Business Barbados - 2023 Edition

This is the year of rum, don’t you know? According to data from CGA by Nielsen IQ, rum sales surpassed £1 billion in the UK in 2022, landing the category a bigger market share than whisky. The increase in premium brands to rival Scotch and Cognac, the demand for flavoured and spiced rum, and its versatility in cocktails are all contributing to this golden era. But rum is also a deeply evocative spirit, one that can be an ambassador of its home at its best, like it is for Barbados. It’s this connection that prompted the creation of The Barbados Rum Experience, a week-long festival dedicated to illuminating all aspects of the spirit’s culture, history, and production to move beyond the ‘pirates and parties’ reputation. In November 2022, I was in attendance at the island’s sole event dedicated exclusively to the rum industry of Barbados, a year after something of a soft launch inaugural show curbed by COVID restrictions. A more comprehensive schedule and freedom to enjoy everything the island has to offer was in store, split into two main portions: three days of talks from experts, and two days visiting Mount Gay, Foursquare, and St Nicholas Abbey Distillery. The former is not just about lessons in rum. The big stories are not shied away from, with honest discussion about the island’s drinking culture and the history of slavery. We cannot tell the story of rum without understanding the role plantation economics played in its development. The experience aims to illuminate a wider Caribbean story, covering subjects such as biology, geology, anthropology, and more. From the conference room of the Radisson Aquatica, a classroom of students from Barbados to America, the UK and beyond, ingest it all like giddy school kids seeing the TV rolled into the room. With top notch speakers that include rum luminaries such as Prof. Richard Drayton, Prof. Fred Smith, and renowned Barbadian distiller Richard Seale, the coverage is so comprehensive you feel as if you’ve just spent a year at A First-hand Report from the Barbados Rum Experience 2022 Adam O’Connell International Drinks Writer/Journalist Presentation by Richard Seale of Foursquare Rum Distillery BUSINESS BARBADOS 2023 102 B A R B A D O S R U M E X P E R I E N C E