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 [email protected] 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 [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 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.