If you were one of the lucky ones to attend this year, you walked into a world of fun. A kaleidoscope of color, music, and flavors greeted the throngs of attendees, VIPs, and cane spirits lovers. Premium and ultra premium rums, cachacas, and cocktails of endless variety were plentiful to sip at decorated booths alongside unique and flavorful liqueurs and mixers, with models and dancers resplendent in bright slips of costume. According to Robin Burr, co-creator and co-producer of the event with her husband Robert, “We really want to keep the event fresh and constantly developing, so we created a Trade Only Day this year. Industry people from all aspects were in attendance, with representatives from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. Robin adds, “The initial feedback immediately following the Festival is that the Trade component was extremely productive. Folks like Wild Geese Soldiers and Heroes Rum, based in London, were ecstatic as they had some great inquiries during the first 2 hours! They are looking for an importer and distribution and they informed me they are well on their way through some great leads during Trade hours. And, immediately following the Trade portion of the show, one of their two expressions took home a Gold Medal at the RumXP Competition in the Gold Category, at the Awards Ceremony. This gave them a huge boost in recognition for the remainder of the show.”
That was one of the highlights of this year’s Miami Rum Festival, to experience and taste so many new rums from small producers to the largest corporations. I like seeing some of the gold medals go to small brand new producers as well as to traditional existing companies. Brand new young blenders were rewarded for their efforts, as well as, one of the greatest of all times, Don “Pancho” Fernandez - a blender of rums for over 50 years and a 25-year blender of “Havana Club” in Cuba. And, I couldn’t leave without a bottle of Phil Prichard’s newest Spiced Rum. Robert V. Burr summed the Festival up perfectly. “Rum is fun and Miami is an attractive destination for fun people. We enjoy high quality cocktail bars and drink venues in trendy neighborhoods, interspersed among fabulous restaurants and nightlife destinations that reflect the exotic multi-cultural fabric of our population. It’s rum, fun and sun with good friends.” I can vouch for that. Rum is fun!
For further information, contact: Robert A. Burr Miami Rum Festival rob@MiamiRumFest.com MiamiRumFest.com
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