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Happy holidays and New Year (in advance), everyone!

In our fifth (!) annual Year in Review episode we take a look back at our favorite rums of the year in the following categories:

Unaged molasses rum

Unaged cane juice rum

Aged rum (5 years or less)

Aged rum (Over 5 years)

“New to me” rum

Best value rum

Most surprising rum

Overall rum

Plus, we each throw in picks for Distillery of the Year and Bottler of the Year, along with another round of "Am I the a**hole for being lower on this rum?" and another classic rum-themed holiday tune from John Gulla.

Have a listen, and let us know your favorites in these categories from the past year! Also, what did we miss? What were we too high or low on? We'd love to hear your takes.

The List (Spoilers Ahead!)

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Unaged Rum (Molasses):

Will: Pelée’s Fury Martinique Grand Arôme Rum from Raising Glasses

John: Pelée’s Fury Martinique Grand Arôme Rum from Raising Glasses

Unaged Rum (Cane Juice):

Will: Alambique Serrano — Cartier 30

John: Alambique Serrano — Cartier 30

Aged Rum (5 Years or Less):

Will: Hampden Estate Great House 2024

John: Ghana 2020 from Down Island Spirits

Aged Rum (Over 5 Years):

Will: Fiji 2012 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier

John: Cambodia 2016 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier

“New to Me” Rum:

Will: O Reizinho Limited Edition White Rum

John: The category of UK Rum

Value Rum:

Will: Shakara 12-Year

John: Shakara 12-Year

Most Surprising Rum:

Will: Unaged Rum from Line 44 Distillery

John: Ten To One Five Origin Select

“Am I the A**hole?" Rum:

Will: El Dorado High Ester Blend

John: El Dorado High Ester Blend

Overall Rum:

Will: Alambique Serrano Blend #3: Matadiablo

John: Fiji 2012 Flag Series Rum from La Maison & Velier

Distillery of the Year:

Will: Krassel Family Distillery (Alambique Serrano / Cañada)

John: Krassel Family Distillery (Alambique Serrano / Cañada)

Bottler of the Year:

Will: Raising Glasses

John: La Maison & Velier

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Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.

We're back with another entry in our semi-blind reviews series — but yet again with a twist! In this mystery sample edition, both of us have no idea what the identity of this rum is as we review it. Along the way, we offer our best guesses as to the rum's origin and key characteristics.

This time, it's a 13-year-old rhum agricole from Isautier Distillery in Réunion Island bottled by Swell de Spirits.

Rum specs:

Bottler: Swell de Spirits

Origin: Réunion Island

Distillery: Isautier

Base material: Cane juice

Distillation: Column

Age: 13 years

Cask: Ex-Cognac

ABV: 59.4%

A special thank you to Rumcast patron Ben for providing the mystery sample.

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Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.

In this episode, we went inside a brand new distillery in a rarely explored rum origin of the Caribbean — Dominica (not the Dominican Republic). Rosalie Bay Distilling is a unique operation that is producing rum from sugarcane juice supplied by 80+ local farmers, and contributing 100% of its profits toward conservation efforts that protect sea turtles, coral reef, whales, and more.

We got to sit down with Kernean George (head distiller), Marcella Harris (conservationist and board member of Dominica Sea Turtle Conservation Organization), and Brett Steigerwaldt (distillery advisor and head distiller at Lyon Rum) to learn about Rosalie Bay from a variety of angles, including:

How a chance encounter at a Maryland rum distillery sparked Rosalie Bay Distilling

A brief history of rum production in Dominica, and why it differs from neighboring islands Martinique and Guadeloupe

Kernean's journey from not drinking rum to becoming a head rum distiller

How Rosalie Bay developed its style of cane juice rum

What it's like to source cane from 80+ local farmers

The unique terroir of Dominica

The dangers to sea turtles, coral reef, and sperm whales — and how the distillery funds efforts to protect them

And much more!

Links to things mentioned during the episode:

You can order bottles of Rosalie Bay via Raising Glasses (it's also currently available in Massachusetts retail stores)

Rosalie Bay's website

Oceans Forward's website

The Last Turtle documentary (available on YouTube)

National Geographic's Secrets of the Whales docuseries (episode 4 features Dominica's sperm whales)