The Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth, the region’s leading celebration of fine rum, is set for the first week of November. 

This year’s fourth annual edition of the Caribbean Rum Awards will be held from Nov. 2-7, with an unmatched collection of rum and rhum agricole and a slate of marvelous rum experiences.

The festival includes the rum competition, a series of master classes, tastings and special events, along with several gastronomic rum-pairing dinners at the Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab, the island’s hottest restaurant. 

“We are back in St Barth for the fourth edition of an unparalleled global celebration of rum,” said Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal and co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awards. “From the Caribbean’s leading rum makers to rum expressions you simply won’t find anywhere else, this is a must-visit experience for all rum lovers.” 

It’s all focused at the Rhum Room, home to the largest selection of fine rhum of any bar in the world, led by international rum expert Christopher Davis. 

“We look forward to a new season and the 4^th Annual Caribbean Rum Awards.  We are increasing the Master Classes by world-renowned rum producers to provide more education to the ever-hungry rum collectors and amateurs alike,” said Christopher Davis, proprietor of the Rhum Room and co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awrads and St Barth Rum Festival. “This year we will be adding more days to the event in order to accommodate the demand from last year and the enquiries for this year.  We will also have a Rum Cocktail competition featuring the best bartenders on St Barth as last year the audience was limited due to restrictions so we anticipate a much bigger and more festive event this year. We are also giving our local Rhum Arrangé producers a day to exhibit their unique St Barth rhum flavors where the visitors will be able to sample and purchase from their collections.  Please reserve tickets to the events, rum & cigar pairings and Rum Dinners early as we have very limited space.”

The event headlined by the Caribbean Rum Awards themselves, which bring an international panel of judges for a blind tasting of the Caribbean’s greatest rums. 

And then there’s Accutron Rum Expo, which gathers some of the most sought-after rums in the world for a free tasting event to the public.

This year’s CRA will also bring back the People’s Choice Panel is accepting applications for non-professional rum fans to join and sample-judge-award a People’s Choice winner from a group of world-class rums. (To apply please send an email to Christopher@RhumRoom.com to be considered).

Last year’s Caribbean Rum Awards was the only global in-person rum competition of 2020, held in November 2020 in Gustavia. 

The 2020 competition was dominated by Puerto Rico’s Ron del Barrilito and Martinique’s Rhum Neisson, which each took home two Double Gold medals. 

This year’s CRA will again include Uber-Premium categories in both Molasses Rum and Rhum Agricole, both featuring rum groupings never before seen at any other rum festival.

Attendees can sample an extraordinary selection of rums, meet with distillers, enjoy rum and cocktail events, taste fine cigars and enjoy the glamour of the Caribbean’s most luxurious destination. 

This year’s edition is presented by WIMCO Villas, Tradewind Aviation, Accutron and Les Ilets de la Plage.

WIMCO is the official villa rental company of the Caribbean Rum Awards, and Tradewind Aviation is the official airline of the event. 

The event comes as the island is seeing soaring visitor arrivals since reopening for tourism in June — even in the lighter summer season, the island’s villas had their highest occupancy for June since 2008. 

“St Barth is buzzing again,” said Stiles Bennet, president and CEO of WIMCO. “Last week saw the opening of Atelier Joel Robuchon, making the restaurant scene more exciting than ever. Sophisticated travelers are flocking to the island this summer. In early November, we are already seeing a 55% occupancy rate for the week of the Caribbean Rum Awards, Nov 1-7. We are thrilled to support this gastronomic event which is being expanded this year to include multiple rum and food paring dinners. It should be a great week to visit the island.”

For distillers looking to participate in the event or competition, contact rum@caribjournal.com. 

For tickets, visit the Caribbean Rum Awards Eventbrite. 

For any other information, visit the Caribbean Rum Awards. 

— CJ