131 avsnitt • Längd: 80 min • Månadsvis
Explore the world of rum by hearing from the people who are shaping it.
The podcast The Rumcast is created by Will Hoekenga and John Gulla. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Click here to watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In the second installment of our Rumcast Single Cask Project series, we decide on a name for the brand and debate bottle designs ahead of our trip to Main Rum Company at the end of January.
You can view the bottles in our bottles spreadsheet here.
Like we mention in the intro, if you or someone you know has label design skills and is interested in collaborating (and knows the rum world), send us an email at host@rumcast.com!
As a reminder, this episode is part of an ongoing series in which we take you along with us as we purchase a barrel of rum and do our first single cask release. If you missed Part 1, you can check it out here.
Click here to watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Happy holidays and New Year (in advance), everyone!
In our fifth (!) annual Year in Review episode we take a look back at our favorite rums of the year in the following categories:
Unaged molasses rum
Unaged cane juice rum
Aged rum (5 years or less)
Aged rum (Over 5 years)
“New to me” rum
Best value rum
Most surprising rum
Overall rum
Plus, we each throw in picks for Distillery of the Year and Bottler of the Year, along with another round of "Am I the a**hole for being lower on this rum?" and another classic rum-themed holiday tune from John Gulla.
Have a listen, and let us know your favorites in these categories from the past year! Also, what did we miss? What were we too high or low on? We'd love to hear your takes.
The List (Spoilers Ahead!)
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Unaged Rum (Molasses):
Will: Pelée’s Fury Martinique Grand Arôme Rum from Raising Glasses
John: Pelée’s Fury Martinique Grand Arôme Rum from Raising Glasses
Unaged Rum (Cane Juice):
Will: Alambique Serrano — Cartier 30
John: Alambique Serrano — Cartier 30
Aged Rum (5 Years or Less):
Will: Hampden Estate Great House 2024
John: Ghana 2020 from Down Island Spirits
Aged Rum (Over 5 Years):
Will: Fiji 2012 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier
John: Cambodia 2016 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier
“New to Me” Rum:
Will: O Reizinho Limited Edition White Rum
John: The category of UK Rum
Value Rum:
Will: Shakara 12-Year
John: Shakara 12-Year
Most Surprising Rum:
Will: Unaged Rum from Line 44 Distillery
John: Ten To One Five Origin Select
“Am I the A**hole?" Rum:
Will: El Dorado High Ester Blend
John: El Dorado High Ester Blend
Overall Rum:
Will: Alambique Serrano Blend #3: Matadiablo
John: Fiji 2012 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier
Distillery of the Year:
Will: Krassel Family Distillery (Alambique Serrano / Cañada)
John: Krassel Family Distillery (Alambique Serrano / Cañada)
Bottler of the Year:
Will: Raising Glasses
John: La Maison & Velier
Click here to watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
We're back with another entry in our semi-blind reviews series — but yet again with a twist! In this mystery sample edition, both of us have no idea what the identity of this rum is as we review it. Along the way, we offer our best guesses as to the rum's origin and key characteristics.
This time, it's a 13-year-old rhum agricole from Isautier Distillery in Réunion Island bottled by Swell de Spirits.
Rum specs:
Bottler: Swell de Spirits
Origin: Réunion Island
Distillery: Isautier
Base material: Cane juice
Distillation: Column
Age: 13 years
Cask: Ex-Cognac
ABV: 59.4%
A special thank you to Rumcast patron Ben for providing the mystery sample.
Click here to watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we went inside a brand new distillery in a rarely explored rum origin of the Caribbean — Dominica (not the Dominican Republic). Rosalie Bay Distilling is a unique operation that is producing rum from sugarcane juice supplied by 80+ local farmers, and contributing 100% of its profits toward conservation efforts that protect sea turtles, coral reef, whales, and more.
We got to sit down with Kernean George (head distiller), Marcella Harris (conservationist and board member of Dominica Sea Turtle Conservation Organization), and Brett Steigerwaldt (distillery advisor and head distiller at Lyon Rum) to learn about Rosalie Bay from a variety of angles, including:
How a chance encounter at a Maryland rum distillery sparked Rosalie Bay Distilling
A brief history of rum production in Dominica, and why it differs from neighboring islands Martinique and Guadeloupe
Kernean's journey from not drinking rum to becoming a head rum distiller
How Rosalie Bay developed its style of cane juice rum
What it's like to source cane from 80+ local farmers
The unique terroir of Dominica
The dangers to sea turtles, coral reef, and sperm whales — and how the distillery funds efforts to protect them
And much more!
Links to things mentioned during the episode:
You can order bottles of Rosalie Bay via Raising Glasses (it's also currently available in Massachusetts retail stores)
The Last Turtle documentary (available on YouTube)
National Geographic's Secrets of the Whales docuseries (episode 4 features Dominica's sperm whales)
Click here to watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
In this return to our Rumcast Guides series, we dive into Portugal's twist on agricole rum — Madeira!
Madeira has been producing amazing cane juice rums for a very long time, but has only started becoming more well known in the broader rum world in recent years. So there's no better time than now to explore it!
We take you through:
A brief history of rum production and sugarcane cultivation in Madeira
Their distinctive rules for rum production
How their mythical "Chamber of Tasters" tasting panels for approving authentic Rums da Madeira work
A look at each of the current Madeira rum distilleries
Tastings of several Madeira rums from O Reizinho, Engenhos do Norte, Vinha Alta, and Engenho Novo
On-the-ground reporting from a Rumcast correspondent who recently visited Madeira
The reveal of a "Madeira Mystery" blind tasting
And more!
Related links:
The official Rum da Madeira website
Madeira Rum certification process PDF
Madeira Rum organoleptic requirements PDF
Our episode 55 interview with Peter Holland
Our episode 73 interview with Richard Nicholson
Secret Rum Bar's Madeira Rum series
Fat Rum Pirate's Calheta rum review
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to see video of this episode? Click here to watch on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
Check out the Rumcast Patreon community for more bonus content like this!
In this free edition of our monthly bonus Patreon episode, we taste through three highly anticipated new rums in La Maison & Velier's Flag Series:
Cambodia 2016: an 8-year-old pot still rum from Samai Distillery (48.7% ABV)
Jamaica 2015: a 9-year-old pot still rum from Worthy Park (60.4% ABV)
Fiji 2012: a 12-year-old pot still rum from South Pacific Distilleries (64.5% ABV)
Tune in for some background on Cambodian rum, our thoughts on each rum, some reflections on the Flag Series as a whole, a digression on Bob Dylan, and more!
Note: These samples were provided to us free of charge, and with no promise of a review or episode like this.
Have you tried any of these yet? Is there one you're particularly interested in? Shoot us an email or comment and let us know!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to see video of this episode? Click here to watch on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
We're back with our semi-blind reviews series — but with a twist!
In this mystery sample edition, both of us have no idea what the identity of this rum is before diving in headfirst for a review. Along the way, we offer our best guesses as to the rum's origin and key characteristics.
This time, it's a 20-year-old rum from Trinidad Distillers Limited bottled by Compagnie Des Indes. Tune in to see how close we get!
A special thank you to Rumcast patron Ben for providing the mystery sample.
Have a listen and let us know what you think of this rum!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to watch the video version of this episode? Head to YouTube to watch and subscribe.
Big news: we're buying a cask and branding, bottling, labeling, and releasing our own single cask rum! Throughout this process, we'll be taking you along on the journey as we conceptualize the rum, travel to the Main Rum Company in Liverpool to find the perfect cask, and do all the other stuff that goes into a first-time release.
In this episode, we tackle our first creative challenge — coming up with a name for the brand / release! We discuss themes we'd like the name to capture, things we'd like to avoid, and then share ideas for names that we've brainstormed separately — including the bad, the ugly, and the...possibly OK?
Have a listen and shoot us an email (host@rumcast.com), comment, or message with your thoughts, ideas, or things you'd like us to throughout the process.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to watch the video version of this episode? Head to YouTube to watch and subscribe.
In this episode, we're excited to take you inside a very new emerging rum locale — Sicily, the Italian island where Distilleria Alma is bringing back sugarcane cultivation. Since 2021, Hugo Gallardo and his co-founders have been crafting cane juice rum from multiple varietals and bottling it under the label Mater Rum.
We were lucky to try multiple bottlings of Mater and can confirm that it's worthy of your interest not just because of its interesting origin, but also because it tastes pretty damn good. So obviously we had to get the full story from Hugo!
We discussed:
The long history of sugarcane in Sicily (and why it disappeared)
How the distillery almost ended up in the Philippines
The ongoing evolution of Mater's production process
The differences between the yellow cane and purple cane rums
Rumors of additional Sicilian rum projects from heavy hitters of the rum world
Sicily's unique environment and culture
What kinds of Mater releases we may see in the future
Bringing Mater to the U.S.
And much more!
Check out Distilleria Alma's website for more info on Mater Rum.
Relevant links to the Jamaica Rum GI discussion in the intro:
The Gleaner: New GI rum rules bar aging outside of Jamaica
Rum Wonk: Jamaica's Rum GI Changes - Overview and Analysis
Rum Revelations: Jamaica GI Rumblings with a French Twist
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to watch the video version of this episode? Head to YouTube to watch and subscribe.
In this special mini-episode, we reveal the full results and official WINNER of the 2024 Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft!
You can view the official results totals here (Spoiler Warning, obviously).
As always, THANK YOU to everyone who listened and voted, and a special shout out to our special guest participant this year, Arminder Randhawa of The Rum Revival.
Be sure to follow Arminder on YouTube and Instagram!
Special thanks to The Auditor Reviews for his draft grades article. Check it out here!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: We need your help to make the most of this episode! Go to rumcast.com/vote after listening to help determine the winner of this year's Fantasy Rum Draft. Thank you!
Want to watch the video version of this episode? Head to YouTube and subscribe: https://youtu.be/ZMT9r_GXk0w
For the third year in a row, we're back with our annual Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft. In this annual competition, we compete head-to-head to “draft” rums from the selection of a single online liquor store for 10 different rum categories. The goal? To create the superior “desert island” rum bar.
Also, for the first time ever, we welcomed a guest to the competition! Arminder Randhawa from The Rum Revival joined us to duke it out for fantasy rum bar supremacy.
Have a listen, and then head to rumcast.com/vote to help us determine the winner!
As always, we'd love to hear what thoughts or questions this episode brought to mind for you. Shoot us an email or join us in Patreon for access to the Rumcast Discord community.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: Watch this episode on YouTube for video of the whole interview!
In this episode, we sat down with Nicolas Palazzi, the founder of PM Spirits. As a self-proclaimed "provider of geeky spirits" PM is an importer/distributor known for supplying the US with many sought-after rum releases thanks to relationships with brands like La Maison & Velier, Père Labat, Alambique Serrano, and many more.
It was a fascinating conversation that touched on everything from visiting rum locales like Marie-Galante and Hampden Estate to the challenges of growing the rum category. We discussed:
Nicolas's journey from working as an engineer in France to becoming a spirits importer in Brooklyn
Blending rums at Hampden for an upcoming collaboration with Habitation Velier
The magic of Marie-Galante rum
Growing the Mexican rum category
How Alambique Serrano has gotten so much early attention
Authenticity in spirits
Lessons from 10+ years bringing obscure spirits into the US market
What he looks for when evaluating a spirits producer
Why he will forever be known as Captain Cognac (despite John's attempts at new nicknames)
And much more!
Check out the PM Spirits website here.
As always, we'd love to hear what thoughts or questions this episode brought to mind for you. Shoot us an email or join us in Patreon for access to the Rumcast Discord community.
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to see video of this episode? Click here to watch on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
In this edition of our Semi-Blind Reviews series, we blind taste Rhum JM Fumée Volcanique (not to be confused with Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique), followed by the other two bottles in the distillery's new Atelier series — Jardin Fruité and Épices Créoles.
These are all modestly priced, lightly aged rhum agricoles that bring something new to the table for Rhum JM.
Have a watch and let us know what you think of these rums!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: Watch this episode on YouTube for video of the whole interview!
In this episode, after a quick look at some of our favorite reactions to the Best Designed Bottles episode, we get the behind-the-scenes story of one of the year's most unique rum releases — the Holmes Cay Infinity Cask bottle.
This bottle features a blend of exceedingly rare rums from 13 distilleries (five of which are no longer in operation). From 47-year-old Port Mourant, to 47-year-old rhum agricole from the closed Gardel distillery, to Caroni rums, to Hampden, Long Pond, and much more, it's a blend that began all the way back in 2003 as part of the Main Rum Company's infinity cask program — their own special blends of retained rum samples from some of their best casks.
Holmes Cay founder Eric Kaye took us through the whole backstory, including:
How the opportunity to bring this rum to market came about
The decision to release it in both 700ml and 200ml bottles
Why is it $1,500? Is any rum actually worth that much? Is this just taking us into bourbon territory?
What the rum actually tastes like
How they unexpectedly lost a significant amount of the rum
The packaging headaches that go into designing a custom box
The differences between this cask and Main Rum's other infinity casks
Some exciting upcoming Mhoba and Savanna releases
And much more!
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this release. Have a listen and leave a comment or hop into the Discord to let us know what you think!
