Rum in the News
BACARDI & COCA COLA
The Coca‑Cola Company and Bacardi Limited announced an agreement to debut BACARDÍ rum and Coca‑Cola as a ready-to-drink (RTD) pre-mixed cocktail. BACARDÍ Mixed with Coca‑Cola RTD will be available in several markets around the world, with the initial launch planned for select European markets and Mexico in 2025. “We are continuing to develop our portfolio as a total beverage company, including in the growing alcohol ready-to-drink market,” said James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca‑Cola Company. “This new relationship with Bacardi Limited supports our strategic expansion, and we look forward to the introduction of BACARDÍ Mixed with Coca‑Cola next year.” “We are excited to bring together two iconic brands so that consumers may enjoy one of the world’s most popular cocktails – first invented generations ago with BACARDÍ rum and Coca‑Cola – in a high-quality, convenient format,” said Mahesh Madhavan, CEO of Bacardi Limited. “Through this relationship, we will expand our reach and accessibility so that even more consumers of legal drinking age can enjoy this classic BACARDÍ rum and Coca‑Cola cocktail.” Cans will include clear responsibility symbols stating that the drink is to be enjoyed only by consumers of legal drinking age. BACARDÍ Mixed with Coca‑Cola RTD will adhere to responsible marketing practices held by The Coca‑Cola Company and Bacardi Limited. This is not the first time the two brands have come together. In 1900, the Cuba Libre cocktail was invented using BACARDÍ rum, Coca‑Cola and lime at the American Bar in Havana. The combination of the most-awarded rum and the world’s most popular soft drink remains among the top bar calls globally.
https://www.bacardilimited.com/ https://www.coca-colacompany.com/
CAPTAIN MORGAN & PEPSI
British website The Spirit Business reported Diageo-owned rum brand Captain Morgan is the latest spirits brand to team up with a soft drink company to create a ready-to-drink (RTD) serve. Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced Gold rum will be paired with Pepsi Max and canned at 5% ABV. Nuno Teles, Managing Director GB at Diageo, said: “With a shared emphasis on fun, our partnership with Pepsi Max brings together two iconic brands to create one epic taste that will inject excitement into the RTD category. Both brands bring their own distinctive flavor profile to the mix, an expert blend to deliver a great taste experience.” Diageo research found that 81% of consumers are more likely to purchase an RTD with a branded mixer. Natalia Filippociants, General Manager of Beverages at PepsiCo UK, added: “PepsiCo is always looking for new opportunities to meet the changing tastes and demands of consumers by bringing new, innovative products to market. Our partnership with Diageo brings together two drinks powerhouses who share the same passion for innovation. Together, we’re mixing up the ready-to-drink category by creating a premium, iconic blend of flavors fans know and love with Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold and Pepsi Max – the first alcoholic beverage to feature our flagship Pepsi brand.”
https://www.captainmorgan.com/en-us/ https://www.pepsi.com/
BRUGAL & HOUSTON ASTROS
Brugal Rum has announced a new collaboration with Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, to enhance the fan experience. This exciting partnership features the launch of a bespoke Brugal-branded bar on the stadium’s Club Level, poised to become a favorite among visitors. Located on the second floor, the full-service bar spotlights Brugal 1888, a premium double-aged rum known for its deep flavors from ex-bourbon and sherry casks. Fans can enjoy a selection of four specialty cocktails: the Dominican Old Fashioned, crafted with Angostura bitters and simple syrup; Dominican Lemonade with passionfruit puree and lemonade; Caribbean Fizz, blending lemon juice and club soda; and the Space City Carajillo, featuring Maven Cold Brew with vanilla notes. The bar’s design reflects Brugal’s signature dark blue and gold color scheme, with Brugal 1888 shield emblems, elegant wood paneling, and Dominican-style arches that add a touch of Caribbean luxury to the venue. The iconic netting pattern, reminiscent of the protective netting found on many Brugal bottles, is woven throughout the bar’s decor. “We’re excited to partner with Minute Maid Park,” said Jassil Villanueva Quintana, Brugal 1888’s Maestra Ronera. “Baseball is deeply rooted in Dominican culture, symbolizing more than just a game, it’s a way of life. This partnership lets us bring the spirit of the Dominican Republic to Houston, offering fans a taste of our rich rum heritage while celebrating the values of quality, craftsmanship, and community. We look forward to sharing this experience with the fans at Minute Maid Park.” In addition to offering top-tier cocktails, Brugal will host game-day tasting events on the Club Level, where fans can sample Brugal’s products and learn about the brand’s 135-year history. During select games, fans will also receive special giveaways, such as custom Brugal hand fans.
