It's hard work sometimes 2015 saw 40 hardy competitors drawn from across the globe compete in the inaugural Edinburgh Rum World cup organised by the fine people at Kilderkin





A supreme athletic endeavour over three months saw each rum blind tasted and scored for aroma, taste and finish in an alcoholic version of Battle Royale (but with rum instead of Japanese teenagers).



Kilderkin, Bennets, Skean Dhu, the Blue Blazer and the Windsor Buffet each served two flights of four rums a piece at the very friendly price of £8 a flight





To keep things reasonably fair the organisers tried to keep the rums to an average of 8 years old, a tricky endeavour given the loose age statements on certain rums.





Given the titanic amounts of rum consumed over the period the top 7 rums were re-tasted and re-scored on Easter Sunday before the final identity of the winners (and losers) were revealed.





The top 7 rums were revealed to be (position prior to re-tasting in brackets)....



1 - Pampero Aniversario - Venezuela (1)

2 - Captain Bligh XO - St Vincent (4)

2 - Ron Milonario Solera 15 - Peru (3)

2 - Ron Zacapa 23 - Guatemala (2)

5 - English Harbour 5yo - Antigua (6)

6 - Chairman's Reserve - Forgotten Casks - St Lucia (5)

7 - Appleton Estate 8yo - Jamaica (7)

















The big surprise was Captain Bligh which for a rum that retails at £28 a bottle beat some illustrious names to claim joint second place and Old Monk of India hitting 10th place while a personal favouite like Pusser's Blue Label only managed 19th place.



While it's a tricky thing to compare these spirits, given some are more aimed at the sipping market and others at mixing (or drain cleaning in the case of Stroh) it was a lot of fun and an interesting experiment in just how much your perception of a spirit is influenced by packaging, price etc.



The other nations and their positions were:



8 - Angostura 1919 - Trinidad & Tobago

9 - Bacardi 8yo - Puerto Rico

10 - La Mauny XO - Martinique

10 - Old Monk - India

12 - Gosling Black Seal - Bermuda

12 - Fair 5yo - Belize

14 - Mount Gay XO - Barbados

14 - Barbancourt 5 Star - Haiti

16 - Abuelo 7yo - Panama

17 - Flor de Cana 7yo - Nicaragua

17 - Cruzan Single Barrel - St Croiz

19 - Pusser's Blue Label - British Virgin Islands

20 - Cubay Anejo - Cuba

21 - Mekhong - Thailand

22 - Cadenhead's Green Label - Brazil

23 - Papagayo White - Paraguay

24 - La Hechicera - Colombia

25 - El Dorado 8yo - Guyana

25 - Seven Fathoms - Cayman

27 - Alchemist - Guadeloup

28 - Pyrat XO - Anguilla

29 - Don Papa - Phillipines

30 - Berry Bros & Rudd - Grenada

31 - Flamboyant - Mauritius

32 - Cadenhead's Straight from cask in store - Scotland

33 - Montanya Oro - USA

34 - Ryoma 7yo - Japan

35 - Ron Prohibido Solera 12 - Mexico

36 - Bundaberg - Australia

37 - Brugal Extra Viejo - Dominican Republic

38 - Jefferson's 1785 Dark Rum - England

38 - Berry Bros & Rudd - Fiji

40 - Stroh - Austria









If you do ever find yourself in Edinburgh and in need of some rummy goodness I really can't recommend any of the bars that participated in this highly enough.







