In February 2019, I sat down with Spribam’s Benjamin Jones at the Miami Rum Congress to talk about all manner of wonky rum topics. Jones has been essential to bringing rhum agricole to the North American market over the past…
Category: Cocktail Wonk
Geographic Indication Fast Facts
In the spirits world, Geographical Indications, or GI for those who are conserving syllables, have recently been in the forefront of many nerdy conversations. This is especially true in the rum community. I’ve written extensively about certain rum-related GIs and…
Privateer Rum’s Maggie Campbell on Barrel Aging Science – Tropical or Otherwise
The “Wonk” in Cocktail Wonk refers to digging deep to understand as much as possible about spirits and cocktails. Many of the stories here involve the chemistry of aging, as well as the different elements in a spirit – water,…
Will We Finally Get the Good Stuff in the US? TTB Considers Fixing Bottle Size Problem
Since Prohibition, U.S. Consumers have long gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to getting many of the great spirits made in other countries. One reason: The antiquated legal restrictions on the allowed size of distilled spirits…
How the Financial Crisis of 2007 Reshaped the Rum World
In the course of researching various rum-related topics, there’s some recent history that I keep bumping up against. Between 1997 and 2009, one company purchased several extremely important rum companies such as Angostura and Appleton. It then went bankrupt during…
The Curious Tale of a Pineapple Press and the West India Docks
Researching distilled spirits history is a bit like panning for gold—lots of work for the occasional grain of gold remaining in your pan. But there are also jaw-dropping moments when a sizeable nugget suddenly appears. These “A-ha!” moments motivate you…
Minimalist Tiki – The Book! For Sale Now!
Day in and day out, one of the most popular post here at Cocktail Wonk is Minimalist Tiki: What you truly need to make the classics at home. At long last, I’ve finally heeded Mrs. Wonk’s wisdom that this article…
The Cocktail Wonk Comprehensive Caribbean Rum Tour: Bottles $45 or Less
There’s no shortage of rum listicles lately. Rum is a hot topic du jour and publications push them out with abandon: “Nine Rums I Found at My Local Bar” or “Seven Rums Too Expensive for You.” All too frequently these…
Unraveling Plummer and Wedderburn Rums
Among Jamaican rum aficionados, two names hold almost mythical allure: Plummer and Wedderburn. They’re known as old, obsolete Jamaican rum marques from a glorious time when all Jamaican rums were chock-full of funky flavors and hogo. The main reason most…
Mount Gay – Cornerstone of Caribbean Rum
Telling the story of Barbados rum–and of rum itself–is impossible without referencing Mount Gay. The distillery operations at its Barbados site are arguably the oldest and longest running in existence. Spanning nearly four centuries, Mount Gay has something to say…