You can get more details on this rum on the Holmes Cay website.
As mentioned in the intro, here are some of the worthwhile articles on eco-friendly packaging:
Rumporter: Should We Do Away with the Glass Bottle?
IWSC: Sustainable Spirits Packaging
Glass Hallmark: How Is the Glass Industry Delivering on Lighter Weight Glass Packaging?
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: Watch this episode on YouTube to see all the bottles we discuss!
In this episode we have something completely different — rather than talking about the rum in the bottle, we're talking about the bottle itself!
We each selected our five current favorite bottle designs, considering a range of factors like bottle aesthetics, functionality, label design, stopper, and much more.
As you may know, our tastes differ quite a bit, so things got spicy along the way.
Let us know — what are your favorite bottle designs out there right now? What did we get right and wrong? Send us an email at host@rumcast.com or a comment on social to share your takes!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode we sat down with John Hsu and Lorri Kern to learn all about their bold approach to bottling rum as the relatively new independent bottler Raising Glasses. This year alone, they've released rums from the Netherlands, Madeira, Ecuador, and other unexpected locales, which is all part of their willingness to try things other rum brands aren't doing.
It was a great conversation that features multiple Rumcast firsts, including the first ever Rapid Fire Revenge Round (John and Lorri turned the tables and questioned us), the debut of an original song about rum (listen to the end for this one), and also a new segment in the intro where we take you inside the Rumcast Innovation Lab™.
Additionally, we cover topics like:
Standouts from John and Lorri's recent trip to The Whisky Exchange's Rum Show in London
The promise of the UK rum scene
Raising Glasses' "white whale" distillery they're trying to source a barrel from
The pros and cons of their signature 375ml bottles
Their philosophy when it comes to bottling rum
Behind the scenes of their legendary April Fool's release, Atmôspheré
The future of Raising Glasses
Adventures in board gaming
And much more!
Like we mentioned earlier, you'll want to listen all the way to the end of this one for a special musical ode to an icon of the rum world.
Check out Raising Glasses on their website.
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to see video of this episode? Check it out on YouTube and subscribe to our channel!
We're back with another bite-sized episode in our Semi-Blind Rum Reviews series. This time, John braved the challenge of blind-tasting and attempting to identify Roulaison Overproof, a pot-distilled, molasses-based rum from Roulaison Distilling out of Louisiana. Along the way, we both share our overall thoughts on the rum as John tries to uncover its identity.
Have a listen and let us know what you think of this rum!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: See the end of this episode description for the Hurricane Beryl aid links we mention in the intro.
In this episode we revisited one of rum's iconic institutions from a totally different perspective from our previous episode (from over 2 years ago!) on it. We're talking, of course, about The Main Rum Company — keepers of E&A Scheer's boutique single cask program, and possibly the most extensive collection of single cask rum (excluding distilleries) in the world. You know all those great single cask releases from independent bottlers? A huge number of them came from Main Rum.
To guide us through this deep dive, we spoke with Main Rum's Senior Cask Expert (what a cool title) Ian Hoyles. Ian spoke with us about:
The art of matching the right cask to the right rum
The crown jewels of Main Rum's collection over the years
How exactly Main Rum's mysterious "infinity casks" are created
Pushing the limits of aging
How to know when a cask is ready for sale
How Main Rum collectively assesses casks
The rum world's most distinctive flavor profiles
And much more!
Go here to check out The Main Rum Company’s website.
***Hurricane Beryl Relief***
As we mentioned in the intro, we reached out to friends in the Caribbean and were told that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) does impactful relief work across the region. They have set up a bank account for Beryl relief that you can find on their website here: https://www.cdema.org/index.php
There is also an organization called Airlink that is coordinating with the CDEMA to bring relief supplies to the region. There are ways to donate online here: https://airlinkflight.org/responses/hurricane-beryl/
John's colleagues at the university spoke highly of CORE, an organization they are currently working with that is bringing aid to the Caribbean as well: https://www.coreresponse.org/hurricane-beryl/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Want to see video of this episode? Check it out on YouTube and subscribe to our channel! https://youtu.be/8b99b-s4isg
We're back with another episode in our Semi-Blind Reviews series — this time with a rum sourced from a region that came up quite a bit in our 100th episode a few months back: Ghana!
From Down Island Spirits, this is a 4-year-old pot still cane juice rum sourced from Ghana's MIM Distillery. John shares his thoughts knowing full well what the rum is and Will shares his thoughts while having no knowledge of it other than its color in the glass.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with John Georges, former master distiller of Angostura Rum / Trinidad Distillers Ltd. to discuss his 40+ year career in rum, all things Angostura, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
We discussed:
The evolution of rum-making at Angostura over the years
Angostura's involvement with Bacardi in the 1980s
Why pot stills have yet to catch on at Angostura, despite a few attempts
What changed in rum over the course of his four decades of making it
Added sugar in Angostura rum
Which blends Angostura did and did not add Caroni rum to
The career path of a master distiller
And much more!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we chatted with Jason Paul Cox and Isidoro Krassel Jr. of Alambique Serrano and Cañada Rum — two exciting projects featuring cane juice rum from Mexico. Jason is the founder of the brands and Isidoro is one of the four brothers from a family that has been producing aguardiente de caña in Oaxaca's mountainous cloud forest for over 100 years.
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
These are truly fascinating rum projects and we had a blast learning more about them. We discuss:
What makes this rum different from other Oaxacan producers like Paranubes and Dakabend
The Krassel family's unique approach to muck pits and high ester experimentation
The vast range of profiles they can create thanks to their custom column still, pot stills, and dry and humid aging environments
The challenges of harvesting cane and fermenting on the side of a mountain
The making of Alambique Serrano's initial blends
The unique design of the Krassel still, which Isidoro's grandfather invented
A surprise reveal of their new 70% ABV rum, Cartier 30
And much more!
Also, a few links to stuff mentioned in the episode:
Alambique Serrano website: https://www.alambiqueserrano.com/
Cañada Rum website: https://www.cloudforestrum.com/
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
In this episode, we talked to Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris, the co-founders of Rolling Fork Rum, and went DEEP on everything the Kentucky-based independent bottler has learned about secondary maturation (and more) since getting started in 2017. We discussed:
Rolling Fork's focus on utilizing an array of ex-bourbon and ex-whiskey casks for secondary maturation
How much of a difference do different types of ex-whiskey casks REALLY make on a spirit that is primarily already aged in ex-bourbon casks?
Why they just launched a rum blend designed for cocktails after their first cocktail rum failed
How they work through disagreements as co-founders
What it's like selling rum deep in the heart of bourbon country
How different types of casks — from ex-fortified wine barrels to ex-whiskey barrels — react to the wild temperature swings in their aging warehouse
Matching the right type of cask to the right rum
How the independent bottler landscape has changed since they got started in 2017
And a whole lot more!
A few links to stuff mentioned in the episode:
Check out The Rum Revival's blind tasting of Rolling Fork rums finished in five different cask types
Check out Rolling Fork's website and online store here
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
We're back with another episode in our Semi-Blind Rum Reviews series. This time, we swapped roles with Will as the blind taster and John as the rum selector. It turned out to be a quite rare rum — English Harbour 1981, a 25-year-old rum from Antigua Distillery Limited, bottled all the way back in 2006!
You can also view the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36qPUvfw5vY
Be sure to subscribe to us there as well for more video content!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
For this episode, we reached DEEP into the backs of our cabinets and pulled out a selection of rums we had long overlooked, neglected, or even forgotten about in our bars to see how our thoughts have evolved (or IF they have at all).
The rules were simple: it just had to be a bottle we hadn't tasted in at least two years.
Along the way, we discuss everything from market correcting Myers's Original Dark to John discovering (re-discovering?) one of the three best rums he's tried all year to packaging debates and more. It was a fun time, and we hope this inspires you to have your own back-of-the-cabinet adventure!
P.S.Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode we talked to Pepe Álvarez, founder of San Juan Artisan Distillers, the only Puerto Rican distillery making pot still rum from fresh sugarcane juice in a true farm-to-bottle setting.
You may recall we featured Pepe as one of three interviewees in an episode back in 2021, but we wanted to bring him back for a solo interview so we could take a deeper dive into what we both think is a super interesting distillery making great rum.
It was also a chance to speak more broadly about the new wave of craft rum distilleries that have launched in Puerto Rico over the past decade or so, opening an exciting new chapter for the island's rum industry.
We discussed:
Creating a new, unconventional style of Puerto Rican rum
The evolution of the distillery's sugarcane farming operation
How much help Puerto Rico's craft distilleries receive from the government's rum tax cover over relative to the big distilleries on the island
Ideas for leveling the playing field in Puerto Rican rum
Working with legends in rum like Frank Ward and Luis Planas
Learning to make pot still rum on an island where no one used pot stills
Deciding on bottling ABV
The broader craft rum scene in Puerto Rico
The perils of finding distribution outside the island
Upcoming blends and releases from San Juan Artisan Distillers
And much more!
Oh, and John decided to replace the rapid fire segment???
You can check out San Juan Artisan Distillers' website here: https://sanjuanartisandistillers.com/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Steve Jefferson, co-founder and CEO of Kuleana Rum Works, a distillery on Hawaii's Big Island that's putting their own spin on fresh cane juice rum. From growing their own heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane to sourcing and blending rums from around the world, they have a unique approach that's resulting in some pretty damn good rum. We chatted about:
Going from sailing around the Caribbean to starting a rum distillery in Hawaii
Working with a 30+ year veteran of Martinique rhum agricole on Kuleana's production process
The big gamble Steve made to acquire the 45 acres that became Kuleana's farm
Nerdy production and still design details
The current state of their aging program
How they plan to utilize the 35 varieties of heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane
Their relationship with Ko Hana on Oahu
Why Kuleana sources and blends rums from around the world in addition to distilling their own
Their connection to High West Whiskey
Their crowdsourced funding campaign
And more!
Plus, at the beginning, some rambling thoughts on John's travels in Italy, amaro, chasing the solar eclipse, and the impact of minor ABV differences.
You can check out Kuleana's website here (which also has a link to their funding campaign): https://kuleanarum.com/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
With John on vacation, I flew solo on this episode to welcome Ben Inglis, distillery manager and co-founder of The Islay Rum Company, to the show to get the full story on his unique approach to Scottish rum.
If you listened to our Guide to UK Rum episode, you'll remember that John and I rated both of the Islay Rum Company rums we tried quite favorably, so we'd been hoping to talk to Ben ever since. We discussed:
How Ben convinced the Vintage Malt Whisky Company to back his vision of Islay's first rum distillery instead of building a Scotch whisky distillery
Scottish Gaelic pronunciations
The pressure that comes with putting the word "Islay" on a bottle of rum
Contending with the island's flavor profile expectations
Building out the distillery in a historic lemonade factory
Why getting a custom made double retort pot still was a must
Crafting their initial flavor profile
Experiments with long fermentation, native bacteria, yeasts, and more
Balancing inspiration with originality
What's aging right now? And when can we taste it??
And a whole lot more!
You can learn more about The Islay Rum Company here: https://www.islayrum.com/
Check out our episode on the wider UK rum scene here: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/uk-rum-guide
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This week, we’re introducing a new episode format — the Semi-Blind Rum Review!
In these reviews, one of us will know the identity of the rum being reviewed and one of us will be going in with no information about the rum whatsoever, besides its color in the glass.
Our goal is to hopefully provide an unbiased and fun look at new(ish) rums you might be curious about. We'll also be publishing video versions to YouTube.
In this episode, we reviewed:
Shakara 12-Year Thailand Rum (the new release from La Maison & Velier)
ABV: 45.7%
Molasses
Column Distillation
Price: Around $50-60
Transcontinental Rum Line High Seas
ABV: 45%
Blend: Tropically aged Panama rum, unaged Jamaican rum, unaged grand arome rum from Martinique
Price: Around $30-40
As always, would love your thoughts on this episode format, and any takes you have on the rums!
Cheers!
This episode is sponsored by Wonk Press — Get 10% off Modern Caribbean Rum by Matt Pietrek and Carrie Smith now through March 30 with promo code RUMCAST. Plus, Matt and Carrie will sign your book at no additional cost!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we explore the impressive start of possibly the only independent rum bottler in Canada, Bira Rum. Founder Karl Mudzamba took us inside his journey from Zimbabwe, to playing professional rugby in New Zealand, to starting Bira in his current home of Vancouver, BC. Bira has hit the ground running with unadulterated, cask strength releases from Fiji and South Africa, with much more to come.
Along the way, fellow resident of Canada Ivar de Laat of Rum Revelations hopped on the call with us to chime in on the state of rum in Canada, from the options available to rum enthusiasts to the intriguing rums coming out of Canadian distilleries in recent years.
We discuss:
Karl’s rum origin story
The nuances of the Canadian rum market versus other parts of the world
Up and coming Canadian rum distilleries (yes — they exist!)
The all-night Bira ritual of Zimbabwe’s Shona people
Early lessons in launching a rum brand in Canada
How Karl landed on Fiji and South Africa for his initial bottlings
The quest for geeky unaged Fijian rum
Do sugary rums help introduce rum to more people?
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) as one of the world’s chief rum villains
What’s next for Bira
And much more!
