The UK RumFest 2024

Another year, another RumFest under the belt. It was a busy and very enjoyable 3 days of drinking and talking all things rum with some fantastic people at the 18th year of the UK RumFest.

Having attended the past few years of RumFest the most noticeable difference to previous years was that some of the big brands that have been prominent attendees of previous years were missing and there were a lot more smaller brands and spiced rums making their debut appearance. I also felt like the golden tots were a more prominent part of the show to previous years which provides an opportunity to be trying some rums upwards of £300.

As always the turnout was strong with a really diverse crowd from the sold out Saturday session through to the trade day on Monday. It’s always great having a chance to catch up with some familiar faces and brands as well as make new friends amongst the rum enthusiast crowd.

Across the three days (2 for the general public plus an additional trade only session) there were a whole host of masterclasses to attend in addition to the main stage and of course all of the brand stalls – I attended the Diplomatico taste along.

Before we jump into the rum itself and I call out some of my standouts let’s talk about the rest of the show in general. The main stage was less talk focussed than previous years but still bought all of the music and positive vibes especially during the carnival hour with lots of dancing.

In my opinion the stage and carnival hour sets the UK RumFest apart from the TWE Rum Show in that RumFest leans more towards the full rounded culture and experience where Rum Show feels more serious about the rum itself with a much stronger number of brands present and generally less of the party vibe.

As a rum blogger – I would personally prioritise The Rum Show in the future for my rum tastings but you won’t see me miss out on the great carnival vibes at the UK RumFest.

There were 2 food options available in the show. Port Royal Patties made a return that I was very happy to see plus a selection of Caribbean dishes from Heart & Soul Caribbean roti specialists. I personally didn’t check out Heart & Soul because they were a significantly more expensive option and whilst I love that style of food it’s not great for the palate when doing rum tastings.

Standout rums

Onto the rums themselves now and I must say it was a really tough one to narrow this down because I tried some really fantastic rums this weekend, I’m going to give some only a brief mention as some dedicated blog posts are coming but without further ado (and in no particular order) let’s dive in.

And some honourable mentions (and potentially a couple of teasers for some future posts)

• Don Q, Zinfandel cask – this gets its second post rum event call out and is one that I’m looking forward to doing in a controlled tasting now I’ve got a bottle.
• English Harbour – I really enjoyed exploring the range a bit further, both the port finish AND the 90th anniversary release really intrigued me.
• Diplomatico – To save me repeating myself too much check out my write-up on the masterclass (coming soon!)
• Hot Boss – a hot sauce brand making rum? What? You’ll have to read my write up on this one..
• Phraya – A rum from Thailand deeply rooted in culture with some fascinating processes… a write up is coming for this in detail!
• Revival rum – it was great to see them again after Manchester with some new additions to the range!
• Outlier – As always great to see the guys and what they’ve been up to!