https://www.brugal-rum.com/en https://www.mlb.com/astros
CARIBBEAN RUM AWARDS & SAINT BARTH RUM FESTIVAL
Caribbean Journal first launched the Caribbean Rum Awards in 2018. Now in its seventh year, the CRA has become the region’s most exclusive celebration of rum. Each year, a team of judges from the Caribbean and around the world descend upon St Barth to judge a coveted selection of the Caribbean’s best rums, including “Uber-Premium” categories of rum and rhum agricole that gather the most expensive rums on the market for an unparalleled competition. The week features a selection of parties at top resorts around the island, along with intimate tastings and master classes, cigar pairings and dinners, all centered around the world’s greatest rums. The festival starts on November 13th, with the Rum Judging at Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth. Events on the 14th include Master Classes, VIP Rum Party at Les Ilets de la Plage by Reimonenq, Rum Tasting Event at Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth and a Rum Dinner at Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth. Friday, the 15th is a full day with a Ti Punch Pool Party at Le Barthelemy by Rhum Damoiseau, more Master Classes, a Sunset Happy Hour at Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth and a Rum Dinner at Le Barthelemy. The festival closes on Saturday with a Caribbean Rum Party on the Beach and a final Rum Dinner at Le Barthelemy.
https://www.caribbeanrumawards.com/
MOUNT GAY
Mount Gay has introduced the second expression of its ground-breaking Single Estate Series, the 24_02_Vt18d2. Crafted by Master Blender Trudiann Branker, this second release expands the terroir-driven range, with a blend of rums produced from the 2018 Mount Gay Estate sugar cane, making this liquid the first vintage in this limited-edition series. In 2015, Mount Gay acquired 324 acres of the historical Mount Gay and Oxford Estates, and for the first time in centuries, the distillery was a vertically integrated operation from cane to bottle. Since then, the team has harvested Estate sugar canes each year and transformed them into molasses, before fermenting, distilling and aging the distillates at the distillery. The Single Estate Series is created using 100% molasses from sugar canes grown at the Mount Gay Estate in St Lucy, Barbados. The molasses is then fermented for 9 days. This unusually long fermentation reveals distinct flavors with specific Barbadian (local) notes that are unique and complex. Trudiann Branker, Mount Gay’s Master Blender, expressed her excitement on the latest release, stating: “What makes 24_02 different and special is that it is the first vintage in the Single Estate Series, coming from just one year of harvest. 23_01 was a blend of two harvest years, 2016 & 2017. 24_02 showcases the unique character of Mount Gay’s Estate on a single year, made with 100% sugar cane grown on the Estate, in St Lucy, Barbados, illustrating further our connection to Mount Gay’s heritage and terroir, allowing consumers to discover the influence of a warm and sunny season until the harvest. This detail is reflected in the stunning blue label - ‘24’ representing for the release year and ‘02’ for the release number in the series. As a new feature, ‘Vt18’ stands for ‘Vintage 18’, referring to the single-year sugar cane harvest used in this expression, and ‘d2’ stands for the fact that I blended together distillates from two distinct pot still distillations.” Bottled at 55% ABV, Mount Gay Single Estate Series 24_02_Vt18d2 is non-chill filtered to preserve the rum’s rich aromas and natural color, and is best served neat. This expression will be limited to 5,418 bottles worldwide, with only 1,200 available in the US. www.mountgayrum.com
ROAMING ROAD SPIRITS
Mike Gilmore founded Roaming Road after years of curating a rotating selection of single cask spirits for Country Lane Liquor in Wyoming. Turns out, he had a knack for getting to know the distillers behind some of the most unique barrel aged spirits in the world, eventually earning a bit of a reputation for shining a well-deserved light on single cask spirits with a distinct point of view. His goal is to bottle the highest quality Single Cask Rums, Armagnacs, Cognacs, Grain Spirits, or whatever else he finds interesting in this beautiful World of Aged Spirits. His initial rum offerings will include a 20-year-old rum from Venezuela, a 9-year-old rum from Jamaica, a 17-year-old rum from Belize, a 16-year-old rum from Australia, a 16-year-old rum from Barbados, a 6-year agricole rhum from Martinique, an 18 year old rum from Panama and two rums from Guyana, an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old.
