Miami Rum Congress reveals 2022 schedule

The Miami Rum Congress will return to Florida this week featuring seminars covering sustainability, brand building and predictions for the category.

Educational platform The Rum Lab will host the Miami Rum Congress on 11 and 12 March after it was pushed back from its original dates in February.

The rum festival will be held at the Hilton Cabana Miami Beach hotel in Florida. The third annual event is the result of a collaboration between The Rum Lab, based in the US, and the UK’s Rum Fest.

Miami Rum Congress, founded by Rum Lab’s Federico Hernandez and Rum Fest founder Ian Burrell, will feature a selection of premium rum brands from across the world, along with a programme of tastings and seminars.

Together, Hernandez and Burrell have more than 25 years of experience in the global rum industry.

“I’m extremely excited for this event as Miami is a key market that joins both Anglo-Saxon and Latinos to enjoy premium rum in one place,” said Hernandez. “The Miami Rum Congress is probably the most important rum event in the Americas, and I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings us.”

2022 programme

Day one of the festival will open with registration and welcome cocktails, presented by Thrashers Rum, at 11am to 11.30am CT.

The first seminar will cover ‘Two decades of rum – A timeline of rum’s rise’, featuring rum writer Matt Pietrek, Plantation Rum brand ambassador Paul McFadyen, and Carsten Vlierboom, master rum blender of E&A Scheer.

Visitors will also be to learn about how to build a global rum brand in a seminar hosted by Maison Ferrand founder Alexandre Gabriel, spirits educator Shannon Mustipher, Spiribam national brand manager Kiowa Bryan, and Chase Babcock, founder of Saint Benevolence rum.

Other seminars on 11 March will cover the category’s supply chain, predictions for rum, sustainability trends and the movement towards cane juice.

The following day will feature a VIP Grand Tasting Experience, a general admission tasting session, as well as a trade event for industry professionals.

Rob Mccaughey, USA business development manager – spirits for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), will host a rum seminar following the WSET technique at 2.30pm CT.

The Maison Ferrand team will hold a seminar on its West Indies Rum Distillery and the ‘important files and formulas’ they discovered in a vault, while Eduardo Pineda, CEO of Rones de México Distillery, will conclude the day with an exploration of Mexican rums.

Ticket prices for the Miami Rum Congress are priced between US$45 and US$180.

The Rum Lab’s next event, the Chicago Rum Festival, is due to be held on 30 April at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago, Illinois.