The Tribune

A Bahamian distillery yesterday announced that two of its rum brands, pictured, have won "double gold" and "silver", respectively, at an international industry conference held in Florida.

John Watling's Distillery, located at the 1789 Buena Vista Estate in downtown Nassau, said its Single Barrel rum had taken top honours while its Pale won silver at the International Rum Conference held in Coral Gables, Florida.

The International Rum Conference, formerly known as the Congreso del Ron, moved from Madrid to Coral Gables in its eighth year to be closer to the core rum manufacturing territories. It is co-directed by industry veterans Javier Herrera and Jorge Galbis.

The conference, which ran from September 25-28, saw John Watling's Distillery, which is named for a 17th century buccaneer, partner with the Ministry of Tourism. It provided the National Association of The Bahamas (NAB), a voluntary organisation working for a better Bahamas, with a booth for Hurricane Dorian relief.

A five-judge panel conducted blind tastings and evaluated each of the rums for visual, olfactory, taste and general impressions. Both John Watling's rums competed in the Molasses or Cane Derivatives Classification. They are crafted from hand-cut, choice sugarcane molasses sourced from different Caribbean islands.

The company's Single barrel rum was awarded the highest prize in the special harvest/single cask category. Its Pale rum took silver in the white rum category.