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.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

Note: We need your help to make the most of this episode! Go to rumcast.com/vote after listening to help determine the winner of this year's Fantasy Rum Draft. Thank you!

For the fourth year in a row, we're back with our annual Rumcast Fantasy Rum Draft. In this annual competition, we compete head-to-head to “draft” rums from the selection of an online liquor store (or, in this year's case, TWO online liquor stores) for 10 different rum categories. The goal? To create the superior desert island rum bar.

Following his big win last year, we were excited to welcome 2024 champion Arminder Randhawa from The Rum Revival back to defend his crown!

We drafted our picks from the rum inventories currently available (as of 9-7-2025) at Burlington Wine and Spirits and Baytowne Wine and Spirits. The categories were:

Unaged

Lightly Aged (1-4 Years)

Aged (5-13 Years)

Long Aged (14+ Years)

Cane Juice Unaged

Cane Juice Aged (Any Length)

Multi-Country Blend

Non-Caribbean

100% Column

100% Pot

After you listen, head to rumcast.com/vote to access the complete list of picks, along with a link to our Fantasy Rum Draft Command Center if you'd like to have a look.

May the best team win!

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.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

Today's the day! We’re revealing the identity of the second cask selection that will be featured in our upcoming Rumcast Reserve release. And since two reveals are more fun than one, we're also unveiling the finished (pending TTB approval) label design.

In addition to the reveals, we also take you through the work that went into them — from the twists and turns designing our label to the debates we had when choosing from our top 8 casks at The Main Rum Company.

We also make one final decision regarding the label live during the recording, after some spirited debate of course.

Have a listen and let us know what you think of our choices! We're excited to hear your thoughts and any questions you have.

Check out Boston Rum Week — coming up September 14-21

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.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

In this episode, we caught up with Dawn Davies, head buyer for The Whisky Exchange—one of the premier spirits stores in the UK.

Dawn is a huge rum fan with an excellent palate (she's one of the very few Masters of Wine in the world), and her position at The Whisky Exchange gives her a fascinating perspective on the world of rum.

You can watch the video version of the episode here.

We discussed:

What goes into managing a store selection that includes nearly 1,000 rum SKUs

Balancing esoteric rum geek bottles with mass market selections

Which rums should be on more store shelves right now

Standouts from The Whisky Exchange's 5th annual Rum Show this past July

What it takes to go through the grueling 5+ years long Master of Wine process

How Dawn approaches tasting rums

Revisiting The Whisky Exchange's rum classification system 6 years in

Annoying label terminology

And more!

Relevant links mentioned in the episode:

Follow Dawn on Instagram

The Whisky Exchange website

The Whisky Exchange rum classification system

The Whisky Exchange rum flavor camps

Check out Boston Rum Week — coming up September 14-21