The TWE Rum Show 2025
The Rum Show 2025 has come to a close, and it was a fantastic experience. Flipping through my notebook of tasting notes and quick thoughts, it’s clear that this year’s show delivered a great mix of styles and producers. From bold over proofs to elegant column stills and from Scotland to Australia, the variety on offer really demonstrated the full spectrum of what rum has to offer.
As always, one of the highlights was connecting with people! A great opportunity for catching up with old friends, chatting with passionate producers, and meeting plenty of new faces who all share a love for rum. The atmosphere was welcoming and full of energy, making it easy to spend hours tasting and talking.
Naturally with so many rums to try in a short space of time, it’s hard to capture every detail or take in-depth notes for each one but I still managed to jot down plenty of highlights!
So, as tradition now demands, here are some of my top picks (in no particular order) from The Rum Show 2025 (that have significantly increased the length of my wish list…).
Shakara made it’s debut appearance ahead of it’s launch later this year. It’s a 100% column still rum from Thailand, aged for 12 years and named after the Sanskrit word for sugarcane.
A nice balance between bright elements and gentle oak influence. Some citrus and pepper.
The Whisky Exchange and Havana Club have teamed up once again for another TWE exclusive. A single cask expression coming in at 48% ABV and limited to only 175 bottles.
On the nose this has a deep and dry profile with red fruit and mango present. Tasting this it sits very low in the mouth with a little pepper. A very long finish.
Planteray really bought their A game to the show with a selection of standout bottles! Two in particular initially caught my attention the single vintage Belize 2008 and the single cask Fiji 2004.
The Fiji is finished in a Japanese plum liqueur cask and offers dark chocolate, hazelnuts, red and stone fruits.
Expect a full write up on the Belize as I have a sample to sit with and give my full attention to. Spoiler alert: It’s got a mouthwatering profile with great balance and complexity.
Another Whisky Exchange exclusive that we got a sneak preview of ahead of its release later this year was the Trinidad 2012 single cask bottle from Holmes Cay.
A rather challenging sip that I need to revisit – with a chewy profile of tannins, tarmac and leather alongside dried fruits, cardamom and treacle.
The Rum Show isn’t just great for discovering new bottles, but also new brands.
Kakira was a brand that I hadn’t heard of before the show but this distillery in Uganda is producing some really interesting liquid! Their gold rum had a sandy warmth with melon on the nose and a wonderful complex profile on the palate – treacle, ginger and liquorice. I’ll definitely be revisiting this one.
Another one from Planteray? Trust me, it’s worth it’s own call out.
Alexandre Gabriel rocked up to the show with a bag full of goodies (new and old) but the one that had all of the rum geeks talking was a high ester ‘monster’ of a rum from Barbados that is expected to release a bit later this year.
The Hogo Monsta can fill a room with its aroma! This is extraordinarily meaty with thick pineapple juices. Initially very drying this quickly has you salivating fruit gushers. Expect a full review of this closer to release!
Outlier came through once again with another rum that had me questioning whether my palate was up to the challenge of putting into words what I was tasting. A true “what is this” moment with the Mistral launched at the show.
I’ll be doing a proper write up where I try to put this into words.
And of course I couldn’t do a highlights post without including the new release from Hampden Estate with the newly launched 1731.
This has just the right amount of Jamaican funk for me and I’m really looking forward to sitting down with this in the next couple of weeks to do a tasting with a fresh palate.
