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CAN YOU TASTE ‘TERROIR’?
The Whisky Exchange’s own Dawn Davies is joined by Daniele Biondi of Habitation Velier to explore one of the rum world’s great debates. Learn how the conditions in which cane is grown and rum is manufactured might affect the flavour of the finished product.
In winemaking the concept of terroir is well-understood, but the relationship between where rum is made and how it tastes is often much less clear. To better understand the way conditions from the cane field to the warehouse might alter how rum tastes, Dawn and Daniele will be pouring selected rums from across the world as they talk terroir.
Please note, this masterclass is a blind tasting.
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DOES WHERE YOU SOURCE YOUR SUGAR CANE OR MOLASSES MATTER?
Legends of the rum world Richard Seale, Zan Kong and Maggie Campbell join Dawn Davies to talk sugar production and whether the origin of the raw materials changes the way rum tastes.
This masterclass offers a chance to share a few tots with some of the industry’s leading advocates for rum with a sense of place. You’ll taste rums selected by Mr Richard Seale of the venerable Foursquare distillery in St Philip, Barbados, and learn all about sugar cane, terroir and flavour. An excellent chance to get acquainted with one of the most hotly debated topics in the world of spirits.
A range of liquids will be sampled during this tasting.
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EL DORADO
One of the Caribbean’s most intriguing distilleries, the home of El Dorado is packed with equipment from the long-lost sugar factories that once lined the Demerara River. This includes the wooden pot stills that supplied the heart of the famed Royal Navy rum blends and the world’s only surviving wooden column still.
From this diverse collection of equipment comes an incredible variety of different rums. This session breaks down the different styles of spirit that go into the iconic El Dorado blends and offers the perfect introduction to Demerara rum.
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LONDON DOCK AND ROYAL NAVY RUM REVEALED
Matt Pietrek and Mitch Wilson explore the storied history of navy rum, pouring some of the best examples of the style available today.
Just a few short miles upriver from Rum Show’s home at Glaziers Hall are some of the most important locations in the world of rum. This masterclass will explore the way London helped to shape the category as we know it, including the creation of the navy rum blends at HM Victualling Yard in Deptford. Among the samples on offer are the exceptional Tiger Shark by Habitation Velier and Black Tot Last Consignment, bottled from the few remaining flagons of Royal Navy rum in the world.
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RENAISSANCE - THE BIRTH OF RUM IN TAIWAN
Sugar cane has been a part of the Taiwanese economy for centuries, but unlike most sugar-producing nations it never developed an accompanying rum tradition. That is until husband and wife team Olivier and Linya began experimenting with small pot stills and local molasses back in 2013.
Abundant creativity and a radical commitment to transparency quickly made Renaissance a force to be reckoned with in the rum community. This masterclass will showcase the high-ester spirits made at Renaissance aged in a variety of casks including ex-Armagnac barrels and fino sherry butts. Not to be missed.