A listener writes in with a scenario we've all experienced: you buy (or are gifted) a bottle of rum that you open with eager anticipation...only to be utterly disappointed upon tasting it. So what happens next? Does the journey end there? Is it doomed to sit in the back of your liquor cabinet, never to be spoken of again? In this episode, we cover our seven go-to moves to make the most of a disappointing bottle.

As North American Market Manager for La Maison & Velier, Kate Perry has a front row seat for many of the rum world’s most sought-after releases from brands like Habitation Velier, Clairin the Spirit of Haiti, Transcontinental Rum Line, Hampden Estate, and more. On this episode, she dives into her own history with rum, opening Rumba in Seattle, traveling the Caribbean, what makes La Maison & Velier different from independent bottlers, working with Luca Gargano, upcoming releases, a new distillery in Haiti, her past rum predictions, and more.

Despite having a long history of rum production and sugarcane cultivation, Australia is a seldom-explored corner of the rum world. We invited Steve Magarry, production manager at Beenleigh Distillery, to pull back the curtain on Australia's rum history, the characteristics that define its rum, and what the modern landscape of Australian rum looks like.

Where do you go when you want to learn more about rum? What are the best rum websites, books, and other resources? In this episode, we share 9 (plus a few extra) of the rum resources we found to be most helpful throughout our rum journeys, from when we were first getting started to today.

Since 2015, Grander Rum has sourced and bottled a variety of aged, additive-free rums from Panama’s Las Cabras distillery. On this episode Dan DeHart, the company’s founder, takes us through the process of starting the brand, deciding on Panama and Las Cabras as the source for his rum, what collaborating with the distillery’s master blender, Don Pancho, looks like, the making of Grander’s limited rye barrel cask finish expression, what we can expect to see next from Grander, and more.

Richard Seale, owner and master distiller at Foursquare Rum Distillery, takes us behind the scenes of the Barbados distillery’s Exceptional Cask Selection series, what’s next for the Barbados rum GI, collaborating with Hampden Estate and Luca Gargano to create Probitas / Veritas, how the Seale family made the shift from blending and bottling rum to distilling rum, where names like Sagacity and Plenipotenziario come from, and more.

Maggie Campbell, head distiller and president at Privateer Rum, goes in depth on the Massachusetts distillery's journey to find the perfect molasses, getting feedback from Richard Seale, upcoming releases with Velier, barrel room terroir, being unstuck in time, the making of a new rum expression, the art of taking silly photos, and more.

Holmes Cay founder Eric Kaye discusses the work that went into the new brand's inaugural release: Holmes Cay Barbados 2005, a single cask bottling featuring rum sourced from the legendary Foursquare Rum Distillery.

Rumcast hosts Will Hoekenga and John Gulla give a quick overview of what you can expect from the Rumcast, how we got involved with the world of rum, and the rums that left the biggest impression on us in 2019.