To learn more about Bira Rum, check out their website at https://www.birarum.com/
Also, be sure to check out Ivar's website Rum Revelations at https://www.rumrevelations.com/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we're back with a fresh entry in our Rumcast Guides series — and this time we're taking on the rums of the United Kingdom!
Over the last 12 years or so, the UK has seen an explosion of domestic rum distilleries, with the number now reaching over 25 (and counting). We set out to taste a wide selection of these rums to get a sense of the emerging category's characteristics, standout bottles, and notable distilleries, encountering everything from straightforward crowdpleasers, to long fermentation, dunder-charged flavor bombs, to unique profiles we hadn't encountered before.
Following an overview of the category, the episode is divided into four flights that cover nine different distilleries and 16 different rums:
(13:45) Flight #1 - Unaged Lower Proof Rums:
Ninefold Pure Single Rum (46%) (pot still, molasses, 3-4 day fermentation)
Sugar House White Rum (43%) (hybrid pot/column, molasses, 7-day fermentation)
Outlier Distilling Hoolie Manx White Rum (41%) (pot still, molasses, 10-14 day fermentation)
Scratch Faithful British Rum (42%) (pot still, molasses, around 14-day fermentation, use fresh and aged dunder)
Islay Rum Distillery Geal 2022 Inaugural Release (45%) (double retort pot still, molasses, 7+ day fermentation)
Retribution White Rum (44%) (pot still, molasses)
(59:19) Flight #2 - Aged Lower Proof Rums:
J. Gow Revenge Rum (43%) (pot still, molasses, aged 3 years in ex-bourbon and virgin oak, a blend of their HD and DS marks)
J. Gow Fading Light Chestnut Cask (43%) (pot still, molasses, aged in chestnut cask over 12 months, 14-day fermentation)
Ninefold Cask Aged Pure Single Rum (45%) (pot still, molasses, aged at least 1.5 years in American oak)
Matugga Golden Rum (42%) (NAS, pot still, molasses, 7-day fermentation, ex-bourbon casks)
(1:33:41) Flight #3 - Unaged Higher Proof Rums:
J. Gow Culverin TC Marque (50%) (Pot and column, molasses, 5-day fermentation)
J. Gow Wild Yeast Series #2 Kveik 2022 (62%) (molasses, double batch fermented for 7 days and 9 days with a triple blend of Hornindal Kveik, traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast)
Islay Rum Distillery Ùine Mhòr (55%) (double retort pot still, molasses, long fermentations ranging from 4-6 weeks featuring the use of matured dunder, native bacteria, and two commercial yeast strains)
DropWorks Funk Drop Rum (63%) (double retort pot still, "sugar cane honey," 7-day fermentation featuring their "wild trinity" yeast, dunder, and addition of muck during distillation)
(2:08:13) Flight #4 - Aged Higher Proof Rums:
J. Gow Hidden Depths Vol. 2 2017 (51.2%) (cask strength, molasses, aged 5 years in ex bere whisky/OWC oak cask)
Ninefold 3 Year Old Single Pot Still TWE Exclusive (62.2%) (cask strength, molasses, aged 3 years in ex-bourbon from Woodford Reserve)
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this free bonus episode, we're releasing global rum ambassador and Equiano co-founder Ian Burrell's full interview from our 100th episode, which was full of interesting nuggets about the development of Equiano, rum education, where we can expect to see exciting new rums come from over the next several years, and much more!
Also, we try to guess our way through a mystery sample provided by Rumcast Patron Kyle in DC, only to fail spectacularly.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Without further delay, we're super excited to share our 100th episode of The Rumcast with you!
As we've hinted, this episode is special to us, and was really a labor of love. Rather than going with the typical format, we invited a dozen past guests to return for individual interviews where we looked back at how rum has evolved since 2019 (when we started working on the show), and where they think rum is headed over the next 5 years or so. You'll hear from:
Kate Perry of La Maison and Velier
Zan Kong of Worthy Park
Eric Kaye of Holmes Cay
Ian Burrell, the global rum ambassador and Equiano co-founder
Margaret Monplaisir of St. Lucia Distillers and the new WIRSPA chairperson
Lance Surujbally of TheLoneCaner.com
Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, the legendary author and owner of Latitude 29
Craig Nicholson of Worthy Park
Ed Hamilton of Hamilton rum
Carsten Vlierboom of E&A Scheer
Steve Magarry of the new Sydney Rum Distillery (formerly of Beenleigh)
Maggie Campbell of Mount Gay
We assembled highlights from those individual interviews into an episode that takes us through the major themes that came up, such as:
The emergence of "new" rum regions around the world (and which ones we'll be seeing more of)
The long-term prospects of all these emerging distilleries
The good and bad sides of premiumization, and whether rum can avoid the latter
New GIs we're likely to see in the future
The future of bulk rum sales and independent bottlings
What the acquisition of E&A Scheer means
And so much more that it would be impossible to list it all!
We'd love to know what you think of the episode and what your takeaways and thoughts are — so please shoot us an email at host@rumcast.com and let us know.
And seriously — a huge THANK YOU to everyone for listening!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This episode is sponsored by Wonk Press — Get 10% off Modern Caribbean Rum by Matt Pietrek and Carrie Smith now through February 11 with promo code RUMCAST. Plus, Matt and Carrie will sign your book at no additional cost!
Music Credits for this Episode:
“On the Delta” by John Patitucci
“W. A. Mozart, Symphony No.38 in D major” by A Far Cry
“Cover Charge” by TrackTribe
“Djansa” by The Mini Vandals featuring Mamadou Koita and Lasso
“Momo Do” by The Mini Vandals featuring Mamadou Koita and Lasso
“Ratatouille’s Kitchen” by Carmen Maria and Edu Espinal
“Sleepy West” by JHS Pedals
Per tradition, we're back with our predictions for what will happen in the world of rum in 2024 — from trends, to releases, to new projects, and beyond.
In the spirit of accountability, we also take a look back at last year's predictions for 2023 and grade how close each one came.
Have a listen and send us an email at host@rumcast.com to let us know your predictions for the new year!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Happy holidays and New Year (in advance), everyone!
In our fourth annual Year in Review episode we take a look back at our favorite rums of the year in the following categories:
Unaged molasses rum
Unaged cane juice rum
Aged rum (5 years or less)
Aged rum (Over 5 years)
“New to me” rum
Best value rum
Most surprising rum
Overall rum
Plus, we each throw in picks for Distillery of the Year, along with another round of "Am I the a**hole for not liking this rum?"
Have a listen, and let us know your favorites in these categories from the past year! Also, what did we miss? What were we too high or low on? We'd love to hear your takes.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we went deep on the eight marks of Jamaica's Hampden Estate and the making of the recently released 8 Marks Collection with Peppie Grant (Tour Manager at Hampden), Daniele Biondi (Export Manager at La Maison & Velier), and Howard McCalla (Production Manager at Hampden).
Speaking with people from both Hampden and La Maison & Velier allowed us to get the full story behind the 8 Marks Collection, from the rum itself to how the release came together in the first place. We discussed:
How the idea for the 8 Marks Collection came about
Challenges in creating a unique product like this
The best ways to taste through Hampden's marks
How to approach blending marks together
Why higher ester level does not automatically make a rum more complex
What exactly is cane juice vinegar?
Whether certain marks are only made on certain stills or not
Hampden's rumored 3,000 (or even 7,000!) ester level rums
Why Jamaica limits ester levels in rum
The perils of the "high ester" descriptor
The upcoming aged version of the 8 Marks Collection
Hampden's future
And much more!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This episode is sponsored by Wonk Press — Get 10% off Modern Caribbean Rum by Matt Pietrek and Carrie Smith now through December 10 with promo code RUMCAST. Plus, Matt and Carrie will sign your book at no additional cost!
In this episode, we set out to answer a surprisingly interesting question — which 80 proof rums are the best values? Which ones punch above their weight? Which ones should we not ignore just because they're 80 proof?
We selected a group of 10 popular aged molasses-based rums we had on hand and pitted them against each other in a head-to-head tasting bracket.
While it would be impossible to fit ALL the worthy 80 proof rums into one episode, we tried to select 10 that represent popular, widely available options around the world. And we're open to doing additional brackets with other 80 proof rums (or other types of rum) if you like this episode!
While we often pine for higher proof options, the reality is that 80 proof will likely remain the most common option for standard releases for the foreseeable future, so why not figure out which ones offer the best sipping experience for the money?
This turned out to be a really fun exercise that delivered several unexpected winners and losers along the way. At the end, there could only be one champion.
Here is the link to the article on 80 proof spirits mentioned in the introduction: https://vinepair.com/articles/80-proof-liquor-spirits-history/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we got a full report of all the exciting happenings and new bottles showcased at UK RumFest, Whisky Live Paris, and other events across Europe from Chris Hassan Francke, owner of one of Washington, DC's premier spots for rum, The Green Zone. Chris took us deep into the rum festival scene in Europe from the perspective of both a rum fan and bar owner. We discussed:
First impressions of new releases like the El Dorado High Ester Blend, Worthy Park Overproof, Foursquare's second edition of LFT, and more
Other standout bottles from all events
The differences between these events and typical rum festivals in the U.S.
Noticeable absences from UK RumFest
His impressions of the many UK-made rums showcased at the event
UK RumFest vs. Whisky Live Paris — which is better for rum geeks?
Tasting Bacardi from 1905
The types of rum he most wishes existed for his bar
The new 100% rum bar concept he's working on in DC
The underground Richard Seale t-shirt economy
And much more!
Whether you're interested in upcoming releases, which rum events to attend, or designing a rum bar, there's a little something for everyone in this interview.
And as we mentioned in the intro, send an email to host@rumcast.com to let us know what some of your favorite rums of 2023 have been!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we have a freewheeling conversation on a topic we've wanted to delve into for a long time — molasses production and the role it plays in rum!
Maggie Campbell (Estate Manager at Mount Gay) and Zan Kong (Commercial Manager of Spirits at Worthy Park) lent their expertise and sterling personalities to guide us through the ins and outs of the sticky liquid that goes into making the overwhelming majority of the world's rum.
Of course, we also discuss the new Mount Gay and Worthy Park releases that have been making the news recently — Mount Gay's first single estate rum and Worthy Park's new overproof expression.
Zan and Maggie both have firsthand experience working at distilleries that have their own sugar mills, which is quite uncommon in the world of modern rum production. This allowed them to guide us through a number of fascinating topics, including:
The incredible amount of work that goes into molasses and sugar production — and the unique skillsets it requires
The differences between all the various molasses descriptors we often see, from Grade A to Grade C to blackstrap to high test, and beyond
Worthy Park's decision to integrate cane juice into their rum-making process
The making of Mount Gay's new sugar mill (and what it allows them to do)
The concern level for the quality of modern mass-market molasses
Does "single origin" molasses make a difference?
How different types of molasses impact flavor in rum
And much more!
This episode is sponsored by independent bottler Raising Glasses. To check out (and order) their latest releases, visit their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
For this episode, we asked our patrons to send in their top rum-related questions — and they delivered! We share our thoughts on:
What is presently the most underappreciated rum-producing country?
What rums do you always keep in stock?
What is your go-to daily drinker? (Go-to rum and go-to cocktail)
Now that you have been into rum for a while, have your buying habits changed?
If each of you were an independent bottler with no limit on cost, what is the one distillery you would want to pick a barrel from, and why?
If you could resurrect one now defunct rum, or now defunct distillery, which would it be and why?
How do you handle the questions like "I don't like rum, convince me", or "I drink Captain Morgan, what should I try next"? How do you recommend rum to tequila, gin, bourbon, and scotch people?
Can American rum go toe to toe with rum from other countries?
What developments do you hope to see over the next decade in U.S. rum distilleries located in sugarcane producing states?
What are some rum events on your bucket lists? And what rum events have you gone to that you do and, just as importantly, don't recommend to the community?
What is a way someone new to rum can learn about what is going on in the rum industry, new rums coming out, etc?
What is the weirdest, but most accurate, descriptor you've ever picked up when nosing/tasting a rum?
We plan to get to all of the remaining questions in a Mailbag Volume 2 bonus episode that will release later this month.
Episode Links:
Here is the GoFundMe for Daniel Regueira's (co-founder and distiller at Chicago Cane Cooperative) motorcycle injury recovery mentioned during the intro: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-daniels-motorcycle-injury-recovery
The Rumcast Guide to American Rum
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Jason Zeno of Porchjam Distillery / Cheramie Rum to take us inside one of the most interesting up-and-coming American rum distilleries out there right now. Located in New Orleans, they're making a significant volume of fresh cane juice rum that's beginning to trickle its way into several markets across the U.S., and have some exciting aged releases coming up as well. We talked to Zeno about:
How he went from making whiskey for Beam-Suntory to making cane juice rum in Louisiana
Their long journey to finding a source of fresh cane juice
The perils of trucking fresh cane juice in from two hours away
The upcoming harvest season
Their multi-faceted approach to aging
Why they make 3 different types of cane juice rum
The broader landscape of Louisiana rum
The status of a regional designation for Louisiana rum
Winning over more drinkers for cane juice rum
Pearl Jam, somehow
And much more!
