Matt Pietrek

The West Indies Rum Distillery: Old Distillery, New Tricks | Distiller Magazine This historic Barbados rum maker enters a new chapter under the leadership of Maison Ferrand.

The American Distilling Institute asked me to write about the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados for their Distiller Magazine. An overview of the distillery's history, with a particular emphasis on what's new in 2017.

distilling.com/distillermag...

The Rum Never Sets Book Uncover 300 years of Royal Navy & London Dock rum in this thrilling dive into maritime history, myths, and the spirit that fueled an empire.

Land Ho!

We’re excited to share the arrival of our new book, The Rum Never Sets: 300 Years of Royal Navy & London Dock Rum, by me and Alexandre Gabriel.

An epic quest to uncover the untold truths behind three centuries of Royal Navy and London Dock rum.

www.wonkpress.com/products/the...

APPLETON ESTATE JAMAICA RUM UNVEILS THE LONGEST TROPICALLY AGED RUM EVER RELEASED: THE SOURCE 51-YEAR-OLD /PRNewswire/ -- Appleton Estate, the oldest continuously operating rum distillery in Jamaica and among the oldest rum distilleries in the world, proudly...

"The Source will be available to select global markets starting July 2025 and priced at $70,000 USD."

Well, now we know. 😊 

www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

1.5 oz pineapple is the new 4 oz.
I'm still sticking to Jamaica rum though. 😎

Hey NOLA friends! Or folks in New Orleans later this month for whatever reason... 😊

Come see me at the Arnaud's French 75 Bar on July 21st between 7 and 9 PM. More details in the post graphic!

So... here's a very interesting US TTB label approval: a (minimum) 51-year aged Appleton.

100% pot still, 62% ABV and 700ml. The label says "One of 25 Decanters" but that may just be for the US market.

Appleton is teasing a July 15th launch, and pricing isn't known, but surely will be $1000+.

YouTube video by WIRSPA WIRSPA Rum Makers Series: Marc Paul of Angostura

As the Community Envoy for the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association, I get to interview the folks making the Caribbean's best rums. In our sixth episode of WIRSPA's Rum Makers series, we chat with Marc Paul, Angostura's distillery manager.

Link to watch: youtu.be/GsWOA0ZEj9M?...

We use an iPostal location. They’ll receive your email. You can use the website to see what was sent, and optionally have it scanned. You can also have them ship your received items internationally.

My latest Rum Wonk newsletter story takes readers behind the curtain of independent rum bottlers, with some surprising twists. This infographic, which John Hsu of Raising Glasses created, is just the tip of the iceberg.

See RumWonk for the full story:
www.rumwonk.com/p/why-does-t...

#truth

My latest on the Rum Wonk Newsletter.

Additives in rum are a controversial topic. In this post, I present the regulations of 24 key rum-making regions regarding the matter. This infographic here is just part of the full story here:

www.rumwonk.com/p/rum-additi...

Wray & Nephew’s “Edwin Charley Proprietor’s Collection" from 2005. The four rums are: ‘Foundation’, ‘Transformation’, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Virtue’. The slender 700ml hand-blown Venetian glass bottles contain glass statuettes inside. Each symbolizes one of the steps in the rum-making process.

Fantastic find!

While Appleton Estate and 1749 are nearly synonymous, the brand itself only dates to 1944.

The brand was registered in the US in 1945, as seen here. The earliest use in Jamaica was 1944.

While "Appleton" previously appeared on Wray & Nephew labels, Appleton was a descriptor, not the brand itself.

Sugar Mill Rum first appeared in Jamaica circa 1961 and was the first column distilled Jamaica rum promoted as such. Jamaica's rum makers realized that they could no longer avoid using column stills. The brand's ownership is murky, but a 1972 W&N report suggests it owned the brand.

Tis true! 😎

Go on…. 🙂

Loved Matt's latest newsletter! Keep your agricole rhums out of my Mai Tai, please!

The Essential Tiki Rum Style That Disappeared The meaning of “Martinique rum” completely changed between the 1950s and today. Martinique rhum agricole wasn’t readily available to consumers in the 1950s, while today, it’s nearly impossible to find...

My latest from the Rum Wonk newsletter. How the meaning of "Martinique rum" changed over 50 years, why many tiki bartenders don't realize this, and (finally) a new rum that may be a reasonable sub in golden era recipes.

www.rumwonk.com/p/essential-...

Reason #11,843 to not trust AI generated answers. (As if you needed more.)

There are plenty of beloved recipes that use an ounce or more of Angostura. For the answer, i.e., "nope", see this Cocktail Wonk article:

cocktailwonk.com/2019/10/too-...

Nods in the direction of TDL/Angostura.

Yep. That's what I was going for when I wrote, "Replacing the retorts with a short, plated column can have a similar effect. Each plate acts like a small retort, albeit with much less purification power."

I've also come to (in essence) think of a chamber still as a vertically stacked retort still.

When is a Column Still Not a Column Still? Hybrid stills are often mislabeled as column stills, confusing consumers and competitions—true column stills enable continuous, not batch, distillation.

The confusion about what constitutes a "column still" isn't just an idle curiosity. It can affect spirts competition results, and who gets a medal. My latest on the (always free) Rum Wonk newsletter.

www.rumwonk.com/p/when-is-a-...

While 80% discount sounds great, it's still hard to get customers to order when shipping costs are more than the products cost, especially when they think it's us inflating the prices.

A peak into the insanity of shipping companies.

These are the charges to send a 9 lb. from New Orleans to the UK via UPS. If we'd walked into the UPS store as a retail customer, we'd pay $323! But since we have a UPS account, it's "only" $60 -- less than 20% of what retail customers pay. (1/2)

Indexes are awesome! Even if 99% of today’s readers are oblivious to using them, we include them in our books.

I’m enjoying a Southern Slope, albeit with rum rather than bourbon. Used a little navy-style infinity bottle I’ve got going.

It's an almost daily question in the rum groups, "Where are the best places to buy rum in the Caribbean?"

My latest Rum Wonk posts address the topic in a two-part series, including tips on getting it all home and duty-free limits.

www.rumwonk.com/p/good-place...

www.rumwonk.com/p/good-place...

Haha - Exactly what I’d have said.

Tell me about it. NuMega built debuggers and related tools for Itanium. Dealing with, and generating code for its weird-ass instruction set, was one the biggest technical headaches of my career.