For those of you who may not have realised, today is National Rum Day and for those of us in the UK there’s still time to join in. Now I’m all for celebrating my spirit of choice, but what exactly does it mean for it to be National Rum Day? Well simply put I’m not actually sure and I don’t appear to be the only rum blogger who doesn’t. Even the National Rum Day Website is somewhat lacking of any details of what it actually means or whether there’s any history as to why the 16th August was selected for this wonderful day of celebration.

However a quick search on the Internet throws up a number of articles, including these from Forbes, USA Today, the Independent and even a selection of rum based cocktails and their associated rums on the Whisky Exchange website.

But for those of us who responsibly enjoy Rum, I’m sure we don’t see anything wrong with a special day in the diary as an additional excuse to raise a glass. So whether your preference is neat, over ice, a Rum Cocktail or even just a Rum & Coke, raise a glass in support of our wonderfully obscure day of celebration: National Rum Day.