If you want to learn more about Cheramie, you can check out the interview Will did with Zeno back in 2021 for deeper details into their production process.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Thanks again to all who listened and voted in our Second Annual Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft — we reveal this year's champion at the top of this new episode!
After revealing the champion (and a bit of gloating from one of us), we get to our latest experiment: investing 6 inexpensive rums we normally would either overlook or outright reject to see if we could find some diamonds in the rough!
We each selected 3 rums under ~$20 that we had either never tried or couldn't remember trying and then put them through a series of tasting to see if we could find any pleasant surprises along the way.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
🗳️ Note: After you listen, go to rumcast.com/vote to help us determine the winner! 🗳️
It's here! After a year of trash talk, victory laps, and hardcore preparation, the second annual Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft has arrived.
In this annual competition, we compete head-to-head to “draft” rums from the selection of a single online liquor store for 11 different rum categories. The goal? To create the superior “desert island” rum bar.
Now, we need you to determine which of us did the best job.
Have a listen, and then head to rumcast.com/vote to help us determine the winner!
We "drafted" rums for the following categories from a selection of 300+ rums currently available at Hi-Time Wine Cellars:
Unaged
Lightly Aged (1-4 Years)
Aged (5-14 Years)
Long Aged (15+ Years)
Cane Juice Unaged
Cane Juice Aged (Any Length)
Multi-Country Blend
Non-Caribbean
Overproof
100% Column
100% Pot
After you listen, head to rumcast.com/vote to access the complete list of picks, along with a link to our Fantasy Rum Draft Command Center if you'd like to have a look.
This episode is sponsored by independent bottler Raising Glasses. To check out (and order) their latest releases, visit their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
At long last, we speak to our first rum producer from Réunion Island! In this episode, we welcomed Marie Ferrand (Cellar Master) and Yann Auberval (Director of Marketing) to take us inside Isautier Distillery's traditions of both cane juice and molasses-based rums. We discuss:
The differences between the rhum agricoles of the Caribbean and Réunion
Why Isautier has long focused on both rhum agricole and rhum traditionnel (molasses-based rum)
The approach to aging that contributes to the rum's unique profile
How the recent partnership with La Maison & Velier came about
The differences between the LM&V bottlings and Isautier's typical releases
Marie's philosophy on rum blending
A walkthrough of their production process (and some experiments they're currently working on)
The story behind Rhum Charrette — the best-selling rum on Réunion that features distillate from all of the island's distilleries
And much more!
You can learn more about Isautier on their website: https://www.isautier.com/en/
This episode is sponsored by independent bottler Raising Glasses. To check out (and order) their latest releases, visit their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the dog days of summer are officially here. And if you're like us, that means it's the perfect time of the year for tasty rum cocktails that don't require much effort to make. So with that in mind, we picked out a handful of our favorite "lazy" recipes we've been experimenting with lately and walked each other through making them.
Some are variations on classics, some are riffs on recipes from talented bartenders, and some are just, well...their own kind of thing altogether. But they all have one thing in common—they're simple enough for cocktail amateurs like us to (usually) not screw them up.
Recipes are included below.
Give 'em a whirl and email host@rumcast.com to let us know what you think!
This episode is sponsored by independent bottler Raising Glasses. To check out (and order) their latest releases, visit their website: https://raisingglasses.com/
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Recipes
Corn and Oil with a Twist:
2 oz aged Barbados rum (43-46% ABV recommended)
1/2 oz JTD Velvet Falernum (or a touch less if you want it less sweet)
Hefty dropperful of Bittermens 'Elemakule Tiki bitters
Combine everything in a glass over ice and stir.
Not a Ti' Punch:
1.5 - 2 oz blanc Agricole or cane juice rum
A dash or two of Angostura bitters
One small ice cube
Combine first two ingredients in a Glencairn. Add the small ice cube and swish it around a bit.
Hat tip to Colton Weinstein of Liba Spirits for this idea.
Willis's Punch:
1oz Wray & Nephew Overproof or Rum Fire
2 oz pineapple juice
1/4 oz simple syrup (optional, but I think it helps)
Fever Tree Ginger Beer
Combine first three ingredients over ice. Top with ginger beer. Give it a stir.
This is a riff on Shannon Mustipher's Miss Ting cocktail.
Might-Be:
2 oz lightly aged/filtered rum like Havana Club 3 or Bacardi Heritage
Owen’s grapefruit lime soda (3/4 cup)
Dash grapefruit bitters (Fee's)
Barspoon or two of 1:1 simple syrup
Sprig of fresh mint
Muddle mint with simple syrup. Add ice, rum, and bitters. Top with grapefruit lime soda.
Angry Daiquiri:
2 oz Havana Club 3 (or similar)
3/4 oz fresh sour orange (naranja agria) juice
1/2 oz simple syrup (1.5-1 semi-rich)
Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sit down with Mike Streeter, founder of Down Island Spirits — a brand that's part of the new wave of American independent bottlers hitting the rum scene over the last few years. We talk through all aspects of starting a rum brand (and sourcing great rum), including:
The hardest parts of becoming an independent bottler
Down Island's process for selecting what to bottle
How he arrived at Down Island's inaugural four selections
Sourcing from brokers versus directly from distilleries
The story behind Down Island's two newest releases from Brazil and Martinique
The style of Brazil's Epris Distillery
The unique effect of aging rum in amburana casks
His love of St. James Distillery
Overlooked amazing rum travel destinations
Getting into the rum importing business
What types of releases we can expect to see in the future
And much more!
You can learn more about Down Island at their website: https://www.downislandspirits.com/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
At long last, we sit down to interview Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, decoder of the Zombie and scores of other classic tiki cocktails, author of books like Sippin' Safari and Potions of the Caribbean, owner of Latitude 29, and purveyor of multiple rum blends via his collaboration with Ed Hamilton. A true icon of the rum world!
We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including:
His techniques for getting bartenders to reveal the secrets to classic recipes like the Zombie
The long lost rums of yore he wishes brands would revive
What's missing from modern rums
Exploring the shelves of legendary rum collector Stephen Rembsberg
The more recently available styles of rum he's particularly interested in
The pursuit of rums circa 2000
The making of the rum blends he created with Ed Hamilton
What it's like to build out a rum menu for a bar
The perfect taglines for rum cocktails
Which long lost recipes he's still pursuing
And much more!
Check out Jeff’s website here: https://beachbumberry.com/index.html
Check out Jeff’s books here: https://beachbumberry.com/publications.html
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we asked ourselves an interesting question: what gaps currently exist in rum brands' lineups that we'd love to see them fill?
We each privately constructed our own list and then revealed and debated our wish list rums in real time.
Have a listen and let us know — which of these rums would you most like (or NOT like) to see in the market? What ideas do you have for rums that should exist (but don't right now)? Send us an email at host@rumcast.com and let us know!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with co-founder Elisandro Gonzalez Molina to learn all about Dakabend Rum — an aguardiente de caña made in the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca in Mexico. We discussed:
The journey Elisandro and his cousin, Edgar Gonzalez Ramirez, took from building their own mezcal palenque and brand (Mezcal Tosba) over the last 20+ years to getting into rum production
The culture of aguardiente de caña and sugarcane in his region of Oaxaca
Dakabend's unique production process (which includes a continuous fermentation that never stops during harvest season)
The wider category of Mexican rum (and what the future might look like)
The history of sugarcane in Oaxaca
How the presence of Mezcal Tosba and Dakabend has impacted his hometown, San Cristóbal Lachirioag
The story behind the name Dakabend
Early experiments in aging Dakabend and what their aging program might look like going forward
And much more!
If you want to learn more about Dakabend and Elisandro, check out these links:
The 2014 episode of NPR's Planet Money that featured the story of Mezcal Tosba
Mezcal Review's article about their trip to San Cristóbal Lachirioag (which has some info on Dakabend in addition to Mezcal Tosba)
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Calbert Francis, global export manager for Antigua Distillery Ltd. to talk all things English Harbour Rum.
Antigua Distillery Ltd. is interesting, as it doesn't fit neatly into the English/Spanish/French categorizations (and is a great example of why they're flawed categories in the first place). While some might expect it to be "English" style, there isn't a pot still to be found at the distillery—everything is 100% column (and the column is quite unique).
We chatted with Calbert about:
Antigua Distillery's Portuguese origins and the unique backstory behind the distillery (which dates back to the 1930s)
The birth of the English Harbour brand (and why it almost didn't get off the ground)
The distillery's unconventional modified column still (and what makes it different from other column stills)
The potential return of English Harbour's 25-year release
Experiments with high-congener rum production and atypical maturation that led to some of the distillery's most memorable limited releases
Carnival culture in Antigua
The difference in the local market and export markets' rum tastes
The evolution of English Harbour's cask finish releases
The additives question
What the distillery is planning for its 90th anniversary
And more!
Photo Credit: Prayitno Photography
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Hey Rumcasters, we’re making one of this month’s bonus episodes (typically exclusive to patrons) free for all!
This past week, Appleton formally announced the coming special release of the long-awaited Appleton 17-Year Legend rum, which they've billed as a "faithful recreation" of the legendary J. Wray & Nephew 17-Year rum used in Trader Vic's first ever mai tai.
The reactions from the rum enthusiast community have been strong, to say the least. In fact, we struggled to think of any other recent limited release that sparked this level of reaction in rum enthusiast circles.
With that in mind, we recorded this episode to talk through our thoughts on the rum itself, why the rum community got so excited about it, why there seems to be so much frustration with the release, whether the release of these 1,500 bottles could be done in a better way, and the perils of limited releases in general.
If you'd like to get more episodes like this every month, just head on over to patreon.com/therumcast!
Relevant Links:
Forbes Article: "Rum's Holy Grail: Appleton Recreates the Rum Used in the First Mai Tai"
Rum Wonk: "Appleton Estate's "Legend" 17-Year Rum: What We Know"
In this episode, we caught up with Ben Jones (director of North America for Spiribam) to catch up on all things related to Spiribam's portfolio of rum brands/distilleries, like Rhum J.M, Rhum Clément, St. Lucia Distillers, and their latest acquisition — Saint-Maurice Distillery in French Guiana, makers of La Belle Cabresse and other brands.
We chatted with Ben about:
New and upcoming releases from J.M and Clément (including several off-the-wall cask finishes)
How involved he/Spiribam are with product development and feedback at each distillery
The cool story behind the making of Chairman's Reserve Legacy, which we've often lauded as a great value rum
What the future of sugarcane cultivation (and cane juice rum production) looks like at St. Lucia Distillers
Why Rhum J.M VO is being replaced by Terroir Volcanique
An update on high ester production at St. Lucia Distillers
The growing market for cane juice spirits from around the world and how that impacts the rhum agricole category
What to expect from Spiribam's acquisition of Saint-Maurice in French Guiana
The future of Spiribam's Mauritian rum brand, Arcane
And more!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we embark on a journey to discover which Foursquare rums that are $50(ish) or less are truly the best value. To do this, we went through a blind tasting of 10 widely available affordable rums distilled at Foursquare Distillery:
Alleyne Arthur's Special Barbados Rum (43% ABV)
Old Brigand Black Label (43% ABV)
Real McCoy 5-Year (40% ABV)
Doorly's 5-Year (40% ABV)
Doorly's XO (40% ABV)
Doorly's 8-Year (40% ABV)
R.L. Seale's 10-Year (43% ABV)
Doorly's 12-year (43% ABV)
Real McCoy 12-Year (40% ABV)
R.L. Seale's 12-Year (46% ABV)
Note: We mention in this episode that some online sources state that Doorly's 12 is a blend of 90% ex-bourbon cask rum and 10% ex-Madeira cask rum. We reached out to Richard Seale to ask about it and he responded with, "We have never released any info on the blend of Doorly’s 12."
Along the way, we rate each rum blind so we can walk away with our own personal rankings (and a Rumcast average ranking). We edited in a reveal of each rum so that you will know which rum we are talking about as we taste it.
You can find the spreadsheet with our scores and the reveal of each rum here (spoiler alert!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pJ--B3oDKMu4pXVkHF7uBEwgyXFfC_gMN1AXnXHwEMc/edit?usp=sharing
These rums represent one of the most common gateways to Barbados rum, Foursquare, and even the rum category itself for so many people. It was a blast to go through them, and we came away with a bunch of surprises.
P.S. If you’d like to watch a video version of this episode, it’s already available for our Patreon subscribers at patreon.com/therumcast.
In this episode, we sat down with Ed Tiedge, master distiller at Copal Tree Distillery (the makers of Copalli Rum) in Belize. Copalli is yet another example of a large, relatively new operation devoted entirely to making cane juice rum all the way from field to glass.
They have some interesting upcoming releases that caught our eye (we noticed them in the TTB label registry), so it was a good time to connect with Ed and get the scoop on everything they're up to. We discussed:
Ed's journey from owning a craft distillery in New York to moving to Belize to become a rum distiller nearly 8 years ago
How he applied his eau de vie background to making rum
Having their early rums evaluated by Richard Seale
How Copalli arrived at its initial lineup of releases (and how they landed on a 75% column / 25% pot blend for their unaged rum)
The different cane varietals they're cultivating (and how each expresses itself differently in the rum)
Experimenting with various cask types
Their upcoming single cane varietal 100% pot still release
How a self-avowed hater of flavored rums ended up making a cacao rum
And more!
