Jeff Houck

The Tampa Tribune’s food writer since 2005, Jeff Houck covers the way people live through their food. He also hosts the Table Conversations food podcast and believes that everything crunchy is good.

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Sipping The Glory [Winners In The International Rum Festival Competition]

Posted Apr 1, 2009 by Jeff Houck

Updated Apr 1, 2009 at 02:53 PM

If you didn’t attend last weekend’s International Rum Festival, here’s what you missed:

* Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial, aged 15 years, took the Best of Show award. The Peruvian-made rum will arrive in the United States within the year. When it does, rum lovers owe it to themselves to buy a bottle and sip. Outstanding stuff.

* T & W Grappa Di Muscatto made by Empire Winery & Distillery in New Port Richey won a gold medal in the “other spirits” category. Empire also won a bronze in the rum liqueur category with its Empire Lemonela. (co-owner Henry Kasprow, above, right, hands out samples.)

* A silent auction of rums, which raised about $2,000 for Sky Ranch Foundation for boys, earned almost $2,000 at The Ritz Ybor.

* Phil Greene of the Museum of the American Cocktail gave a great seminar on the history of rum cocktails. (FYI: He says you should shake a drink to a count of 10, per cocktail master Dale DeGroff.) Greene is pictured above, left, with festival producer Dori Bryant.

* Great tidbits about daiquiris from Greene: Teddy Roosevelt landed with the Rough Riders in Cuba at Daiquiri. It’s also the cocktail JFK was drinking when he found out he won the White House.

* Comments by Phil Pritchard (above) of Pritchard’s Distillery in Tennessee that, “rums have put themselves in a terrible position” by not adopting a uniform categorization system. He says the lack of clear definitions confuses customers about what they’re actually drinking.

The festival also held a competition in a variety of categories. (Full disclosure: I was a judge.) The winners were announced today:

White Rum
Gold: Carta Vieja Extra Claro Rum (Panama)
New Grove Plantation Rum (Mauritius)
Silver: Diplomatico White Rum (Venezuela)
Sunset Light Rum (St. Vincent & The Grenadines)
Bronze: Bacardi Superior (Puerto Rico)
Maui Platinum (Hawaii)
Sergeant Classick Silver Rum (Hawaii)
Tommy Bahama White Sand (Barbados)

Dark Rum
Gold: Khukri Rum (Nepal)
Maui Dark (Hawaii)
Silver: One Barrel Rum (Belize)
Tommy Bahama Golden Sun (Barbados)
Bronze: Rogue Dark Rum (Oregon, USA)

Gold Rum
Gold: Sunset Captain Bligh Rum (St. Vincent & The Grenadines)
Silver: Bacardi Gold (Puerto Rico)
Sergeant Classick Gold Rum (Hawaii)
Bronze: Carta Viejo Claro (Panama)
The Old Mill Gold Rum (US Virgin Islands)

Rum Aged Up To 8 Years
Gold: Ron Peruano 8 Year Old (Peru)
Diplomatico Reserva (Venezuela)
Ron Barcelo Grand Anejo (Dominican Republic)
Silver: Bacardi Select (Puerto Rico)
Carta Viejo Anejo (Panama)
Mount Gay Eclipse (Barbados)
Prichard’s Private Stock (Tennessee)
Ron Barcelo Imperial (Dominican Republic)
Ron Botran 8 Year Old (Guatemala)
Ron Medellín 3 Year Old (Colombia)
Ron Viejo de Caldas 3 Year Old (Colombia)
Ron Viejo de Caldas 8 Year Old (Colombia)
Bronze: Ron Barcelo Anejo (Dominican Republic)
Ron Medellín 8 Year Old (Colombia)

Rum Aged 9-15 Years
Gold:            Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum (Venezuela)
Mount Gay Extra Old (Bahamas)
Ron Botran 12 Year Old (Guatemala)
Silver: Ron Medellín 12 Year Old (Colombia)

Rum Aged 15+ Years
Gold: Ron Millonario Solera 15 Reserva Especial (Peru) BEST IN SHOW (pictured at right)

Overproof Rum
Gold: Braddah Kimo’s Extreme 155 Rum (Hawaii)
Bronze: Sunset Very Strong (St. Vincent & The Grenadines)

Aguadiente
Gold: Antioqueno (Colombia)
Silver: Cristal (Colombia)

Flavored Rum
Gold: Prichard’s Key Lime (Tennessee, USA)
Silver: New Grove Orange Bliss (Mauritius)
Bronze: New Grove Lime (Mauritius)

Rum Liqueurs
Gold: Mauricia Tamarind Liqueur (Mauritius)
Silver: Empire Limonela (Florida, USA)
Bronze: Empire Lemonela (Florida, USA)

Spiced Rum
Silver: Kilo Kai Spiced Rum (Curacao Netherland Antilles)
Bronze: Horne Spiced Rum (US Virgin Islands)
Rogue Hazelnut Spice Rum (Oregon, USA)

Other Spirits
Gold: Ocucaje Pisco (Peru)
T&W Grappa Di Muscatto (Florida, USA)

For more photos, click here.