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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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 [email protected] 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...

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...

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....

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: https://www.wonkpress.com/discount/RUMCAST?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fmodern-caribbean-rum 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

️ 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 [email protected] and let us know! P.S. Did...

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...

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...