You can learn more about Copalli on their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Shaun Caleb, master distiller at Demerara Distillers Ltd. (makers of El Dorado Rum) to discuss a wide range of topics related to DDL and his career in rum, including...
His path from Guyana to Princeton University and back to Guyana to work for DDL
Learning to distill on some of the oldest stills in the world
How DDL's range of both historic and modern stills allow them to produce an array of 20+ rum marques
The differences between the Port Mourant double wooden pot still and Versailles single wooden pot still, and how they express themselves in the rum
How DDL had the foresight to preserve its heritage stills
Why modern distilleries don't use wooden stills
High ester rum production at DDL (and how it differs from Jamaican high ester rum production)
Why there aren’t “lost” DDL rum marques
The backstory on DDL's decision to reduce its practice of aging rum with caramel in the barrels
The one type of still Shaun would add to DDL if he could
What to expect from El Dorado Rum in the future
And much more!
Also, before we got to the interview, we created a March Madness themed bracket of Demerara rums (it ties into the interview, we swear).
You can find out more info about El Dorado Rum and Demerara Distillers Ltd. at the following links:
Official El Dorado Rum website
Matt Pietrek’s deep dive into Demerara Distillers Ltd. on Cocktail Wonk:
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Announcement: We’re now offering annual subscriptions that allow you to save 10% on the Rumcast Patreon community! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we're picking back up with our Rumcast Guides series and turning our focus toward home with the United States. With hundreds upon hundreds of distilleries making rum (most of which have spotty distribution at best), it can be a difficult to actually find the stuff worth exploring in the first place. Which distilleries are actually serious about making rum? What kind of styles are emerging? What do we even mean when we say "American rum"? We explore all this and more, including...
The most common characteristics of American rum
Does American rum have a style?
The most intriguing regions within the category
What's up with so many distilleries using crystallized sugar as a portion (or all) of their rum base rather than 100% molasses?
The landscape of cane juice rum in the U.S.
A high-level look at 20 noteworthy distilleries
What we would put in our "Intro to American Rum" rum flights
And more
If you'd like to explore our past episodes on some of the producers mentioned in this episode, check out:
Episode 37 with Kyle Reutner of Ko Hana Distillers: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/kohana-distillers-hawaiian-sugarcane
Episode 27 with Erik Vonk of Richland Rum, Steve Jefferson of Kuleana Rum Works, and Pepe Alvarez of San Juan Artisan Distillers: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/the-sugarcane-files
To explore other episodes in our Rumcast Guides series, check out:
The Rumcast Guide to Jamaican Rum: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/jamaican-rum-guide
The Rumcast Guide to Mexican Rum: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/mexican-rum-guide
The Rumcast Guide to Puerto Rican Rum (Part 1): https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/puerto-rican-rum-guide-1
The Rumcast Guide to Puerto Rican Rum (Part 2): https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/puerto-rican-rum-guide-2
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Shannon Mustipher (rum educator, cocktail consultant, and author of Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails) to dive deep into the art of making modern rum cocktails. Shannon has spent the better part of a decade designing and launching many rum-focused bar programs and is known for her modern approach to cocktail making.
Topics discussed include:
The creative process of constructing rum cocktails
Naming cocktails
What she's been up to since the 2019 release of Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails
How to use multi-spirit split bases in recipes
Knowing when to use Rum Fire vs. Wray & Nephew vs. Rum Bar Overproof
Rum styles that are the most challenging to work with in cocktails
Her thoughts on cocktail competitions and shows like Netflix's Drink Masters
What is was like to appear on a recent CBS segment about rum
Her favorite bar right now
And much more!
You can find Shannon on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/shannonmustipher/
You can find all the info on her book, Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails, here: https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780789335548/
Photo Credit: Noah Fecks - https://www.noahfecks.com/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we complete our interview with Renegade Rum's Mark Reynier and Jane Nurse (we released Part 1 last week, and you can check it out here).
In Part 2, we get deeper into the production process of the rum and how each stage can impact terroir (for example, using cultured vs. wild yeast). They also took us through the long-term vision for Renegade's releases (which is quite different from the releases we've seen so far), the broader conversation around transparency in rum, and much more!
Relevant Links:
"Why We're Not Interested in Tallying Esters" - an article on Renegade's site that we reference near the end of this episode
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sit down with Renegade Rum's Mark Reynier and Jane Nurse to learn all about the Grenada distillery's terroir-driven approach to cane juice rum. This is one of the newest distilleries of its size in the Caribbean, and the path to bringing it to life was not easy. In Part 1, Mark and Jane take us through the winding journey of not only building a distillery from scratch, but also planting hundreds of acres of sugarcane across an array of locations around the island in an effort to highlight all the flavors the land has to offer.
We discuss:
How an Englishman got the idea to build a rum distillery from scratch in the Caribbean
Why Grenada became the ideal location for the project
How Mark's experience starting Bruichladdich Distillery in Scotland and Waterford Distillery in Ireland informed Renegade
The setbacks that nearly killed the project multiple times
What terroir means in the first place (and how Renegade thinks about the concept)
Why terroir in spirits has drawn heavy debate and controversy
And more
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
28 Distillery Visits. 11 Countries. 13 Months.
In this episode, we sit down with Richard Nicholson, founder of the New Zealand Rum Society and your fellow Rumcast listener, to unpack what can only be described as a rum journey of epic proportions. Richard spent 13 months on the road taking 28 distillery visits, attending numerous rum festivals, and visiting three of his own personal rum "Holy Grail" destinations, from Barbados to Martinique to Guadeloupe to Madeira to Scotland and beyond.
In addition to pulling as many rum travel tips out of Richard as we could, we also went deep into his on-the-ground exploration of rhum agricole and all of the delightful surprises it has to offer right now, his trip into the cellars of the Main Rum Company, and much more, including:
How he went about planning this rum odyssey in the first place
His #1 "run, don't walk" destination for other rum enthusiasts based on his journey
The magic of Marie-Galante rums
Cane juice rums more people should be talking about
Adventures at rum festivals across Europe
The ins and outs of Madeira rum
And more
You can follow Richard and his adventures with the New Zealand Rum Society here on Instagram.
You can also check out the New Zealand Rum Society on Facebook.
Also, if you're curious to see the complete list of distilleries Richard visited, here it is:
Barbados x3: Foursquare, Mount Gay, St. Nicholas Abbey
Martinique x8: Depaz, La Favourite, La Mauny/Trois-Rivières, Neisson, Rhum JM, Saint James/J Bally, A1710, HSE (aging/bottling didn’t get to Usine du Simone)
Guadeloupe x6: Bologne, Damoiseau, Kurakera/Longueteau, Montebello, Reimonenq, Papa Rouyo
Marie Galante x3: Bielle, Poisson (Père Labat)/Rhum Rhum, Domaine de Bellevue
Madeira x5: O’Reizinho, Engenhos do Norte, Engenhos da Calheta, Engeno Novo (William Hinton), Florentino Izildo de Gouveia Ferreira
Amsterdam: Rummie Club
Scotland: Ninefold
Scotland (Scotch distilleries): Arran, Lagg, Springbank, Glengyle, Glen Scotia
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
For the first episode of 2023, we're looking ahead and making 3 predictions each for the world of rum this year. Before we look ahead, however, we look back on the predictions we made for 2022, face the music on our misses, and debate our hits.
We're curious — what predictions do you have for rum in 2023? Email us at host@rumcast.com and let us know!
Cheers to 2023!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Hey Rumcasters, to celebrate the end of 2022 we decided to make December's bonus episode (typically exclusive to patrons) free for all!
In this edition of Release Rumblings, we share our rum wishes for 2023 before previewing a handful of interesting upcoming rum releases.
If you'd like to get more episodes like this every month, just head on over to patreon.com/therumcast!
Releases discussed include Papalin Haiti, La Maison & Velier's new Flag Series, the potential arrival of a Guadeloupe distillery's rums in the US, and a new bottled-in-bond rum.
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's time for our third annual Year in Review episode where we take a look back at our favorite rums of the year in the following categories:
Unaged rum
Aged rum (5 years or less)
Aged rum (Over 5 years)
“New to me” rum
Best value rum
Most surprising rum
Overall rum
Plus, we each make a pick for a new category irreverently dubbed, "Am I the a**hole for not liking this rum?"
Along the way, we also discuss the rums we would give a selection of celebrities, musical icons, and celebrated authors at a Rumcast Secret Santa party.
Of course, we'd love to know what YOUR favorites were this year, so be sure to send us an email at host@rumcast.com and let us know!
Last but not least, a sincere Happy Holidays and New Year to all of you for listening to the show and writing in!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we dig deep into our rum cabinets to discuss each of our 3 favorite picks for daiquiri rums that are underrated, overlooked, or under discussed. While most rum fans are already familiar with the go-to top recommendations like Havana Club 3, Probitas, etc. we wanted to celebrate some of our favorites that don't get as much of the spotlight in conversations about the ultimate rum vehicle, the classic daiquiri.
Along the way, we discuss our go-to home recipes, what we like and dislike in daiquiris, a holiday-inspired variation, and more!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode we sat down with Joshua Singh, co-founder of 1423 Spirits and S.B.S Rum, an independent bottler based in Denmark that's doing some very interesting things right now. Since it's the holiday season, we also talked about the making of 1423's annual rum advent calendar and what goes into selecting 24 different rums for it every year. Topics discussed included:
The rum advent calendar selection and feedback processes
Why 1423 adds sugar to some of their rum brands (but not S.B.S)
The problems with the EU's decision to cap the allowable amount of sugar added to rum at 20 g/L
The challenges of introducing rum to new people
S.B.S's new origin series dedicated to interesting unaged rums (and how the first 4 were selected)
Convincing a Dominican Republic distillery to make a grand arome (or aroma grande) rum
Sourcing cane juice rum from Ghana
Emerging rums from India
The type of barrel that Joshua believes works like magic when aging high ester rums
And more
Correction: After the episode, the folks behind Camikara Rum sent us some details to clear up some of the confusion in our discussion:
“Camikara is a marriage of liquid distilled in both column & pot stills and is matured in Oak Barrels in the sub-tropical climate of the northern plains in India. The temperature in the northern plain of India are extreme, the summers can be 122 F and the winters can be 32F, so the barrel undergoes a lot of expansion and contraction, as a result of which the first year we lose 13-15% of our barrels to angels, then it lowers down to 10-12% and so on. For the 12 Year old Camikara Rum, we have lost 94% of the liquid filled inside the barrels over years and only 6% of the originally filled liquid could be retrieved, hence the name Camikara - means liquid gold in Sanskrit. This initial set of liquid is bottled in 3 batches ( Batch 1 of 1200 bottles for India, Batch 2 of 1200 Bottles to the UK, Europe and Rest of the world and the Batch 3 1176 Bottles to the United States). Camikara is sipping rum, which is 100% natural. There is no added sugar, spice, color or flavours added.”
You can learn more about everything Joshua is doing at the 1423 website: https://www.1423.dk/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode we sat down with Herbert Barbancourt-Linge Jr. of Providence Rum / Distillerie de Port-au-Prince and The Spirit of Haiti. Herbert took us deep into the making of one of Haiti's newest distilleries, which has already put out interesting releases like Providence First Drops and Providence Dunder & Syrup. We also talked all things clairin, which Herbert has helped rum enthusiasts across the globe discover through his involvement in The Spirit of Haiti with La Maison & Velier. Topics discussed included:
The process of building a new distillery from scratch in Haiti
Defining Providence's style of Haitian rum (and how it's different from clairin)
How they ended up partnering on Providence with La Maison & Velier
How The Spirit of Haiti was formed
The early days of searching out Haiti's best clairin producers
Clairin culture around the island
How clairin's export success has been received in Haiti
What to expect from Providence's aging program
Cane juice vs. cane syrup
The Barbancourt family backstory
Misconceptions about Haiti
And more
You can learn more about Providence Rum at their website: https://www.providence-rum.com/
This episode is sponsored by Down Island Spirits, a brand new independent rum bottler that has just launched the first releases in its Single Cask Rum Series in the U.S. Click here to check out and order their initial 4 releases.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode we sat down with the Cocktail Wonk himself, Matt Pietrek, to dive into his and Carrie Smith's new 850-page opus on Caribbean rum, Modern Caribbean Rum: A Contemporary Reference to the Region's Essential Spirit. Along the way, we also discussed his journey from software engineering to full-time rum work, the current state of rum, and much more, including:
Which rum-making countries proved to be the hardest to write about
Surprising things learned in the course of writing the book
Lessons learned from multiple adventures in self publishing
What makes this book different from other commonly recommended reads on rum
How working with WIRSPA has broadened his perspective on rum
The future of molasses production
Assessing past rum predictions
Whether he likes Star Trek or not
And more
If you'd like to check out the book, head over to: https://www.wonkpress.com/products/modern-caribbean-rum
This episode is sponsored by Down Island Spirits, a brand new independent rum bottler that has just launched the first releases in its Single Cask Rum Series in the U.S. Click here to check out and order their initial 4 releases.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
We're back early with the follow-up to Part 1 of our Guide to Puerto Rican Rum. In Part 2, we dig into the wave of new distilleries popping up across Puerto Rico that are trying atypical things such as producing fresh cane juice rum, aging with new American oak, distilling with pot stills, and much more. Distilleries discussed include Destilería Coquí, San Juan Artisan Distillers, Destilería Cruz, and several others.
