She’s the Midwest Market Manager for SPIRIBAM – a company who represents, markets, and distributes for the producers of some of the world’s finest Caribbean rums of Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Guadeloupe. Before landing in the rum world, she was running bars and restaurants in Chicago and has always had a love for spirits, wine and cocktails.

I fell in love with rum when I found a bottle of Rhum Clément Premiere Canne in a bar I worked at, tried it and was completely confused and blown away. That’s when I knew I needed to learn much more about agricole rhum, as well as the entirety of the rum category. I also loved the way it worked in cocktails, adding a unique, grassy funk that worked with many different ingredients.

So many things! What drives me in the rum industry is the fact that there is so much to learn about rum. Beyond that, I believe there is much to uncover and clear up as there is a lot of misinformation out there that has been floating around, sometimes since the 1800’s. Much is second, third, fourth-hand information that ends up being like the game of telephone. Navigating it all can be pretty difficult! What I strive to do is stay focused on the brands we work with at SPIRIBAM, be as educated on them as the people operating the distilleries, and be completely transparent about our processes and r(h)ums. Most importantly, what keeps me going is sharing my passion, my bosses and co-workers’ passion, knowledge, and our pride and belief in our spirits with the world. Every time I convert a whiskey drinker to rum, I believe a (very rhum drunk) angel gets their wings.  Also, the r(h)ums definitely do not suck.

My favorite drink is the classic daiquiri. I would assume this is most people’s answer for The Rum Lab! It is so simple, anyone can make it and I really love seeing how people create theirs and even put their own spin on it. Bitters, split base, type of sugar, etc. can lend for some delicious creations. But on my deserted island, my build would be…

2oz Rhum Clément Canne Bleue
1oz fresh lime juice
0.5oz Rhum J.M Sirop
Shaken, served up.
You thought I was going to say Ti’ Punch didn’t you?

Today, the rum industry is pretty incredible. For so many different countries doing different styles of rums with various stills, sources of molasses, strains of sugar cane & yeast, aging processes, dosage, etc. for so long, there has been a call to action for more clarity and honesty from rum brands. In America at least, most everyone has the whisk(e)y game down. Once these educated drinkers get their hands on a rum product that blows their mind, they are immediately intrigued to learn more and try different rums. They realize that those 15 rum and cokes they had in college one night didn’t ruin the entirety of the category for life. In 5 more years, it won’t just be the rum-heads demanding more transparency from brands, it will be the consumers as well. It is our job to show them the way.

I would love to see more transparency and diplomacy within the rum industry. There have been some very passionate egos leading the way for rum over the past 30 or so years. The way to reach the buyers & consumers is putting the ego aside. The rum category has been the Wild West, with very few guidelines to follow outside of the Martinique AOC. Just because brands do things differently does not make the product better or worse. It’s sort of like saying, “he wasn’t better, he was just….different…” We are all in this crazy world of rum together and should be lifting each other up, while at the same time raising quality, standards and holding one another accountable. This in-turn will create a more reliable, consistent category for the premium rums to shine.

I’m sorry this is going to be very biased because these are my children…

a. Sipping a premium rum for the 1st time
Rhum Clément VSOP

b. Likes Scotch Whisky
Chairman’s Reserve Forgotten Casks Rum

c. Likes Bourbon
Rhum Clément Select Barrel

d. Likes Gin or Vodka
Rhum Clément Canne Bleue or Bounty White Rum

e. Likes Cognac
Rhum J.M XO

Cristiana DeLucca has been a mentor to me before she even knew she was. I sat at her bar, The Drawing Room, way back in the day in Chicago many times before we ended up working together more recently. She mainly knew me as “Pinkerton with the inappropriate jokes,” I’m sure… But she is the one that made me fall in love with spirits, cocktails and standards of service behind the bar. She embodies the knowledge, creativity and care that takes guest experiences to the next level. The greatest thing I learned from her was, “We never stop learning.” It’s a humble approach to take as a leader in your industry, and a very important concept to embody, especially in the rum world.

Benjamin Jones is the US Director for SPIRIBAM, and has introduced me to and helped me navigate the rum industry and our brands over the past year. As a descendant of Homère Clément (Ben’s Great Uncle and father of agricole rhum), the rhum life was in his blood, but it was not just handed to him. He worked his way through the beverage industry before finding his ultimate destiny in spreading the knowledge and passion of agricole rhum in the US. Today we see many agricole-style rhums popping up in the market that are catching fire rather quickly, but for over 10 years Ben has been preaching the good word, creating a solid team and basis of knowledge of rhum for the restaurant industry professionals and consumers. “Pushing a boulder up a mountain,” as I believe he referred to it. He also has set a great example on the diplomacy front for shaping how we present our brands and respect our competitors at the same time. I didn’t mention how fun he is because EVERYONE already knows that.

Get. Back. To. Saint. Lucia. I cannot stress enough how incredible Saint Lucia Distillers is, how kind and knowledgeable the staff is, and how vibrant and fun the Lucians are. We have the ability at this distillery to create our own category of rum, and experiment in so many different ways with products and brands. I’m very excited to share my little piece of Saint Lucia with the world.

I would also like to start expanding my knowledge on different brands. There are some really great resources out there who hunt down the information, travel the world of rum and share their knowledge with the rest of the rum-heads. These people are the reliable sources I use, and who are shaping the future of rum.

Way off topic, but I want to visit Tasmania around January. I’m also a fan of whisky, so ever since my first sip of Tasmanian Whisky, I’ve read up on Tasmania and follow too many Tasmanian tourism accounts on instagram. Whowants to join?

If you’re ever in Martinique, we’d love to offer you a tour of the distilleries! You’ll need a full day for each (Rhum JM & Distillerie du Simone/Habitation Clément), but both are worth the drive & time. Get the Jurassic Park theme song cued up for your drive into Rhum JM! We harvest & distill January-July so that’s the best time if you want to see it in action.

We also offer tours in Saint Lucia at Saint Lucia Distillers, where you can see what a craft distillery looks like in the middle of paradise! With our Vendome, two John Dore pot stills and a continuous still, we distill year-round so, come on down!