The Ultimate Awards’ First Blind Rum Tasting Results Are Out

As part of the celebration of Puerto Rico’s International Rum Festival, Taste of Rum, The Ultimate Awards held its first blind tasting, “2023 Best Caribbean Rum.” The event gathered local and international experts in the industry, who had the “difficult” task of meticulously judging the distillates.

The Puerto Rico Convention Center was the venue chosen by The Ultimate Awards to conduct the tasting. Moreover, Javier Berberena—a veteran in the industry with vast experience running competitions for the WSET in the Caribbean—was in charge of spearheading the event. 

The panel of judges consisted of

• Javier Berberena – Diploma WSET, Advanced Level 3 WSET Spirits, Certified Wine Educator, Certified Spirit Educator WSET 
• Joe Cabassa – Regional Brand Ambassador & Luxury Hospitality Lead – Caribbean The Macallan, WSET Certified Level 3 Spirits Educator, Edinburgh Whisky Academy Educator
• Bryan Inman – Social Media Influencer a.k.a TheRumChampion, North American Influencer of the Year 2022
• Federico J. Hernández – Founder of TheRumLab.com.
• Chef Ventura Vivoni – Celebrity Culinary Chef in Puerto Rico.
• Miguel Agrait – Co-Founder of TheRumLab, Rum Expert, and Historian.
• Travis Miller – Avid rum collector & Ambassador of the Florida Rum Society.
• Susanna Cortezon-Kaiser – Diploma Level 2 WSET Spirits, expert in spirit aging and raw materials, International Sales Manager – Lafitte Bartop

Joe Cabassa shared his experience, adding a fresh and modern approach to the competition:

“You as a judge should think that the producer or creator of the spirits has put their heart into trying to create the best rum. For them, their rums will have five points. Now, with this in mind, think about whether you would keep it as is or make some changes. Based on the changes you would like to see, you start deducting points. If you are skeptical about a spirit, also give it the opportunity to smell it and taste it with some added drops of water.”

In addition, two special guests joined the panel: Henry Delgado, a Social Media Content Creator & News Photographer, and Shane Conrad, better known as @jetsetconrad a Social Media influencer from Los Angeles. They assisted the judges during the tasting.

Tasting rum is more complex than we might think. The main goal is to build a profile for each sample. In this sense, the panel commended each rum’s unique notes: 

1. Nose (Aromas): The nose, or aroma, is the initial smell of the rum and is where most of the flavor comes from. 
2. Mouth (Palate): The palate is the actual taste of the rum. After you have nosed it, you should take a small sip and let it linger on the tongue. Try to look past any initial alcohol burn and note any distinct flavors. Then, continue to take small sips to pinpoint unique flavors.
3. Complexity (Layers): Complexity refers to how many different notes and flavor compositions can be detected. A great rum will be multidimensional. “Here is where you get descriptors of flavor profiles like butterscotch, wood, vanilla, toffee,  tobacco, etc. The more of those flavors you can taste, the more complex.” Javier Berberena said.
4. Final (Length): The finish is what lingers on the tongue after taking a sip. What flavors stand out and what ones fade away? Is it a long finish or a short one?

The Ultimate Awards is trying to disrupt the traditional spirit competition system. Firstly, it is offering a cost-effective subscription model that allows all spirit brands to compete. Secondly, the system will launch its own rating system using a hybrid of stars and points. Stars range from 1 to 6, which breaks the traditional 5-star system used today. Each spirit obtains a certain number of points equivalent to a grade. Based on the grade obtained, they are awarded a specific type of star.

Here’s how The Ultimate Awards’ grading and rating system looks like: 

Grade	Rating
95	6
85	5.5
75	5
65	4.5
55	4
45	3.5
35	3
25	2.5
15	2
5	1
0	0

As a highlight, NEAT Glass was the glassware used during the blind tasting.

Results of The 2023 Best Caribbean Rum – Blind Tasting Competition

In this first edition, the judges required that six or more rum brands participated per category. After the evaluation of the samples, here are the results: 

The Ultimate Awards – Professional Blind Tasting: Rums Aged 1 – 3 Years

• Ron Pepón Añejo – Ron Agrícola (Puerto Rico) – 5.0 Stars
• Carjaker’s Handcrafted Rum (Puerto Rico) – 5.0 Stars
• Crab Island Rum 3 años (Puerto Rico) – 4.5 Stars
• Plantation 3 Stars (Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica) – 4.5 Stars
• Crab Island Rum (Puerto Rico) – 4.0 Stars
• Ron Artesano Blanco (Puerto Rico) – 3.5 Stars

The Ultimate Awards – Professional Blind Tasting: Rums Aged 4 – 7 Years

• Don Q Reserva 7  (Puerto Rico) – 5.0 Stars
• Scryer Cask-Seasoned  (Barbados & Aged in Puerto Rico) – 5.0 Stars
• Plantation Rum Barbados 6 yr Port Cask (Barbados & Aged in Barbados & France) – 5.0 Stars
• Bonampak Dark Rum – Double Cask Aging (Mexico) – 4.5 Stars
• Deadhead Rum (Mexico) – 4.5 Stars
• Don Q Double Aged Sherry Cask Finish (Puerto Rico) – 4.0 Stars
• Ron Artesano Añejo (Puerto Rico) – 4.0 Stars

The Ultimate Awards – Professional Blind Tasting: Rums Aged 8+ Years

• Plantation Rum Jamaica VRW 2009 Orange Wine Cask (Jamaica & Aged in Jamaica & France) – 5.5 Stars
• Myrtle Bank Jamaican Rum – 10 Year Single Cask Rum – Tiki Blend (Jamaica) – 5.5 Stars
• Plantation Rum Barbados 2011 Maury Wine Cask (Barbados & Aged in Barbados & France) – 5.0 Stars
• Casa BACARDÍ Special Reserve (Puerto Rico) – 5.0 Stars
• Don Q Gran Reserva XO (Puerto Rico) – 4.5 Stars
• BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho Rye Cask Finish (Puerto Rico) – 4.5 Stars
• Plantation Single Cask Trinidad 2008 (Trinidad & Aged in Trinidad & France) – 4.5 Stars
• Flor De Caña 18 (Nicaragua) – 4.5 Stars
• Ron Cofiño Aniversario 18 (Santo Domingo) – 4.5 Stars
• BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho (Puerto Rico) – 4.5 Stars

Taste of Rum – Judges 1st Place Winners

• Rums Aged 1 – 3 Years – Ron Pepón Añejo – Ron Agrícola
• Rums Aged 4 – 7 Years – Don Q Reserva 7
• Rums Aged 8+ Years – Plantation Rum Jamaica VRW 2009 Orange Wine Cask

The winners won a digital STAR image and a two-year license to use the digital image of the award on their bottles, official websites, and other marketing materials. The Ultimate Awards team feels happy and satisfied with how this first blind tasting turned out, as well as thankful that so many great brands trusted them enough to participate in the competition. The platform is now penciling in what will be its biggest competition later in the fall of 2023.

Congratulations to the 2023 Best Caribbean Rums!