With a month to go until The UK RumFest returns to London on the weekend of the 11th & 12th of October, what better way to celebrate such a milestone then to remind everyone what they can expect over the weekend. With the old saying that a picture paints a thousand words in mind, what could be better than an entire Gallery to paint several thousand words from The UK RumFest 2013.

With the first 12 pictures uploaded today highlighting Ron Botran, Ron Centenario and Virgin Gorda, the rest of the Gallery will be added over the next couple of weeks showcasing other brands along the way.

For more details and to purchase tickets, please go to The UK RumFest 2014 website.

Returning for a fourth year, the Golden Rum Barrel Awards recognized exquisite, stand-out rums, as well as individuals, who have made a significant contribution to the rum industry over the last twelve months. Winners were carefully selected by Global Rum Ambassador, Ian Burrell and a panel of experts with awards including ‘Best Blogger of the Year’, A Mountain of Crushed Ice and Destilerias Unidas S.A. (Venezuela) who picked up ‘Rum Distillery of the Year’ plus Virgin Gorda Rum receiving ‘Boutique Rum of The Year’. 2013’s Master Blender of the Year was picked up by the hugely talented Tito Cordero for both his depth of experience and for producing what is, arguably, the finest and most consistent rum with his Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva blend.

The inaugural ‘The Rum Experience Hall Of Fame’, launched on Saturday as part of the UK RumFest, recognized those who have proved to be a phenomenal force within the industry. Master Blender Lorena Vásquez Ampié‘s dedication to the promotion of Guatemalan rums, particularly Ron Zacapa to a new and discerning rum clientele was recognized as the first in a number of inductees on the night. Passionate about the art of crafting premium rum, Lorena is driven by her quest for perfection and is one of a small number of female master blenders in the world. Jose Sanchez Gavito has been a master blender for over 36 years and has been pushing the boundaries for new rum throughout his career. After retiring, from making rum in Mexico for Bacardi, Jose then joined the Bacardi Global team to create a new wave of “retro rums” such as the Bacardi ‘Heritage edition’, which has broken new ground and re-introduced Bacardi rum to the cocktail & mixology world.

Laurie Barnard, Chairman of St. Lucia Distillers, was seen by many as one of the greatest rum makers of his generation. A man with great dreams and ambition for Caribbean rum to be seen as the great spirit, worldwide. He was committed to quality control, as well as diversity in the production and distribution of his rum. Sadly Mr Barnard passed away in October 2012 but his legacy lives on through his rums like Chairman’s Reserve and Elements 8. Laurie’s award was received on his behalf by London Boxer David “The Hayemaker” Haye.

Master Distiller Richard Seale was awarded for constantly proving that “Rum innovation is rum tradition waiting to happen”. Richard Seale is a rum trend setter. A 3rd generation rum maker, he was definitely “born to make rum”.

Francisco Don Pancho Fernandez is a pioneering Master Blender and for over 50 years, Cuban born Don Pancho has been involved in making great Spanish styled rum. During the 1970’s as director of the Cuban Beverage Industry, Don Pancho helped in the renovation process of the rum industry in Cuba, introducing modern technology, renovating the cask inventories and modernizing the plants and distilleries. He also helped to improve fermentation, production and blending techniques that set the standard worldwide enabling him to travel the world and interact with different spirit industries such as Whisky in Scotland and Vodka in Poland. These multicultural exchanges developed his experience and skill and made Don Pancho the quintessential Master Blender he is today, with a unique and personal touch. Rums like Zafra 21, Ron Abuelo and of course Ron de Jeremy rum has kept Don at the top of his game.

 2013 GOLDEN RUM BARREL AWARD WINNERS:

Boutique Rum of the Year sponsored Imbibe Magazine 

Virgin Gorda Rum

Rum Distillery of the Year

Destilerias Unidas S.A. (Venezuela)

Master Blender of the Year sponsored by Green Engineering 

Tito Cordero

Rum Blogger of the Year sponsored by Don Q Rum 

A Mountain Of Crushed Ice

Rum Experience Hall of Fame Award

Lorena Vásquez Ampié
Jose Sanchez Gavito
Laurie Barnard
Richard Seale
Francisco Don Pancho Fernandez

Ian Burrell, Global Rum Ambassador comments, “This year’s Golden Rum Barrel Awards plays tribute to the pioneers within the the industry whether blend or being. Rums rising popularity throughout the world can be attributed to many of these esteemed individuals or brands and we are thrilled to announce such an incredible range of distillers, master blenders, ambassadors and rum blends from all over the world.”

With a week and half to go until this year’s UK RumFest, what can you expect of your day out immersing yourself in all things rum? Well for starters, Rum and a lot of it.

It may sound obvious, but with so many rum producers exhibiting at the show and with most of them having more than one expression of rum available, for those who have never been before, if can be quite an overwhelming experience as to how much rum there is to choose from on the day.

