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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.

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.