Rum Wonk 2023 Year In Review
AKA, The Best of the Best
One of my traditions over ten years of writing about rum and cocktails is highlighting noteworthy stories from the prior year. While it might seem self-serving, the daily hailstorm of new content combined with people tuning out of social media makes it all too easy for my readers to miss content they’d enjoy. Whether you’re a longtime reader of my work or just recently found me via a Google search result, consider looking at the five stories below that garnered the most interest in 2023.
I’m gratified that three of the five are deep dives written for serious enthusiasts. It suggests there’s solid interest in rum writing that goes beyond banal listicles (“Six Top Rums for Taylor Swift Fans”) or regurgitating the latest press release (“[Minor Celebrity] ’s New Brand Aims to Elevate Rum.”) If you’re looking for the polar opposite of ChatGPT content, look no further than Rum Wonk stories.
Note: click on the article title or the image below it to jump to the associated story.
The Fallacy of “White Rum”
In today’s modern era, there’s no excuse for using “white rum” as a legitimate category:
The bedrock problem with using white rum as a category is that colorless rums encompass several well-defined styles that aren’t the same nor interchangeable … Imagine an article titled 12 Best Brown Whiskies for an Old Fashioned, where the selections include bourbons, ryes, single malt Scotches, and Canadian, Irish, and Japanese whiskies. It sounds preposterous…
Esters, Volatile Compounds, and Congeners - What’s the Difference?
Rum geeks like to obsess over esters and ester levels. But focusing only on esters is like listening to only the isolated guitar track from Stairway to Heaven. There are better ways to quantify the flavors in distilled spirits, and some brands now embrace the idea on their labels.
Appleton Estate’s “Legend” 17-Year Rum
I’ve been obsessed with the Wray & Nephew 17-Year rum for over a decade. So when Appleton finally released their long-awaited Legend, stated as replicating the legendary W&N 17’s flavor, I published this story within 60 seconds of its launch. Naturally, my coverage went far astray from the PR-promoted narrative regarding the Legend release.
The Many Myths of Smith & Cross
Setting the record straight regarding cherished beliefs gets me moving in the morning. While Smith & Cross is among the most influential rums of the past 20 years, a slew of misinformation constantly spreads around it. This article dismantles many misconceptions about it, including:
It’s not navy strength as the Royal Navy defined it.
It’s not high ester within the context of the Jamaican rum universe.
It’s not made at Hampden Estate.
It’s not solely a blend of Plummer- and Wedderburn-style rums.
Inside Jamaica’s Worthy Park Rum Distillery
A 2016 trip to Jamaica’s rum distilleries changed my life’s trajectory. Nearly 8 years later, I returned to Jamaica knowing far more about Jamaican rum production. This time, my focus was photographing the lesser-known but vital aspects of each distillery’s rum-making process. I shared photos and backstories for Long Pond, Hampden, and Clarendon as Rum Work stories, but my Worthy Park post garnered the most attention.
Subscriber Growth
In its first full year, my subscriber count (free and paid) nearly tripled, climbing from 482 to 1365 subscribers.
While all of Rum Wonk is a completely free resource for rum enthusiasts, I’m honored by how many people have chosen paid subscriptions despite no benefit other than my sincere appreciation for helping keep my work elevating cane spirits financially viable.
Honorable Mention
While not entirely Rum Wonk-related, 2023 was a banner year for Wonk Press, the publishing company Mrs. Wonk and I run. We published Polynesiacs – Tiki at Home, by Tiki Tom-Tom, and undertook a second printing of Modern Caribbean Rum. However, our most exciting 2023 moment was the shock of winning the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Modern Caribbean Rum. I wrote about the experience in my post, A Moment in the Limelight. (TL; DR, it’s kind of like winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.)
You may have noticed excerpts from Modern Caribbean Rum playing a supporting role in certain Rum Wonk stories. You can look forward to more of the same in 2024 as part of my quest to educate and delight readers who truly want to understand the world’s most diverse spirit.