This year’s exhibitors list includes: Angostura Rum, Appleton Estate Rum, Banks Rum, Blackwell Rum, Bristol Classic Rum, Chairman’s Reserve Rum, Cruzan Rum, Don Papa Rum, DonQ Rum, Doorly’s Rum, El Dorado Rum, English Harbour Rum, Gosling’s Rum, Green Island Rum, Koko Kanu, Lamb’s Rum, Mount Gay Rum, Mount Gilboa Rum, Old Grog Rum, Pink Pigeon Rum, Plantation Rum, Pusser’s Rum, Pyrat Rum, R St Barth, Ron Bacardi, Ron Barcelo, Ron Botran, Ron Brugal, Ron de Jeremy, Ron Diplomático, Ron Fortuna, Ron Zacapa, Rum Fire, St. Aubin Rum, St. Nicholas Abbey Rum, Toz Rum, Virgin Gorda Rum, Wray & Nephew Rum, XM Royal Rum

While some of this rum will be available in the form of cocktails, most will be provided in the form of 1cl tasters – all the better for being able to appreciate the flavour and character of the rum. For those of you who are not used to drinking spirits neat, the best piece of advise to be offered is pace yourself, drink plenty of water from the various water coolers dispersed around the show and follow the RumFest Etiquette Guidelines.

So what else can you look forward to? Well the UK RumFest describes itself as:

… an international celebration of rum & cane spirit. The Rum Experience prides itself on bringing together the finest rum, great food and a range of educating seminars and entertainment to make learning about rum both fun and stimulating.

From personal experience, this statement does truly sum up what to expect when visiting RumFest and it’s also fair to say that words alone cannot sum up the experience. Of course, if you don’t follow the advice given above, you might find it even harder to put anything into words the following day… So lets forget words for a moment and rely on the old adage of a picture paints a thousand words and check out the Rum@Charlosa Pinterest board for some photographic inspiration of some of the things to expect at RumFest.

And what of the great food, education and the fun mentioned above. Well it includes: live entertainment, such as Salsa, Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Samba; the Tropical Food Market; the Cooking Demonstration Stage (hosted by Chef Hasan de Four); Food and Rum Pairings; the chance to win holidays to the Caribbean and visit a real rum distillary; live cocktail demonstrations; cocktails to try from some of the UKs best mixologists; hundreds of rums to try and buy and several Rum Experience University Masterclasses conducted by industry experts and master blenders.

All being well you’re now sold on the idea of the rum, but which shores must you head to with a steady wind in search of this here pirate’s booty. Well, for the second year in the events history you can expect to set sail towards the ExCel Exhibition Centre on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands. The nearest station is Custom House on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which is served from either the Tower Gateway or Stratford lines through to Beckton.

The UK RumFest 2013 opens its doors at 12pm midday on Saturday 12th October, with last pours at 4.30pm and closes at 5pm. For those of you who either can’t make the Saturday or just love rum that much that you need to head back for a second day, you’ll be pleased to know that RumFest is also opening its doors for the same times on Sunday 13th October.

Now you know when and where to head for your rum, how much is this little expedition going to cost you to get there. Well RumFest tickets come in two flavours and cost £25 and £45 each day for the Rum Experience Ticket and the Connoisseur Cove Ticket respectively. For the serious rum lover, you can alternatively purchase a weekend Connoisseur Cove Ticket for £80, giving a saving of £10 over separate tickets for both days. All tickets are subject to a booking fee.

So what do you get for your money and which ticket should you go for. Well this will largely depend on what you’re interested in for the day. Both tickets will give you:

• The Rum Bars sampling 1cl tots in exchange for your tokens ( full sized cocktails will be on sale)

• Small selection of rum brands sampling 1cl tots in exchange for your tokens

• The Main Entertainment Stage

• Seminar Rooms

• Tropical Food Market stands selling hot and cold food

• Food Demonstration Stage hosted by Chef Hasan De Four

• 5 tasting sample tokens to exchange for 1cl sample and 50ml mini cocktail samples within the Rum Experience Area ( no more tokens will be available to purchase).

But only the Connoisseurs Cove tickets will also include:

• Entry to the Connoisseurs Cove with a selection of brands exhibiting their premium rums and serving 1cl samples (no drink tokens needed here)

And for those of you in the professional drinks trade, make sure you register for The Boutique RumFest, which runs alongside RumFest, for the opportunity to see and try many new brands and expressions, many of whom are looking for UK distribution.

So now you know what to expect, what are you waiting for, mark Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th October in your diary, head over to the UK RumFest 2013 Website and book your tickets now and make you so you finish London Cocktail Week with some serious rum fun.

Oh did I not mention it’s London Cocktail Week next week… You wait ages for a drinks event to turn up and then they all turn up at the same time – no wait, isn’t that meant to be buses… Anyway, make sure you also check out the London Cocktail Week website to help get you in the right spirit for the UK RumFest 2013.