Rum
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Rum is one of the most exciting spirits categories at the moment and is undergoing a real revolution.
Our 2023 Spirits Awards showed that rum is no longer seen as a value spirit, consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for high-quality rums. The IWSC has seen increasing numbers of premium and super-premium rum enter its awards. The range of styles of rums we are seeing is developing too, with distilleries experimenting with new flavours, production methods, and ageing techniques.
IWSC: championing the Rum category
The 2023 was a year of rum at the IWSC Awards. We kickstarted the year announcing Richard Seale, CEO and master distiller of Foursquare Rum, as our 2023 industry champion, reinforcing the message of the ongoing rum renaissance. Working closely with Richard, we launched our Barbados Rum bursary – sponsoring a talented spirits communicator to attend Barbados Rum Experience. Moreover, our 2024 Spirits Communicator trophy has been awarded to Ian Burrell, an internationally recognised Rum Ambassador and our Head Judge for the Rum category.
Mixer Awards
Sponsored by Franklin & Sons - pioneers of top quality drinks and mixers since 1886, we created our Mixer Awards to crown the world's best spirits and mixer pairings.
If you are submitting rum to our judging, you can also enter your bottles into our Mixer Awards. The judges will be selecting the best rum & tonic and, new to 2024, the best rum & cola.
Ian Burrell is one of the most travelled figures in the drinks industry, conducting masterclasses and seminars, as well as judging spirits competitions on seven continents. In 2007, he created the world’s first international rum festival, the UK Rum Fest, inspiring the birth of rum festivals around the world. Seven years later, he broke the Guinness World Record for the largest organised rum tasting. In 2019, he was named the 23rd most influential person in the bar world by Drinks International.
Ian Burrell, IWSC Spirits Judging Committee
