The Caribbean’s most exclusive island is the new home of a major Caribbean rum event.

Caribbean Journal’s Caribbean Rum Awards, the region’s leading celebration of premium rums, is coming to St Barth from Nov. 6-10.

The second edition of the event will be highlighted by a panel of spirits experts judging some of the most exclusive rums on the planet.

Caribbean Journal is partnering on the event (which will join with the Saint Barth Rum Festival) with the Rhum Room, the largest Caribbean rum bar in the world, and its adjacent Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab.

It’s a new kind of festival for St Barth, long the gastronomic capital of the wider Caribbean.

“We are so excited to bring the Caribbean’s leading celebration of rum to an island that is the Caribbean capital of cool,” said Caribbean Journal Editor and Publisher Alexander Britell. “For years, Caribbean Journal’s Rum Journal has striven to place rum on its rightly-deserved pedestal — and that’s the point of this event — the field will be unlike any other rum festival out there, from some of the most exclusive molasses rums in the world to an unmatched slate of agricole rums.”

The four-day event will include an opening cocktail party on Nov. 5, followed by a full day of rum judging in Gustavia on Nov. 6.

The following day will see a distiller expo featuring a range of boutique Caribbean rum distilleries, while Nov. 8 will feature a Ti’ Punch hour.

The Caribbean Rum Awards will conclude on the evening of Nov. 9 with a rum-and-food pairing dinner helmed by Andrew Zarzosa of the renowned Yuzu Miami restaurant.

The Awards will be unique in the Caribbean, with a field of eight categories of molasses and agricole rums, highlighted by an “ultimate” rum category that will, for the first time in a rum competition, pit the Caribbean’s most rarefied rums against one another, from Ron del Barrilito Five-Star to Havana Club Maximo.

The field will also include six categories of rhum agricole, including Blanc, Blanc 50-degrees plus, VSOP, XO, Cask Finish and Hors d’age, including expressions from both Martinique and Guadeloupe.

There will also be a People’s Choice Panel that will include local rum experts and enthusiasts choosing their favorites from the field of rums in competition.

“We are so excited to be the new home of the Caribbean Rum Awards at the Saint Barth Rum Festival. Our format may not be typical of Rum competitions, but we think it is a great way to go,” said Christopher Davis, proprietor of the Rhum Room and Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab. “First, having an UBER Ultimate Rum category with the most prized Caribbean Rums is exciting; let’s see how these Big Boys play out in a heads up competition, huge bragging rights are at stake, Second, we are honored to have some great guests of Rhum Room flying in to be part of our People’s Choice Panel, rum/rhum/ron aficionados, tasting across all categories and choosing their overall favorite rum of the Festival. From my point of view it doesn’t get any better than this!”

Judges include a diverse range of rum and spirits experts, including Alexander Britell, Guy Britton, Peter Berntsen, Christopher Davis, Guy Ferdinand, Steven Shaw and Simons Chase.

“The panel of judges is comprised of outstanding rum and spirits experts, with the aim of creating an objective array of palates and tastes to give these rums the respect they deserve,” said Guy Britton, managing editor of Caribbean Journal. “And St Barth is the perfect place to do it.”

Caribbean Journal is partnering on the event with Tradewind Aviation, WIMCO, Les Ilets de la Plage, St Barth Properties and SC Capital.

For more, visit the Caribbean Rum Awards or email rum@caribjournal.com.

Quarter Kitchen & Cocktail Lab will be the host of the VIP dinner on Saturday. Nov. 9. For more information or reservations, please contact Hello@25sbh.com.

The event will be another boost for what is an already exciting week in St Barth, with the terrific St Barth Gourmet Festival, the region’s leading culinary event, which is now in its sixth year.

— CJ