If you'd like to join The Rumcast in donating to Hurricane Fiona relief, here is a link to the Hispanic Federation's hurricane relief fund: https://www.hispanicfederation.org/fionahelp/
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This is the first of two episodes exploring a category that has much more than meets the eye: Puerto Rican rum. In Part 1, we jump into a quick stylistic overview of the category before exploring its three most well-known distilleries and brands: Destilería Serrallés (Don Q and more), Bacardí, and Ron del Barrilito (Hacienda Santa Ana). Along the way, we also untangle the whole Havana Club thing, offer recommendations, and debate the merits of the "is Ron del Barrilito a spiced rum?" question.
In Part 2, which will arrive next week, we continue the conversation with the island's new wave of craft distillers and how they are evolving the category.
If you'd like to join The Rumcast in donating to Hurricane Fiona relief, here is a link to the Hispanic Federation's hurricane relief fund: https://www.hispanicfederation.org/fionahelp/
Other relevant links mentioned during the episode:
Cocktail Wonk's deep dive into Destilería Serrallés and Don Q
Paul Senft's article on the Havana Club trademark war
Havana Club nutritional information
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
This week, we sat down with Wes Burgin, the man behind the 800+ rum reviews at The Fat Rum Pirate. If you've ever searched for info about a particular rum online, odds are you've already come across many of Wes's reviews. It's one of the biggest resources out there for rum geeks and we had a blast diving into Wes's approach to reviewing, how the industry has evolved since he launched the site over eight years ago, and much more, including:
Guarding against your own biases when reviewing rum
Dealing with angry responses from brands that didn't get favorable reviews
How he's managed to review an average of 100+ rums per year over the last 8 years
Standouts (both good and bad) from all the rums he's reviewed
How far rum has come in terms of transparency (and how much further it has to go)
The current state of rum distilling in the United Kingdom
And more!
Plus, at the beginning, we also reveal the results of The Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft from Episode 62 and crown our inaugural champion. If you missed out and still want to vote, head to Rumcast.com/Vote!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Note: After you listen, go to rumcast.com/vote to help us determine the winner!
We’ve got something quite different for you this week. In the spirit of the start of fantasy football season, we did the nerdiest thing we’ve ever done in Rumcast history—a fantasy rum draft!
We competed head-to-head to “draft” rums from the selection of a single online liquor store for 11 different rum categories. The goal? To create the superior “desert island” rum bar.
Now, we need you to determine which of us did the best job.
Have a listen, and then head to rumcast.com/vote to help us determine the winner!
We "drafted" rums for the following categories from a selection of 173 rums currently available at Pike's Liquors:
Unaged
Lightly Aged (1-4 Years)
Aged (5-14 Years)
Long Aged (15+ Years)
Cane Juice Unaged
Cane Juice Aged (Any Length)
Multi-Country Blend
Non-Caribbean
Non-Caribbean
Overproof
100% Column
100% Pot
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we checked in with a relatively new rum distillery in Scotland that's already received some impressive praise in its early history—Ninefold Distillery! Owner and distiller Kit Carruthers took us through the journey of starting a rum distillery from scratch at Dormont Estate, a 450-year-old estate in the south of Scotland. We discussed:
The current landscape of rum production in Scotland
Kit's journey from climate change researcher to becoming a rum distiller
Ninefold's production process
Reactions to Scottish rum
Creating barrels from the estate's own trees
The unexpected history of Scottish rum
The ups and downs of starting a distillery
Releasing a rum with That Boutique-y Rum Company
Adventures with Watson, the distillery cat
And more!
You can learn more about Ninefold on the distillery's website.
You can also check out some reviews of Ninefold's rums on The Fat Rum Pirate:
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we're checking the final (for now!) Barbados rum distillery off our list with an interview with the owner of St. Nicholas Abbey, Larry Warren. Unlike the three much larger scale rum distilleries in Barbados (Mount Gay, Foursquare, and WIRD), St. Nicholas Abbey focuses entirely on small batch production that includes everything from growing the sugarcane to bottling the rum.
We talked everything from production process to the latest updates with the Barbados GI and everything in between with Larry, including:
What inspired him to not only purchase St. Nicholas Abbey in 2006, but turn it into a working farm and distillery
How their rum differs from other Barbados rums
Getting rum advice and feedback from Richard Seale
Why they uses sugarcane syrup rather than molasses or cane juice
St. Nicholas Abbey's current lineup of rums (and what that will look like going forward)
What's next for the Barbados GI (and a response to recent criticism)
And much more!
Relevant Links:
Learn more about St. Nicholas Abbey on their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we're continuing what we started with The Rumcast Guide to Jamaican Rum by hopping over to a typically less familiar locale when it comes to sugarcane spirits: Mexico.
Mexico has a relatively unique rum landscape that includes everything from small, family-run farm-to-bottle operations that have been producing fresh sugarcane juice-based spirits for generations, to larger scale operations producing rum more closely aligned with typical mass market products found throughout Latin America. There are way too many distilleries to discuss in one episode, so rather than attempting to be comprehensive, we chose to focus on the two Mexican rum styles that most interest us right now: aguardiente de caña and Charanda.
After discussing some background on both rum styles—including a look at the Charanda Denomination of Origin—we dive into the following brands and distilleries:
Uruapan Charanda
Sol Tarasco Charanda
El Tarasco Charanda
Gustoso Mexican Rum
Paranubes
Dakabend
Tso'ok
Camazotz
Cañada
Ron Aconte
As noted during the episode, we are keeping a running list of all known Mexican rum producers (including the many not covered during this episode) on our website: https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/mexican-rum-guide
For more information on Paranubes and Mexican rum, check out Episode 24, featuring our interview with Francisco Terrazas of Paranubes.
For a deeper look at the distillery behind Uruapan Charanda, check out this virtual distillery tour.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with a veteran of the independent rum bottler world, John Barrett, owner of Bristol Classic Rum. The UK outfit has been sourcing, aging, and releasing rums since the '90s, giving John a rare perspective on how the category has evolved over the past few decades and where it's going next. He's been to all your favorite distilleries, he was among the first to purchase remaining Caroni stock, and he's full of stories from the better part of a lifetime in rum. You'll hear about:
The path that took John into rum sourcing and bottling nearly 30 years ago
The delicate art and science of aging rum
Why John thinks cask strength rum is overrated
His process for determining the right bottling strength
Where John thinks the next wave of great rums might come from
How Bristol got in early on sourcing Caroni—and proceeded to make one of its biggest bets ever on their rum
And much more!
You can learn more about Bristol Classic Rum at their website.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Steffen Mayer, who spent the last five years writing the ultimate book on Caroni (Caroni: 100% Trinidad Rum). Caroni, of course, is the legendary Trinidad distillery that closed around 2003, leaving behind a cache of aged rum that subsequently became some of the most sought-after rum in the world after bottlers like Velier built up its legend. And that's before getting to the rum's entirely unique flavor profile.
Steffen took us through his journey of writing the book and shared insight after insight that he learned from the 100+ interviews he conducted, including:
Why Caroni closed
The truth about Caroni using Jamaican rum in some of their blends
Which distilleries around the world have used Caroni rum in their blends
Why the value of Caroni's aged rum was so heavily disputed following its closure
Caroni's use of neutral spirit in its blends
The differences in Caroni's rum marks (and which ones are more worth seeking out)
Where Caroni's "dirty" notes come from
The most memorable interviews and tasting sessions he had while writing the book
And much more!
Here are links to some of the retailers carrying Steffen's book:
https://www.spiritacademy.it/en/libri/caroni-book-100-trinidad-rum-5030.html
https://www.whisky.fr/en/steffen-mayer-caroni-100-trinidad-rum.html
https://www.armagnac.de/products/caroni-book
https://www.whiskyboeken.nl/en_GB/a-72158467/library/steffen-mayer-caroni-100-trinidad-rum/
https://www.whiskytempel.de/shop/caroni-100-trinidad-rum-volumne-1-2-book-by-steffen-mayer.html
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we're doing something new—a distillery-by-distillery guide to a single rum-producing country. And what better place to start than Jamaica? After a quick overview of the Jamaican rum category, we take a closer look at the rums of:
Appleton Estate
New Yarmouth Estate
Worthy Park Estate
Hampden Estate
Clarendon Distillers
Long Pond Distillery
In addition to offering some background and a look at what sets each distillery apart, we also recommend a couple of our favorite options from each distillery.
For further reading on these distilleries, we recommend perusing the Jamaican Rum section on Matt Pietrek's website, Cocktail Wonk. (His Jamaican Rum Distillery Cheat Sheet is a good place to start.)
Also, here's a link to the VinePair article on Coruba Rum recommended during the episode.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we caught up Peter Holland, the man behind The Floating Rum Shack, Foursquare's UK brand ambassador, and general rum guy for That Boutique-y Rum Company. Peter has been writing and educating on rum since 2008, giving him a unique perspective on a ton of rum-related topics. We chatted about:
Rum's evolution since 2008
Developing new releases for That Boutique-y Rum Company
Spreading Foursquare throughout the UK
The exciting world of Madeira rum
Alternate bottle size fantasies
The perils of rum labelling and categorization
And more!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we caught up with Kate Perry and Johann Jobello of La Maison & Velier to learn about Arhumatic—a French brand that's quite different from anything else in the LM&V portfolio. Arhumatic specializes in rhum arrangé, a traditional preparation of rum in islands with French ties like Réunion, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Rhum arrangé involves macerating rum (either rhum agricole or molasses-based rum, depending on the island) in fresh fruits and/or botanicals, typically for months at a time. While commercial brands are common in France, Arhumatic is possibly the first to become available in the United States. In the interview we discuss...
The history and origins of rhum arrangé
How rhum arrangé varies between the French Caribbean and Réunion
How Arhumatic produces their rhum arrangé and develops new ideas
The perils of the term "flavored rum" (and why it doesn't feel fitting for products like this)
Why La Maison & Velier decided to partner with a brand that's so different from the rest of their rum portfolio
How Arhumatic going beyond rhum agricole in their rhum arrangés with Jamaican rum, clairin, and more
The challenges of bringing unfamiliar types of rum to new places
The best ways to use rhum arrangé
And more!
Additional Resources on Arhumatic:
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we sat down with Don Q's new master blender Liza Cordero and maestra ronera Silvia Santiago to dive deep into an iconic distillery of Puerto Rican rum. Although Liza only recently became master blender, she's worked at the distillery for nearly two decades, and Silvia has been there for 48 years. There's an absolute wealth of knowledge between the two of them, so we hit a bunch of different topics, including...
Don Q's single barrel and cask finish releases (and what we'll see next)
The distillery's production process and approach to blending
Why they choose not to sweeten their rums
The differences in their light rums and heavy rums
The Sherry cask solera that's been at the distillery as long as anyone can remember (and how it gives them a unique blending component)
The role of intuition in blending
The perils of molasses sourcing
A humble request for higher proof rums
And more!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we challenged each other to build our own personal budget home rum bars featuring 5 rums under $30.
But wait! There were more stipulations!
Each rum had to be from a different country, at least one rum had to be unaged, and at least one rum had to be made from cane juice.
We laugh, we argue, we come to agreements to disagree.
Listen in and let us know what your picks would be!
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
In this episode, we welcomed Carsten Vlierboom of E&A Scheer back to the show to discuss the single cask side of the business—The Main Rum Company. If you've ever enjoyed an exceptional independently bottled release, there's a good chance it was sourced from Main Rum.
We dug into not only what they have in their aging warehouses, but what actually goes into managing such a large selection of rare and limited rums from all over the world. How do you know when to sell a particular cask? How do you decide which location to age each cask in? Which casks would Carsten most want to bottle for himself? And what exactly is an "infinity" cask?!
You'll hear all this and a whole lot more.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get cool extra stuff? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
Relevant Links:
Check out The Main Rum Company’s website here
Listen to our previous episode with Carsten about E&A Scheer here
For more background on The Main Rum Company, read Matt Pietrek’s article about it here
In this episode, we look back at the top 6 things we’ve learned about rum after recording 50 episodes of The Rumcast! Plus, we kick off the show with a special announcement—we’re launching a Rumcast Patreon so we can start doing more fun things with the Rumcast community and make the show even better!
To join the community and support the show, go to: patreon.com/therumcast
THANK YOU to everyone for listening!
In this episode, we chat with Jacklyn Broomes (Agricultural Manager) and Maggie Campbell (Estate Rum Manager) about all things agriculture and sustainability at Mount Gay (along with a few hints at what to expect from the estate rum program in the future).
