Next up in our serialised results of the BBAs is the top-five products in the rum category.
Some blockbuster rum brands took to the stage in the BBAs this year, but it was the relatively unknown Distillerie Savanna’s Lontan Grand Arôme Rhum Traditionnel from Réunion Island that stole the show.
Not only here among the sugarcane spirits – but across the entire BBAs. Judges thought it was “savoury, interesting and fresh” or, to quote their superlatives: “Banging, delicious, insane, incredible.” That all added up to 45/50 – the joint highest in the BBAs for taste, and when you throw in golds in design and value for money (it was priced at just £25), you have 92/100 and the BBAs Supreme Champion.
There was naturally a little drop down to second. But Havana Club 7 Años still took gold on taste, and at £26 for value too.
Completing the podium was Saint Benevolence Rum Clairin from Skylark Spirits which took gold for taste. Judges liked the nose, tropical profi le and liquorice notes. A gold for the design was only pulled back by the price – rrp £45 made it a bronze for value for money.
Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof took highscoring silver medals for taste and value for money (rrp £36) but fell down on design.
Santa Teresa 1796 took silvers in taste and design, but as a package (it costs rrp £40) it got a slightly lower mark, awarded bronze for value for money.
The Bartenders' Brand Awards follows a three-step process to mirror buying behaviour, with each product blind-tasted, judged on value for money and by design. For more on the methodology behind the BBAs, read more here.