Last month I attended the Miami Rum Festival and participated on the Consumer Rum Jury panel. So I hereby present the Rumspiration Awards – Miami Rum Fest Edition.
Best 80s Throwback Product: Middas Cachaca – for the gold flakes in the bottle, reminiscent of Goldschlager Cinnamon liqueur, which I actually did drink in the 80s. It also tasted pretty darned good.
Best Use of Wildlife in a Vendor Booth: Bayou Rum – for having live baby alligators visitors could hold for photo ops. They really were very cute.
Best Pre Party: Plantation Rum – for the poolside party for the Rum XPs and Consumer Rum Jury panelists at the conclusion of judging the day before the official start of the festival. Awesome food, drinks, rum samples, and the most adorable little gold pineapple lapel pins.
Best Rum with a Not-So-Great Name: Yolo Gold – Though the brand name makes it sound as though this is being marketed to a Kardashian-loving sorority crowd, the contents of the bottle are actually quite good. This rum even received my highest score of the rums presented to the Consumer Rum Jury for judging.
Fanciest Booth Experience: Diplomatico Rum – the booth was set up as an exclusive lounge complete with velvet rope and a beautiful LBD-clad woman controlling access. There was an elegant (read: not cheesy portable fold-up) bar with 3-4 seats, and a seating area with tufted leather sofa and chairs.
Best Mascot: Tiburon Rum – the Captain Jack Sparrow look-alike pirate was charming and appropriately unsettling. He even had the Johnny Depp voice down pat!
Friendliest Brand Reps: Ron Cartavio and Ron Duran – My dear friends Jim Driscoll and Carole Baker are always warm, funny, and generous with some of my favorite rums on the planet.
Best hosts: Robert, Rob, and Robin Burr! This family of rum lovers work all year to produce this amazing event and are passionate about sharing the joy and fun of rum!
Overall, I had a fantastic time and really enjoyed spending time with old friends and making new ones! This is becoming one of the highlights of my year and I can’t wait to go back in 2017!
Miami Rum Renaissance Festival
Cheers!