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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.