The Art of the Blend: Diplomatico Rum & Real Rum Experience
On Friday I had the chance to head along to a fantastic event put on by the Real Rum Experience (Diplomatico Rum – Meet the Maker – The Art of the Blend). This was one I’d been really excited about for a while and it absolutely delivered!
The evening kicked off with a delicious cocktail made using Diplomatico Mantuano and a chance to chat with fellow rum enthusiasts as we speculated about what the evening might have in store!
Enter Diplomatico’s Maestro Ronero, Nelson Hernández.
Having the opportunity to listen to Nelson talk about the blending process was genuinely fascinating. You could feel the pride and passion he has for the craft, and it was brilliant to get that kind of insight straight from the man behind the blends.
After a guided tasting through some of Diplomatico’s core range of rums (Planas, Mantuano and Reserva Exclusiva), it was time to have a go at creating our own blend. We stated by familiarising ourselves with 3 of the different distillates – with each still lending a unique flavour profile.
The highlight for me though had to be the blending experience as we made use of pipettes and measuring cylinders to carefully craft our own blend – tasting and adjusting until it was just right! The whole thing felt a bit like being back in a science lesson at school, but with much better subject matter and a far tastier output too!!
Once we were happy with our blends it was time to bottle them and come up with a name for our blend. In a nod to Nelson I called mine “TRD Hernandez”. This take home of my own blend made for a great keepsake from a wonderful evening and I’m sure I’ll be sharing my tasting notes with you soon!
As a very special treat we enjoyed a final special pour of the Diplomatico Ambassador – I’ll be sharing some tasting notes for this in a separate post soon!!
With the blending masterclass and tasting parts of the evening now finished we had the chance to have a cocktail, chat and a cheeky selfie with Nelson.
