In late 2019 I visited Guyana as the guest of Demerara Distillers Ltd (DDL), makers of El Dorado rum and home of the historic Port Mourant, Versailles and Enmore wooden stills. I came away with an enormous quantity of material about the distillery and Guyana’s rum history to share. Thus far, I’ve published: A detailed... Continue Reading →
In January 2020 I visited the island of Grenada as a guest of Renegade Rum. Originally an independent bottler of rums, Renegade made a hard-left turn recently, building the first brand new, large scale Caribbean rum distillery in over 15 years. (I’ll have much more to say about this in a future story.) Leading Renegade’s... Continue Reading →
In December of 2019 I visited Trinidad as a guest of Angostura. There, I met John Georges, Angostura’s recently retired Master Distiller. Georges had a front row seat for rum history over the last four decades, and I was privileged to spend several days picking his brain about all sorts of topics. As fellow engineers... Continue Reading →
Komal Samaroo has played a pivotal role in the extraordinary changes in the rum industry over the fifty years he’s been a part of it, starting with Booker’s Rum Company in 1969. Today, he’s the Executive Chairman of Demerara Distillers Ltd. (DDL), one of the largest Caribbean rum producers, and home of El Dorado Rum.... Continue Reading →
In September 2019, Demerara Distillers Ltd (aka DDL) brought me to Guyana to tour their facilities and meet key members of their staff. I came away with many things to share, which I’ll spread out over several stories. While there, I conducted several interviews. The first one was with Sharon Sue-Hang, Director of Quality Assurance... Continue Reading →
One of my favorite things about writing Cocktail Wonk is the opportunity to sit down with key people in the rum industry and go deep with geeky questions of interest to rum enthusiasts. Without any space constraints, I can let them really elucidate their unique perspectives. While these interviews are long, you really get a... Continue Reading →
The American craft rum scene is blessed with several high profile women at the helm of the company. Having started Montanya Distillers eleven years ago, Karen Hoskin is legitimately a pioneer among them. I recently sat down with her in San Francisco, on the day before the 2019 California Rum Festival. Over the course of... Continue Reading →
NOTE: This interview originally appeared on the ACR-Rum web site. However, it's of relevance to rum enthusiasts here on Cocktail Wonk, so it's also shared here, with permission from WIRSPA. As Chairman of the Executive Board of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA), Komal Samaroo has a very deep knowledge of the... Continue Reading →
In February 2019, I sat down with Spribam’s Benjamin Jones at the Miami Rum Congress to talk about all manner of wonky rum topics. Jones has been essential to bringing rhum agricole to the North American market over the past fifteen years – specifically the Rhum Clement and Rhum J.M brands. More recently, he’s spent... Continue Reading →
In September of 2018, I sat down with Luca Gargano in London immediately prior to the Rum Tasting of the Century, celebrating the launch of Hampden Estate’s aged rum. We had a wide-ranging interview that covered many topics, resulting in far too much material for a single interview piece. In my Bevvy Ruminations column, I... Continue Reading →
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