one person (maybe two) that ever has.
As I've already said, people will believe who and what they want. Personally, my own experience of Acolytes coupled with talking to the local tackle shops and a healthy dose of cynicism, means that I will remain quite dismissive of at least a proportion of the tales of woe. I have no faith that all of the breakages talked about on forums are real let alone genuinely attributable to a fault with the rod. Then there's the good chance that just a couple of breakages (genuine or not) are being talked up by multiple different posters and therefore appearing to be multiple different rod breakages.
People want to assume that it's an impassioned defence of Drennan and Acolytes. However, Drennan aren't my favourite manufacturer (I've never had one) and Acolytes aren't even my favourite rods. My only motivation to defend them is to counter what I see as unfair criticism, especially when it comes from those that have zero first hand experience. I'm not keen on seeing anyone, or anything, unfairly maligned. The only real shame is that some might be put off a rod that might be perfect for them.
Do I own Acolytes? Yes, multiple.
Have any of my Acolytes broken? No.
Could I legitimately blame a design or material flaw if they break in the future? No, I've used them way too many times and caught way too many fish on them. If I suffer any breakage in the future it will be my fault.
Do I believe that Acolytes have broken? Absolutely. I know full well they have.
Do I believe that every breakage is due to an inherent flaw, design or material? No.
Do I believe that everyone that reports a break is being entirely honest when they claim it wasn't their fault? No. I don't necessarily believe they are being underhand, it's just easy to miss a knock in use or transit and try and blame a fault rather than accept the fault as your own and have to pay.
Do I believe that there are anywhere near the number of breakages as forum chatter might suggest? No.
Plenty of people are going to answer those questions differently. So be it, it's a free(ish) country.