https://roamingroadspirits.com/
COCONUT CARTEL
The latest bottling from Coconut Cartel is not a rum, but a sweetener. Coconut Nectar is a versatile sweetener sourced from the sap of coconut palms. It is not a traditional sweetener, as its unique flavor profile imparts a subtle, caramel like rift to cocktails. It is mineral rich and low glycemic, offering you a natural way to elevate drinks.
https://coconutcartel.com/
THE SPIRIT COMPANY
The Spirit Company in England offers over twenty different Advent Calendars, featuring a wide variety of spirits: whiskeys (American, Scottish, Irish, Japanese), gins, tequila, vodka and, yes two rum sets, spiced and regular. Each set includes 24 30ml sample bottles that you open as you count down to Christmas. Some of the rums in the Spiced Calendar are 8Track Spiced Rum, One-Eyed Rebel Passionfruit Coconut Rum, Dead Man’s Fingers Banana Rum, Arcanist Pineapple Rum and Langs Mango Ginger Rum. The Rum Calendar includes Angostura Rum 1919, Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve - 2021 Edition, Plantation XO Barbados 20th Anniversary, Ron Pampero Aniversario, Gosling’s Family Reserve, Brugal 1888 Double Aged Rum, Skipper Demerara Rum and Bristol Classic Rum Guyana Port Mourant 1990 32yo Port Cask Finish. The Spirit Company has also created Tasting Sets with Virtual Tastings, online tasting sessions that are led by industry experts with backgrounds in distilling, blending and spirit education. They will take you on an informative and fun journey, learning the history of the spirits, the distillery and heritage. You will be shown how to ‘nose’ and ‘taste’ the spirit whilst discussing the tasting notes. There will be plenty of time for any questions or discussions as the session will last between 60-90 minutes. The Premium Rum Tasting Set includes Hampden Estate Rum (46%), Black Tot Rum, Jamaica 2019 Pedro Ximénez Cask - 1423 Single Barrel Selection, Gosling’s Family Reserve and El Dorado 12 Year Old. They only ship to certain mainland states in the USA.
https://thespiritco.com/en-us
HAVANA CLUB
After a successful introduction earlier this year in test markets, Pernod Picard will soon bring Havana Club Mango Lime to Germany. Jessica Templeton, Head of innovation at Pernod Ricard, told Spirit Business “Flavored rum is currently driving significant growth in the rum segment, showcasing how consumers are increasingly gravitating towards more adventurous and diverse flavor profiles. We’ve listened to these evolving consumer preferences, and we’re excited to introduce this new product to our German portfolio. It perfectly balances fruity and decadent notes, making it an ideal addition to the Havana Club range.” Inspired by Cuba’s inherently tropical nature, Havana Club’s Mango Lime combines two flavors that rank first in European taste preferences: tropical mango and lime citrus. The result is a ‘balanced interplay between natural sweetness and fresh notes with a velvety mouthfeel’.
https://havana-club.com/en/
BEENLEIGH ARTISAN DISTILLERS
On Saturday, October 19th, Beenleigh will be celebrating its 140th Birthday. The party will start at 1:00 PM and will feature tastings, distillery tours, live entertainment, food and an auction. Admission includes gift bag and tasting glass! If you cannot make it on the 19th, Beenleigh offers several tours and tasting packages on a regular basis. There is the Classic Rum Tasting, where you get to sample five of their most popular rums. The Master Distills Rum Tasting includes four distillery exclusive rums and a new Single Malt Whisky. There is even a Rum Blending Masterclass, where visitors can create their own special bottle of rum. https://www.beenleighrum.com.au/
ANGOSTURA
ANGOSTURA® introduced the newest flavor in the Angostura® Chill lineup: Pear & Bitters. This refreshing blend masterfully combines the sweet, juicy essence of ripe pears with the distinctive, aromatic depth of ANGOSTURA® aromatic bitters, delivering a taste experience that is both unique and satisfying. The launch of Angostura® Chill Pear & Bitters continues the brand’s tradition of blending the rich cultural heritage of Trinidad and Tobago with modern, innovative flavors. This new addition is crafted for those who seek a refreshing escape, whether it’s to cool down on a sunny afternoon or to unwind in the company of friends and family. Executive Manager Business Efficiency and Shared Services, Rahim Mohammed said, “Our mission with Angostura® Chill has always been to bring bold, authentic flavors to life, reflecting the vibrant spirit of the Caribbean. With Angostura® Chill Pear & Bitters, we have