If you have ever wanted to attend a rum tasting or wondered what the fuss was all about? Then, enjoy these top 5 tips for why you should attend a rum tasting and get the best out of this wonderfully insightful experience.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to a guided rum tasting with an exciting rum range launching for the first time in the UK & Europe from the beautiful Paraguay called El Supremo.
Award-winning, El Supremo Founder, Filippo Maria Olivi di Briana ( wow, that’s quite a name!) hosted the guided tasting with 4 expressions including a 5, 8, 12 and 18-year-old selection at the lovely wooden Rhum Tavern venue.
So, in order to have a great evening, here are our top 5 tips to get the most out of a rum tasting.
- Find out where the event is taking place in advance. Sounds simple, but if it’s a venue you have never been to before, I can guarantee you will miss it and most likely be wandering up and down the street to find where it is (yes, this happened to me lol). So many venues are tucked away from the high street, have parking restrictions or can be a bit of a walking distance from public transport, so be sure you know the location and use street map view or find a landmark for where it is located before setting out to keep you on the right path. This will help plan ahead and arrive on time. Which lead nicely into the next tip.
- Arrive on time. Most tasting are intimate, so getting a seat with a prime spot, especially if there is going to be a screen for a presentation and slides, is a must. The El Supremo tasting had a large turn-out, but I luckily found a decent spot and was able to see the screen for the guided images and tasting notes Filippo was presenting. BONUS: There is also usually a wonderful welcome cocktail waiting for you when you arrive, so you won’t want to miss that. We were offered a delightful Daiquiri, I believe it was made from the 5-year-old El Supremo. Yum! This is a great way to sample the actual rum in a cocktail as well as neat.
- Hydrate! Water is very important at a tasting. Not only is it good to reset your palette after each tasting glass. You also want to keep a clear head and sip as you go along. You can also use water to dilute a rum if you find it too strong to enjoy neat. Water can be provided as part of the tasting, but do bring your own in case.
- Tasting Notes. I like to bring along a small note pad, and yes make sure it’s small as space on the table is usually taken up with a sheet that has all your rum glasses on there. You are also sharing the table with other guests, so be mindful of space. I enjoy taking notes as this is coming straight from the rum maker’s mouth. If you are still a newbie training your palette (learning how to taste) or want to remember key things about how the rum was made, backstory or tips how to get the best out of the rum, then trying to remember the next day is going to be difficult, especially after tasting a set of rums and chatting away the rest of the night lol
- Save money. I saved the best for last! Now this is a key factor as great rums can be quite costly, so if you wanted to enjoy lets say 4 of these El Supremo rums by buying a bottle of each just so you can taste, then that could set you back a pretty penny as the 8-year-old alone is nearly £60 from certain outlets.
Attending a tasting gives you a chance to try before you buy. This added with having the story of how the rum was created, in a wonderful new venue to discover with like-minded rum enthusiasts (not to mention a chance to network or find new rum buddies) Then a rum tasting can be a great investment in your rum journey if a small ticket price is included. Special thanks to Alex Holbrook of Pitch and Pour for the VIP invite on this occasion.
So that’s my personal top 5 tips for enjoying and getting the most out of a rum tasting. There are others like a potential goody bag with some rum samples (yes we were treated to those too) but my best advice is to give a tasting session a try, I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised and enjoy your rum journey even more. Of course, take in all the wonderful flavours, aromas, stories and atmosphere whilst enjoying your rums as tastings tend to last a minimum of 2 hours.
Don’t forget to thank and compliment the host if you enjoyed your tasting session, and spread the good word of your new rum discovery to your fellow friends and social circles. Cheers.