Topics covered include:
How Jackie and Maggie both ended up working at Mount Gay (and a closer look at each of their roles)
The vision behind Mount Gay’s agriculture and estate rum programs
How Mount Gay intends to use their sugarcane and the molasses that comes from it
Why sustainability should be more than a buzzword to rum enthusiasts
How to balance doing something totally new at a distillery with such a long history and established styles/traditions
The life of luxury enjoyed by the estate’s pampered honey bees
The other crops you might be surprised to find growing on the estate (it’s more than just sugarcane)
What to watch for next from Mount Gay
Relevant Links:
Get a closer look at the estate on Mount Gay’s Instagram
For a bit of Mount Gay history, check out our episode with former managing director Frank Ward
Per the discussion in the intro, here are links to several rum festivals around the world:
In this episode, we go head to head trying to construct the perfect rum flights in three different categories: Caribbean rums for beginners, Caribbean rums for intermediate rum drinkers, and non-Caribbean rums. Along the way, we discuss and debate what makes a good flight, the pains of our toughest cuts from each category, and more.
Relevant Links:
Check out Will’s article on Cheramie Rum (mentioned in the intro) here
In this episode, we talked to Mitch Wilson of Black Tot Rum about the brand’s origins in British Navy rum, moving beyond the blends of the past, their unique approach to rum blending, and much more! Topics discussed include:
How to define navy rum or navy style rum in the first place
Misconceptions and myths about navy rum
The making of Black Tot’s blends
The importance of transparency in rum blends
Black Tot’s unique “solera” blending component
What you might find right now in Black Tot’s aging warehouse
What’s coming next from Black Tot
Relevant Links:
Get the full breakdown of each blend at Black Tot’s website
“Setting the Record Straight on British Navy Rum History” from Cocktail Wonk
“The British Navy’s Rum Vatting System: An Inside Look” from Cocktail Wonk
In this episode, we talked to Justin Boseley, founder of Dead Reckoning Rum, one of the first (if not the only) independent bottlers in Australia. Justin has also imported rum into Australia for over a decade through his company La Rumbla Imports. Between the two roles, he’s had a front row seat to the evolution of rum in Australia in recent years, where everything to the imported products available to the actual rum being made in the country has changed dramatically. We discuss:
The difference in Australia’s rum scene now versus the past
How working on billionaires’ yachts led him into the rum business
What it looks like to come up with your first handful of releases as an independent bottler
His philosophy on rum blends
Australia’s unique aging environments
Why celestial navigation is cool as hell
How the pandemic motivated him to go from importer to independent bottler
Getting creative with cask finishes and secondary maturations
What to watch for from Australia’s recent boom of new rum distilleries
Upcoming Dead Reckoning releases
And more!
Relevant Links:
La Rumbla Imports website (Dead Reckoning releases can be found here)
The Fat Rum Pirate’s review of Dead Reckoning Mutiny
The Fat Rum Pirate’s review of Dead Reckoning The Sextant
Australian rum distilleries mentioned:
After revisiting the past in episode 44, we look to what the future holds for rum in 2022! Each of us looked into our non-existent crystal balls and made three rum-related predictions we believe will come true this year. Tune in for highly scientific prognostications on release trends, transparency, and even rum names.
Somehow it’s already time for our second annual year in review! As per tradition established one year ago, we take a look back at our favorite rums and podcast moments of the past year. Grab one of your favorite drams from 2021 and look back on the year with us as we discuss:
Our personal favorite rums this year in the following categories…
Unaged rum
Aged rum (4 years or less and over 4 years)
“New to me” rum
Best value rum
Most surprising rum
Overall rum
Several of our favorite podcast episodes and moments (and a couple ideas on what we’d like to do in 2022)
And a big surprise courtesy of the hidden musical talents of John Gulla
In this episode, Richard Seale takes us through the story behind the new high ester rum from Foursquare, and the larger vision for the Barbados distillery’s journey into cane juice rum production.
We discuss:
Where the idea to make a high ester rum at Foursquare came from
The production process used to make the rum (and why he chose to make it a blend of molasses-based rum fermented with cultured yeast and cane juice-based rum fermented naturally)
Why Richard isn’t a fan of “high ester” as a descriptor for this rum (but has accepted it)
What the future of high ester and cane juice rum production looks like at Foursquare
The humbling experience of natural fermentation
Richard’s view on the importance of S. Pombe yeast (and the myths that distort its perception)
The evolution of the Barbados Rum Experience, a collaboration between Foursquare, Mount Gay, and St. Nicholas Abbey
The doctoral scholarships that RL Seale and Company is funding for Barbados rum history research at the University of the West Indies
And a whole lot more!
Relevant Links:
Check out the Barbados Rum Experience here
For more discussion of S. Pombe, see Richard’s article titled “Yeast in Rum,” and our interview with Stephen Shellenberger of Boston Apothecary
In this episode, Stephen Shellenberger takes us on a deep dive into Boston Apothecary, his rum and spirits-focused blog that has become one of the largest digital repositories of historic research on rum production.
We discuss:
The origin story of Boston Apothecary
The historical significance of Rafael Arroyo, and why Stephen is so fascinated with his work
What’s the deal with “rum oil,” the aromatic body that Arroyo prized above all others
Stephen’s presentation on grand arome rums at Lallemand and WIRSPA’s Alcohol School conference in Jamaica
Fission yeast in rum
And a whole lot more!
Relevant Links:
Check out Boston Apothecary here
All of Arroyo’s available works online in one place
Arroyo’s “The Aroma of Rum,” an excerpt from which is read during the show
Stephen’s presentation on grand arome rum (with annotated commentary) from Alcohol School
Further reflections on the Alcohol School presentation
Another view on fission yeast from Richard Seale that is worth checking out
Stephen’s article on the single use glass issue in spirits mentioned at the end of the show
In this episode, Johann Jobello takes us inside the world of Transcontinental Rum Line, La Maison & Velier’s growing collection of rum releases sourced from all over the world. As product manager and U.S. market coordinator, Johann has a hands-on role at every stage of the process, from sourcing the rum, to aging it, to planning releases, and more. We discuss:
Growing up in Martinique, the heart of rhum agricole
Johann’s experience working at the La Maison du Whisky fine spirits shop in Paris before his current role
The finer points on tropical vs. continental aging
The making of a Transcontinental Rum Line release
Label transparency and how they decide what goes on a Transcontinental Rum Line label (and what doesn’t)
A sneak peek at upcoming Transcontinental Rum Line releases
Balancing Transcontinental Rum Line releases with Velier’s numerous rum brands and releases
Sourcing from distilleries vs. rum brokers like E&A Scheer
Where rum lovers should go in Paris
And more!
Learn more about La Maison & Velier and Transcontinental Rum line at the LM&V website
Links to Johann’s Paris Recommendations:
In this episode, we begin a conversation on the myths, misconceptions, and “marketing-speak” that create confusion in the rum category. From the all-too-common “rum is sweet” to eyebrow-raising marketing claims, we bounce around a variety of the stuff we’ve heard a lot lately and discuss what fuels it.
In this episode, Master Distiller Don Benn takes us behind the scenes at West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. Topics discussed include his 20+ year career in rum, how WIRD has changed over time, rebuilding the Rockley still, creating the Stade’s Rum brand, and more. Also, before the interview, we introduce a new segment (What Are You Buying?), and do a quick Rerum inspired by this episode’s guest.
Links for Further Reading:
”Rockley — Deconstructing the Myth” on Single Cask Rum
“A Potted History of the Rockley Still” on Rum Diaries Blog
“Bristol Spirits 1986 Rockley Still 26 YO Barbados Rum Review” on The Lone Caner
“Stade’s — A New Barbados Rum Brand Emerges” on Cocktail Wonk
“Barbados Rum Cheat Sheet” on Cocktail Wonk (for more WIRD history)
In this episode, a listener’s message about visiting St. Lucia Distillers inspires us to each pick three destinations for our rum travel bucket lists. Listen in on the discussion, then send us your own picks!
In this episode, we talk to Kyle Reutner of Kō Hana Distillers about the Hawaii distillery’s approach to making fresh sugarcane juice rum from heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane varietals. We go deep into:
How sugarcane’s journey to and role in Hawaii differs from other places around the world
Why Kō Hana is focusing exclusively on single cane varietals in their rum
The distillery’s production process (and how it’s designed to isolate the sugarcane as the key variable outside of time and location)
The differences between heirloom sugarcane varietals and sugarcane that was used for modern sugar refining before the decline of Hawaii’s sugar industry
The challenges of creating aged rums that highlight the sugarcane rather than obscuring it
What the future of Hawaiian rum as a category looks like
Kō Hana’s place in the larger category of sugarcane juice rums around the world
And more!
Links to Explore After Listening:
Check out Kō Hana’s website here
Book Recommendation: Kō: An Ethnobotanical Guide to Hawaiian Sugarcane Cultivars by Dr. Noa Kekuewa Lincoln
Book Recommendation: From King Cane to the Last Sugar Mill: Agricultural Technology and the Making of Hawaii's Premier Crop by C. Allan Jones and Robert V. Osgood
Ever thought you had your mind made up on a certain rum, distillery, or brand…only to have another experience change the way you look at it? Yeah, us too! In this episode, we each share three experiences that caused us to look at a particular producer a little bit differently.
In this episode, we chat with Knud Strand about the rapid rise of Mhoba Rum, a single estate distillery making rum from fresh sugarcane juice in Malelane, South Africa. Over the last few years, Knud has worked closely with founder Robert Greaves to guide Mhoba’s development, bring the rum to new markets, and get it on the radar of rum enthusiasts around the world. Knud takes us through the distillery’s origin story, how he got involved, his own backstory in the rum and spirits world, the ever evolving production process at Mhoba (which includes everything from homemade pot stills to muck pits, unconventional aging methods, and more), how deals with independent bottlers like Velier and Holmes Cay came together, the magic of terroir-driven spirits, what’s next for Mhoba, and much more.
Links to Learn More:
In this episode, we get caught up on everything new happening at Worthy Park with one of the Jamaica distillery’s newest team members—Craig Nicholson! As quality control manager and senior blender, Craig has a hand in just about everything the distillery puts out, from Rum Bar products to the distillery’s eponymous lineup of aged releases. Prior to joining Worthy Park, Craig spent over a decade working for National Rums of Jamaica in roles at both Clarendon and Long Pond distilleries. We discuss everything from Craig’s journey into the rum industry, to the differences between working at Worthy Park vs. NRJ, how he is acclimating himself to the many varieties of rums produced at Worthy Park, his preferences between the distillery’s marks, high ester rum production, Worthy Park’s latest releases (like Worthy Park 109 and Select), and much more.
In this episode, we each selected three rums we think rum drinkers are underrating right now and discuss why they’re worth giving a second (or first) look. There are so many factors that can contribute to a particular bottle being underrated, whether it’s price, style, design, category perception, lack of media coverage, lack of distribution, and more. Give it a listen and then email us at host@rumcast.com to let us know what your underrated picks are!
In this episode, we chat with Jen Akin, general manager of Rumba in Seattle, about the ins and outs of managing one of the world’s top rum bars. Jen talked us through creating new rum blends, managing a 20-page rum list, tasting rum from 1892, where cocktail ideas come from, the opening of the new bar next door (Inside Passage), the challenges of presenting rum to a broad spectrum of clientele, what makes Rumba special, rum regions she’s most excited about, recreating an Amazon box as a drinking vessel, and much more.
Relevant links:
The official website for Inside Passage, the new bar next door
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we chat with Lance Surujbally of The Lone Caner about his Key Rums of the World series—one of our favorite pieces of rum writing online right now. It’s an essential series for anyone wishing to understand the rums that are defining the modern era, whether you’re new to the category or have enjoyed it for years. Lance talked us through the origin of the series, how he settled on his criteria for a key rum, the challenges of the project, why the series is important, which entries have gotten pushback, what we might see next in the series, and much more. At the end, we discuss the art of review writing, the importance of disclosure and transparency, the transience of rum discourse, and have a few laughs along the way.
Relevant links:
Key Rums of the World Series (you can explore every entry in the series from this page)
The Rumaniacs Series (mentioned several times throughout the show)
You can follow The Lone Caner on Facebook to keep up with new articles
Big news: we collaborated with Holmes Cay to co-create a new rum release! Meet Fiji Rum, a blend of pot- and column-distilled, molasses-based rum that was distilled at South Pacific Distilleries in Fiji. In this episode, we sat down with Holmes Cay founder Eric Kaye to take you through the unpredictable series of events that led to the rum’s creation, all the decisions that went into bringing the release to life, why we settled on this particular blend of rums (and others that we considered), what sets it apart from other rums you may have had from Fiji, and much more.
Relevant links:
Check out the Holmes Cay website for all the specs and details on the rum.
If you’re looking to locate a bottle, check out this page on the Holmes Cay website
Listen to the episode that led to the creation of this rum, our interview with Carsten Vlierboom and Niels Benschop of E&A Scheer
In this episode, we start with a quick review of recent rum and cocktail experiences before getting to an interview with Martin Cate (18:30), owner of the bar Smuggler’s Cove (among other ventures) and author of the rum and tiki book by the same name. Martin catches us up on the planned June 15th reopening of Smuggler’s Cove and then we hop around a variety of rum- and bar-centric topics, including the evolution of rum selection in the U.S., the making of the Smuggler’s Cove rum categorization system, what an updated edition of Smuggler’s Cove might look like, secret recipes in the modern era, the state of rum’s perception, what makes his bars different, and more.
