The Rumcast Will Hoekenga and John Gulla
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Explore the world of rum by hearing from the people who are shaping it.
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Semi-Blind Rum Review #3: English Harbour 1981
We're back with another episode in our Semi-Blind Rum Reviews series. This time, we swapped roles with Will as the blind taster and John as the rum selector. It turned out to be a quite rare rum — English Harbour 1981, a 25-year-old rum from Antigua Distillery Limited, bottled all the way back in 2006!
You can also view the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36qPUvfw5vY
Be sure to subscribe to us there as well for more video content!
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. -
Tales from the Back of the Cabinet: Revisiting 6 Long Overlooked Rums in Our Bars
For this episode, we reached DEEP into the backs of our cabinets and pulled out a selection of rums we had long overlooked, neglected, or even forgotten about in our bars to see how our thoughts have evolved (or IF they have at all).
The rules were simple: it just had to be a bottle we hadn't tasted in at least two years.
Along the way, we discuss everything from market correcting Myers's Original Dark to John discovering (re-discovering?) one of the three best rums he's tried all year to packaging debates and more. It was a fun time, and we hope this inspires you to have your own back-of-the-cabinet adventure!
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. -
San Juan Artisan Distillers & the Emerging Puerto Rican Craft Rum Scene with Pepe Álvarez
In this episode we talked to Pepe Álvarez, founder of San Juan Artisan Distillers, the only Puerto Rican distillery making pot still rum from fresh sugarcane juice in a true farm-to-bottle setting.
You may recall we featured Pepe as one of three interviewees in an episode back in 2021, but we wanted to bring him back for a solo interview so we could take a deeper dive into what we both think is a super interesting distillery making great rum.
It was also a chance to speak more broadly about the new wave of craft rum distilleries that have launched in Puerto Rico over the past decade or so, opening an exciting new chapter for the island's rum industry.
We discussed:
Creating a new, unconventional style of Puerto Rican rum
The evolution of the distillery's sugarcane farming operation
How much help Puerto Rico's craft distilleries receive from the government's rum tax cover over relative to the big distilleries on the island
Ideas for leveling the playing field in Puerto Rican rum
Working with legends in rum like Frank Ward and Luis Planas
Learning to make pot still rum on an island where no one used pot stills
Deciding on bottling ABV
The broader craft rum scene in Puerto Rico
The perils of finding distribution outside the island
Upcoming blends and releases from San Juan Artisan Distillers
And much more!
Oh, and John decided to replace the rapid fire segment???
You can check out San Juan Artisan Distillers' website here: https://sanjuanartisandistillers.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. -
Kuleana Rum Works: Discovering the Big Island's Take on Hawaiian Rum with Steve Jefferson
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 Martinique rhum agricole on Kuleana's production process
The big gamble Steve made to acquire the 45 acres that became Kuleana's farm
Nerdy production and still design details
The current state of their aging program
How they plan to utilize the 35 varieties of heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane
Their relationship with Ko Hana on Oahu
Why Kuleana sources and blends rums from around the world in addition to distilling their own
Their connection to High West Whiskey
Their crowdsourced funding campaign
And more!
Plus, at the beginning, some rambling thoughts on John's travels in Italy, amaro, chasing the solar eclipse, and the impact of minor ABV differences.
You can check out Kuleana's website here (which also has a link to their funding campaign): https://kuleanarum.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. -
Inside The Islay Rum Company: A Unique Take on Scottish Rum with Ben Inglis
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. -
Introducing Semi-Blind Rum Reviews: Shakara 12-Year Thailand Rum and TCRL High Seas
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 at WonkPress.com 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.