1、RUM DECEMBER 2023001 Cover DI Rum23v2.indd 1001 Cover DI Rum23v2.indd 121/11/2023 15:3621/11/2023 15:36Its been quite the year for the rum category.It began with Diageo purchasing the Filipino rum brand Don Papa for what will ultimately become 400m.A month prior,Brown-Forman snapped up Diplomtico fo

2、r a cool$725m the big dogs see opportunity at rums premium end.The duo of deals were reminiscent of the one-two punch of Bacardi purchasing Patrn and Diageos Casamigos acquisition,events that became the horsemen heralding in tequila-mania.It has been repeated ad infinitum that rums boom is just arou

3、nd the corner,but if money talks maybe the big deals are worth listening to.I attempt to sift through the noise on page 5.But what is clear is that the world of rum is expanding.Our roving reporter Tyler Zielinski heads to Africa to discover the bartender-led rise of homegrown premium rum(page 20)an

4、d closer to home,I catch up with a new generation of British rum makers who have begun distilling rum from molasses,unencumbered by the expectations of tradition(page 18).While British makers are unburdened by heritage,that doesnt mean traditional brands must be stuck in the past.We catch up with Br

5、ugals fifth-generation maestra ronera Jassil Villanueva Quintana on page 13,to hear about an innovative new cask-seasoning technique shes developed,and with Bacardis new global master blender Troy Arquiza(page 10),who succeeded Jos Gomez after four decades in the role,about how to move the rum giant

6、 with the times.But while the rum industry moves premium,lets not conflate that with buttoned-up,and its bars are where it shines.With the news of the return of Don the Beachcomber bars in Florida,on page 16 we took a look at some of tiki-godfather Donn Beachs famous cocktail creations.And as a mode