Rum Renaissance Seminars

Saturday, November 11

Miami Rum Fest Seminar Day 

Marriott Courtyard Coral Gables
2051 South Le Jeune Road • Coral Gables, FL. 33134

Attend a stellar line-up of great seminars by leading professionals involved in state-of-the-art rum production. One ticket allows attendance at all seminars. $89 in advance, $99 at the door.

Seating is limited and will likely sell out in advance.

noon to 12:45pm

Team Bacardí Blenders

Established in Cuba in 1862, Bacardí presents a worldwide dominance that sets the standard for rum — or any spirit. Bacardí has assembled a group of talented experts on their master blending team, lead by Astrophel (Troy) Arquiza, along with Oscar Garza, Noidys Herrera Perez and Gustavo Méndez Santos.

This a vibrant, multicultural, gender-diverse, and multinational team comes together from all corners of the globe. These are the unsung heroes behind Bacardi’s legendary rum. These remarkable individuals bring diverse professional backgrounds and have held various roles within the company, making them the true architects of Bacardi’s excellence.

Go inside this massive organization to the heart of the decision making process and meet the masters of rum blending that oversee worldwide production, initiating a process of thoroughly investigating and qualifying innovations in the product line to ensure that they meet the highest standards for aroma, taste and quality at Bacardí.

1:30 to 2:15pm

Legacy and Future Production at Barbancourt – Haiti

Established in Haiti in 1862, this legendary spirit set a new standard for rhum production when Dupré Barbancourt established his cane spirit production company near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. With a style and techniques borrowed from fine Cognac production in France, he altered history and Haitian culture in a profound manner and set a new standard of quality for Caribbean rhum production.

Now in the fifth generation of leadership, the company continues to thrive, evolve and retain its legendary status under the direction of Delphine Nathalie Gardère, daughter of master producer Thierry Gardére. With extensive training and experience as a perfumier in Europe, Delphine brings uniquely focused talents and a decisive management style to the company, signaling a new era of quality, innovation and consistency for the brand.

Vladimir de Delva, Barbancourt’s master distiller, who worked under Thierry Gardère for 10 years, presently oversees the continuation of their age-old traditions and recipes, while also spearheading the company’s latest innovations. Vladimir will present the brand’s core line of award winning dark rums and walk us through the process of creating the one true Haitian rum.

3:00 to 3:45pm

National Rums of Jamaica – Long Pond and Clarendon

Perhaps no island evokes the spirit of rum better than Jamaica, with a history of supplying spirits for the British Navy by legendary purveyors and producers centuries ago. In the modern era, lead by Chief Executive Officer Martha Miller, the National Rums of Jamaica Limited carries on this tradition with production facilities at Long Pond, Innswood and Clarendon.

These venerable Jamaican facilities have produced traditional spirits with consistency over the decades and the centuries, such as Monymusk and Long Pond rum brands. With newfound interest among sophisticated consumers, and steadily increasing demand for their products worldwide, Long Pond and Monymusk are challenged to meet demand, but National Rums of Jamaica’s management is ready to meet these challenges — and more — with strategic partnerships and infrastructure improvements, while retaining their unique traditions of Jamaican techniques and styles.

Meet CEO Martha Miller and learn about the history, the evolution and the future of these iconic Jamaica production facilities and brands; joined on the panel by Robert Gordon, Senior Blender and Quality Assurance Manager; and Kimberly Williams, Quality Analyst and Junior Blender.

4:30 to 5:15pm

The Grand Experiment in Terroir – Renegade Rum in Grenada

Perhaps then most innovative rum production facility in the world is located in Grenada. Renegade Rum, and their unique CaneCo agricultural development company work hand in hand to produce the perfect cane crops on eleven different farms along the east coast of Granada. Each field within each farm has a particular terroir and a specifically optimal cane variety chosen to produce the very best juice for that plot of land.

Every batch of cane is crushed, fermented and distilled separately. The result is a cornucopia of varied DNA in the fresh cane rums, a literal reflection of the field and farm from which they originated. The results are fascinating, varied and delightful to savor. The next step is aging these unique expressions, and the initial results are nothing less than extraordinary.

Meet terroir expert Dr. Dustin Herb and learn about the talented team that created this amazing fresh cane rum experimental production facility in the Eastern Caribbean — then sample the results to date… a noble production of spirits that are truly immutable reflections of the bounty of Grenada.