crafted a drink that not only quenches your thirst but also takes you on a sensory journey, blending familiar flavors with an intriguing twist. We are confident it will quickly become a favorite among our consumers.” Angostura® Chill Pear & Bitters is meticulously crafted using the finest ingredients, ensuring a drink that is as enjoyable as it is refreshing. It pairs seamlessly with a variety of occasions, from casual beach outings to more formal gatherings, and complements a wide array of dishes. Recently, the Trinidad Express wrote that Angostura Bitters has accounted for 8% of this country’s food and beverage exports over the past five years, according to Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon. Gopee-Scoon made the statement as she delivered the feature address at the 200th anniversary of the House of Angostura. She said that Angostura continues to play a pivotal role in the transformation and growth of Trinidad and Tobago, contributing significantly to the social, economic and cultural landscape and employment within the manufacturing sector. “This sub sector continues to grow with Aromatic Bitters consistently within T&T’s the top ten export commodities. Over the period 2019-2023 bitters accounted for 8% of exports under food and beverage,” Gopee-Scoon said. She said the success of Angostura on the global stage has helped put T&T on the map, enhancing the country’s international reputation as a producer of high-quality spirits and bitters in the beverage industry. https://angostura.com/
MONTANYA DISTILLERS
Colorado’s Montanya Distillers has launched its new line of artisanal bitters. This innovative line features five distinctive flavors: Grapefruit, Citrus, Pineapple Habanero, Cucumber Jalapeño, and Cherry Black Pepper. Each flavor, infused with fresh fruits, herbs, spices, bitters components, and their award-winning Platino rum is designed to elevate cocktails and culinary creations alike. Montanya’s Platino rum is known for its smooth and clean profile. Aged one year in Law’s whiskey barrels at almost 9,000ft., its exceptional quality serves as the perfect base for these bitters, exemplifying their commitment to crafting premium spirits and artisanal products to enhance the overall cocktail experience from your favorite lounge to a home bar setup. All bitters come in 50mL, Montanya branded packaging at 40% ABV, and 80PF. “Introducing our new bitters line represents an added dimension of creativity for Montanya Distillers,” says Co-Owner and Head Distiller, Megan Campbell. She adds, “we are thrilled to bring them to market, and we hope you enjoy them (responsibly) as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them here at the distillery in Crested Butte. Stay on the lookout for more fun releases to come from Montanya!” Montanya Bitters will be available to purchase online at MontanyaRum.com, in our Tasting Room, and through our distribution partner RNDC in Colorado. Ask your favorite local retailer for Montanya Bitters, or contact Megan@MontanyaDistillers.com for more information.
https://www.montanyarum.com/
BANDITTI CLUB RUM
Crafted and spiced in Glasgow, Banditti Club Rum is made from rum distilled from freshly pressed sugar cane juice on the Island of Madeira. The Barell Aged Golden Rum is then aged in Glasgow in fresh virgin American white oak casks for three years. The Glasgow Spiced Rum is aged for 12 months in oak casks and spiced with a blend of fresh tropical fruit and exotic spices, including pineapple, orange, cacao, and allspice. These handcrafted spirits contain no added sugar, coloring, or artificial flavors. Joining these rums are three new releases:
Banditti Club Rum Pedro Ximénez Sherry Cask Finish - This unique expression begins its journey on the island of Madeira, where it is naturally fermented and distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. It is then aged in Glasgow, first in new heavily charred virgin oak barrels, followed by a 6-month finishing period in a first-fill Pedro Ximénez sherry wine cask. Bottled at 55 % ABV.
Banditti Club Rum Madeira Wine Cask Finish – This rum also starts with Madeira rum that is then aged in Glasgow, first in new heavily charred virgin oak barrels, followed by an 11 month finishing period in first-fill Madeira wine casks, in homage to its spiritual home. Bottled at 54.6% ABV.
Banditti Club Rum Port Wine Cask Finish – Similar to above, the Madeira rum is aged in Glasgow, first in new heavily charred virgin oak barrels, followed by a finishing period in exceptional first-fill tawny port casks. Bottled at 52.4% ABV.
https://www.glasgowdistillery.com/
