Deep Rum Insights

Rum is much more than just tasting notes and the hottest new releases. Rum Wonk takes you behind the scenes of the rum world, exploring topics rarely covered elsewhere.

Since starting the acclaimed Cocktail Wonk site, I’ve written hundreds of rum stories, including deep dives into rum production techniques, exposing flaws in categorization, the science of rum flavor, debunking historical myths, and explaining geographical indications, aka “the rules of rum.” In 2022, I poured this rum knowledge into Modern Caribbean Rum, an 850-page book on today’s rum producers and associated rum industry.

However, the Cocktail Wonk site has never been solely rum-focused. I’ve also covered other topics, including bourbon, Scotch whisky, and most notably, Tiki cocktails. One of these latter articles became the forerunner of our Minimalist Tiki book.

Unlike the Cocktail Wonk site, the Rum Wonk Substack is entirely about rum. Rather than content you can find elsewhere like bottle reviews or press releases, Rum Wonk features think pieces, historical insights, and informed commentary on the latest rum world happenings. In general, stories assume the reader is well-versed in the basics of rum and desires to go deeper.

Eventually, some posts may be for paid subscribers, but currently all content is freely available to show what Rum Wonk is about.

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