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 #4: Down Island Ghana 2020
Want to see video of this episode? Check it out on YouTube and subscribe to our channel! https://youtu.be/8b99b-s4isg
We're back with another episode in our Semi-Blind Reviews series — this time with a rum sourced from a region that came up quite a bit in our 100th episode a few months back: Ghana!
From Down Island Spirits, this is a 4-year-old pot still cane juice rum sourced from Ghana's MIM Distillery. John shares his thoughts knowing full well what the rum is and Will shares his thoughts while having no knowledge of it other than its color in the glass.
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. -
The Legacy of Angostura Rum and Trinidad’s Distilling Heritage with John Georges, Former Master Distiller
In this episode, we sat down with John Georges, former master distiller of Angostura Rum / Trinidad Distillers Ltd. to discuss his 40+ year career in rum, all things Angostura, and much more.
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
We discussed:
The evolution of rum-making at Angostura over the years
Angostura's involvement with Bacardi in the 1980s
Why pot stills have yet to catch on at Angostura, despite a few attempts
What changed in rum over the course of his four decades of making it
Added sugar in Angostura rum
Which blends Angostura did and did not add Caroni rum to
The career path of a master distiller
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. -
Alambique Serrano and Cañada Rum: Tradition Meets Innovation in Oaxaca’s Cloud Forest (feat. Jason Paul Cox and Isidoro Krassel Jr.)
In this episode, we chatted with Jason Paul Cox and Isidoro Krassel Jr. of Alambique Serrano and Cañada Rum — two exciting projects featuring cane juice rum from Mexico. Jason is the founder of the brands and Isidoro is one of the four brothers from a family that has been producing aguardiente de caña in Oaxaca's mountainous cloud forest for over 100 years.
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
These are truly fascinating rum projects and we had a blast learning more about them. We discuss:
What makes this rum different from other Oaxacan producers like Paranubes and Dakabend
The Krassel family's unique approach to muck pits and high ester experimentation
The vast range of profiles they can create thanks to their custom column still, pot stills, and dry and humid aging environments
The challenges of harvesting cane and fermenting on the side of a mountain
The making of Alambique Serrano's initial blends
The unique design of the Krassel still, which Isidoro's grandfather invented
A surprise reveal of their new 70% ABV rum, Cartier 30
And much more!
Also, a few links to stuff mentioned in the episode:
Alambique Serrano website: https://www.alambiqueserrano.com/
Cañada Rum website: https://www.cloudforestrum.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. -
Rolling Fork Rum and the Complexities of Barrel Aging
This episode is sponsored by Nossa Cachaça — Get 10% off any order at NossaCachaca.com with promo code RUMCAST.
In this episode, we talked to Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris, the co-founders of Rolling Fork Rum, and went DEEP on everything the Kentucky-based independent bottler has learned about secondary maturation (and more) since getting started in 2017. We discussed:
Rolling Fork's focus on utilizing an array of ex-bourbon and ex-whiskey casks for secondary maturation
How much of a difference do different types of ex-whiskey casks REALLY make on a spirit that is primarily already aged in ex-bourbon casks?
Why they just launched a rum blend designed for cocktails after their first cocktail rum failed
How they work through disagreements as co-founders
What it's like selling rum deep in the heart of bourbon country
How different types of casks — from ex-fortified wine barrels to ex-whiskey barrels — react to the wild temperature swings in their aging warehouse
Matching the right type of cask to the right rum
How the independent bottler landscape has changed since they got started in 2017
And a whole lot more!
A few links to stuff mentioned in the episode:
Check out The Rum Revival's blind tasting of Rolling Fork rums finished in five different cask types: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVYrA7TmVw
Check out Rolling Fork's website and online store at RollingForkRum.com: https://rollingforkrum.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. -
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.
Customer Reviews
Great show for rum enthusiasts and newbies
This show was one of my first sources of information about rum when I started getting interested in cane spirits. The hosts are great, they interview a broad spectrum of many of the most influential people in rum, and I feel like I learn something or find something I want to try with every episode. Recommend!
Solid !
If you are looking into deep diving in rum knowledge , conversation and community, this is it . These guys do a solid job and always look forward to the next episode . Very fun
Thrilled to have found this podcast
It’s extremely rare for me to find a podcast and then binge so many episodes in such a short time. I apologize to my family who I have been neglecting. As someone trying to learn more about rum, I’ve found this format to be the most entertaining and educational at the same time. Reddit, YouTube and websites can only take you so far, but hearing real fans talk about rum as well as listening to interviews with renowned distillers is about as close as you can get to taking a distillery tour yourself. Looking forward to more episodes and catching up on old ones.