Relevant links:
Learn more about Martin’s bars and projects:
Smuggler’s Cove (San Francisco, CA)
Max’s South Seas Hideaway (Grand Rapids, MI)
Get a copy of the book Smuggler’s Cove
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
It’s not uncommon to find rums that were distilled in Belize, but how much do you know about the distillery that many of them come from? In this episode, we chat with Amanda Perdomo and Myito Perdomo of Travellers Liquors to get the deeper details on one of the biggest sources of Belizean rum. You’ll get a window into the Perdomo family’s history in the rum business (which dates all the way back to the 1950s), the production process at Travellers, the distillery’s approach to bulk sales, their upcoming releases, and much more.
Relevant links:
The Travellers Liquors website
Rum Revelations’ article/review on Belizean rum
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we share thoughts on some recent rum experiences (including the Appleton Hearts collection) before jumping into a roundtable discussion Will hosted with three rum producers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that are growing sugarcane for the purpose of making rum (Erik Vonk of Richland Rum in Georgia, Pepe Alvarez of San Juan Distillers in Puerto Rico, and Steve Jefferson of Kuleana Rum Works in Hawaii). Erik, Pepe, and Steve give insight into the unique challenges that come with operating sugarcane farms while running distilleries in regions not historically known for producing the style of rum they’re making (or for producing rum at all, in some cases).
As mentioned on the show, this roundtable discussion was originally broadcast via livestream with Zavvy.co and American Rum Report.
Relevant links:
The original livestream broadcast of the roundtable discussion
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we answer a listener question everyone has as they get deeper into rum: now that you’ve experienced most of the initial wave of recommended rums for those getting into the hobby, where do you go next? We came up with our top three picks for what to look for (while staying under $100) and revealed them to one another live. If you’ve already dipped a couple toes in the water and are looking to expand your rum horizons, this episode is for you!
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we kick things off with a quick discussion of some rums from KōHana Distillers in Hawaii before jumping into our interview (18:44) with Kevin Crossman, the creator of UltimateMaiTai.com. Kevin has spent the last couple of decades drinking his way toward the ultimate mai tai, both in bars and at home, and documenting the process on his website. We pick Kevin’s brain on a little bit of mai tai history, the cocktail’s evolution over the years, an ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown (with recommendations for each component), finding the right combination of rums, the bars that’ll make you a great one, and much more.
Links to learn more:
Kevin’s website, Ultimate Mai Tai
Kevin’s history of the Mai Tai
Follow Ultimate Mai Tai on Instagram
KōHana Distillers (mentioned during the intro)
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we kick things off with a listener question on additives in rum, along with a quick rerum, before jumping into our interview with Francisco Terrazas of Paranubes. Paranubes is a fresh sugarcane juice rum distilled in Oaxaca, Mexico, by José Luís Carrera, a third generation sugarcane grower and distiller of aguardiente de caña. Not only does Francisco share the backstory behind the brand and all the details of the unique production process that gives Paranubes its distinctive character, he also gives an overview of the broader category of Mexican rum—which is much bigger than you might realize.
We came away from this interview with even more excitement for a region that is often overlooked by rum enthusiasts, and think you will, too.
Topics covered include:
Paranubes’ history as a brand and how their partnership with José Luís came together
Rum vs. aguardiente de caña (and why you see both on the label)
How the relationship with Paranubes has impacted production for José Luís
The full details on the rum’s production process (including the four months-long rolling fermentations)
Growing awareness of Mexican rum as a category
Regional differences in rum production across the country
And lots more!
Links to learn more:
In this episode, we talk to Jay West (whom the Internet may know better as t8ke), prolific spirits reviewer and founder of the Aficionados Group, the collective behind the XXX Series of rum releases and a recent string of high ester bottlings, including that DOK release you probably saw everyone talking about. Jay takes us through the stories behind those releases, what he’s learned from reviewing nearly 2,000 spirits, his approach to analytical drinking, techniques for improving your ability as a taster, spirits recommendations for rum fans, what’s next rum-wise for the Aficionados Group, and more.
Links to learn more:
Whiskey Raiders, where Jay is Managing Editor
Fine Drams, where you can find many Aficionados releases for sale
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we start with some more chatter on Hampden’s latest Great House release and revisit a defunct rum produced in Trinidad (though probably not the one you’re thinking). From there, we jump into our conversation with Ian Burrell, the Global Rum Ambassador and co-founder of Equiano Rum (the world’s first African and Caribbean rum) among other ventures.
In signature fashion, Ian takes us on an entertaining ride through discovering the rums of Mauritius, his relationship with Richard Seale, how the first Equiano rum blend (Mauritius rum and Barbados rum) came to be, what to expect next from Equiano, developing the International Sugarcane Spirits Awards, adventures in awards categories, overlooked or underrated rum distilleries, his basketball and music careers, and more!
Links to learn more:
The International Sugarcane Spirits Awards
International Sugarcane Spirits Awards results from Year One
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we start with John’s impressions of the new Great House release from Hampden Estate before jumping into our interview with Christelle Harris, marketing director at Hampden. Christelle’s family purchased the legendary Jamaican distillery at auction from the government in 2009, and she has been instrumental in developing the brands now associated with the distillery itself.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Christelle shares how she decided to take on a role with the distillery in the first place, Rum Fire’s evolution (and the lessons learned from it), the process of discovering how truly special Hampden is, introducing the world to the first rums aged at Hampden, becoming friends with Richard Seale, the infamous Luca Gargano story, the Great House releases, Hampden’s endemic bird series, some exciting news for Hampden fans in the U.S., and more. Plus, cameo appearances from her grandma.
To learn more about Hampden Estate, check out:
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we start with a quick edition of Rerums (revisiting rums we haven't had in awhile) before moving into our St. Lucia Distillers interview. In the interview, we talk with CEO Margaret Monplaisir and Master Blender Deny Duplessis about the wide variety of rums produced at St. Lucia Distillers. Known for brands such as Chairman’s Reserve, Admiral Rodney, and Bounty (and Denros Strong Rum if you’re local), the distillery uses its unique combination of stills, base ingredients (both molasses and fresh sugarcane juice), casks, and aging environment to create a style of rum unlike any you’ll find elsewhere.
Margaret and Deny discuss their personal rum journeys, the qualities that define St. Lucia rum, the complexity of the distillery’s approach to rum making, the advantages and challenges that come with producing such a wide variety of distillates, the distillery’s many stills, the Chairman’s Reserve Master’s Selections, the development process of a rum blend, the legacy of Laurie Barnard and his enduring influence on the distillery, and more.
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we each do a top 3 list of essential mixing ingredients that we think every rum lover should have in their home bar to better explore their rum collection —and to take their rum cocktail game up a few notches. Also, don’t miss our intro topic discussion debuting a brand new resource for the rum community we are excited to put on our website: a current list of geographically-based rum groups, clubs, or societies. We hope everyone will either find and join a local group in their area, or be inspired to create one if it doesn’t exist! Head over to rumcast.com/rum-societies to check it out.
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming this year.
In this episode, we talked to Dr. Frank Ward, an icon of Barbados rum, about his time as managing director at Mount Gay, the sought-after pot still rums released under the Mount Gilboa brand (and via various independent bottlers), his time as chairman of WIRSPA, the development of the Authentic Caribbean Rum marque, his thoughts on the Barbados rum GI, and more. Before the interview, we kick things off with a short new segment called Rerums in which we each revisit a rum we haven’t had in awhile and share our impressions.
Links from this episode:
The Authentic Caribbean Rum Marque
Matt Pietrek’s article on the history of Mount Gay, which contains further insights from Dr. Frank Ward
San Juan Artisan Distillers, the makers of Ron Pepón (Dr. Ward mentioned his experience consulting the distillery)
The Lone Caner’s review of Mhoba Rum’s French Cask Rum (mentioned during Rerums)
Friends of Rum Tennessee, the new rum society in Tennessee mentioned during the intro
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming in 2021.
In this episode, we take a look back at our favorite rums and rum-related experiences of the year, while also revisiting some of our top highlights from the Rumcast’s first year. Pour yourself a glass of something you fell in love with in 2020 and listen as we discuss:
Our personal favorite rums this year in the following categories…
Unaged rum
Aged rum
“New to me” rum
Best value rum
Most surprising rum
Overall rum
Our favorite podcast moments of the year in the following categories…
Favorite interview
Most surprising interview moment
Most awkward interview moment
And a few more surprises!
Note: The Hamilton Florida Rum Society Blend mentioned in the episode is 65% Guyanese rum from Demerara Distillers Ltd. (aged 3-5 years) and 35% Jamaican rum from Worthy Park (aged 1 year).
Thanks to Holmes Cay for sponsoring this episode. Explore their current releases at HolmesCay.com and keep an eye for new ones coming in 2021.
Rum enthusiasts may be used to seeing new rum brands launch with the aim of challenging misconceptions of the category and showcasing everything we love about it to a wider audience—but it’s unlikely you’ve seen one created by anyone with the unique background and experience of Marc Farrell.
Born and raised in Trinidad, Farrell attended MIT at the age of 16 before going on to graduate from Harvard Business School and become the youngest VP at Starbucks in the company’s history (with a few other interesting stops along the way). In 2019, he launched Ten To One Rum with the aim of showcasing not only Caribbean rum, but the Caribbean itself, to a wider audience that has often misunderstood both.
Ten To One started with two flagship rum blends, one featuring unaged rums from Jamaica and Dominican Republic, and the other featuring aged rums from Barbados, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. More recently, the company put out its first limited release, a selection of four single barrels of 17-year-old rum from Trinidad.
On this episode, we start by talking through some gift ideas for rum lovers before jumping into the interview with Marc, which covered everything from the intention behind the brand (and what makes it unique) to the rum itself, including topics like:
What rums were around during Marc's upbringing in Trinidad?
Caroni perception in Trinidad
The process of creating the rum blends that became Ten To One's flagship products at launch
What sets Ten To One apart from other rum brands and independent bottlers
What goes into creating a rum brand that's representative of the entire Caribbean rather than just one nation
Broadening people's perceptions of the rum category
The factors that make a brand authentic rather than contrived
Ten To One's new limited release: four single barrels of 17-year-old Trinidadian rum
And more!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Rhum Barbancourt is a square peg to the round holes of rum categorization. It’s made with fresh sugarcane juice in a nation with historic ties to France, but it is not rhum agricole. It hails from Haiti, but there is a world of difference between it and clairin. Its production has aspects associated with all three of the colonial-based French, Spanish, and British categories. To get to the core of what makes Rhum Barbancourt unique, we sat down with the company’s new CEO—and fifth generation member of the family that started the brand—Delphine Gardère. We discussed:
The aspects of production that make Barbancourt distinct from other rums
Barbancourt’s relationship with the 3,000+ farmers that supply the distillery’s sugarcane
Delphine’s vision for the company, and the relationship between maintaining tradition vs. trying new things
What it means as a company to be an ambassador for Haiti
The importance of elevating women in the spirits industry and transitioning from a male-dominated environment
Barbancourt’s approach to aging with a combination of vats and different cask types
Bringing pot still production back to the distillery (and what kinds of releases it might yield)
And much more!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Netherlands Rum Society Facebook Group
Netherlands Rum Society Instagram
Maggie Campbell’s interview with Delphine Gardère for the Daily Beast
Watch Rhum Barbancourt’s livestream with WIRSPA and Zavvy.co
Societies, groups, collectives—whatever you want to call them, communities that bring rum enthusiasts together, whether in person or online, are a big part of furthering rum education and driving conversations across the category. But what goes into actually starting one? How do you find people interested in participating and sustain excitement and involvement? And wait—how do you get to do all that cool stuff like private barrel picks from beloved rum makers around the world? As founder of the Florida Rum Society, Jay Cocorullo has experience with all of the above. We brought him on the podcast to share his experience growing the FRS, his tips for others looking to start local rum groups, the FRS’s work to bring a better rum selection to Florida rum consumers, barrel picks, and more. Oh, and as a long-time member of the FRS, John had a thing or two to add as well!
Note: This episode was recorded back in September. It’s been a hectic few months for The Rumcast, but we’ll be back with regular episodes soon!
Even if you’ve never heard of Amsterdam-based E&A Scheer, you’ve probably had rum that came from them. Or through them, rather. As rum blenders, they source rum in bulk from distilleries all over the world and create custom-made blends for customers who then sell it under their own brands. Walk down the rum aisle in your local liquor store and you’ll likely pass multiple brands who sourced their rum from E&A Scheer (Denizen is one of many examples you may be familiar with).
On this episode, we sat down with CEO Carsten Vlierboom and CCO Niels Benschop to discuss what it takes to source massive volumes of rum, how they work with customers to create blends, their views on the evolving rum landscape, and much more. Carsten and Niels also guided us through the process of using their rum blending tool to create our very own Special Hypothetical Rum Blend for Rumcast listeners!
Links:
Article: “The Most Important Rum Company You’ve Never Heard Of: E&A Scheer” by Matt Pietrek
Article: “Liquid & Logistics: Inside E&A Scheer, Master Bulk Rum Blenders” by Matt Pietrek
Article: “The Main Rum Company: Vintage Cask Valhalla” by Matt Pietrek
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.