The Tribune

The Bahamas Tourist Office in Florida recently partnered with John Watling’s, the Bahamian distillery, at the International Rum Conference to promote the 14 islands still open for business.

“When invited to this conference we saw it as a great opportunity to speak to those attending on how The Bahamas is still open for business on 14 of our Islands, despite the devastation that we experienced on the Abaco and Grand Bahama,” said Tina Lee, district marketing manager for the Bahamas Tourist Office.

“We are grateful to John Watling’s and the organisers of the International Rum Conference for the invitation to participate, which is indicative of their strong support of our destination and their commitment to work with us in promoting our islands that are open, and assisting us in the rebuilding of our two islands affected by the hurricane.”

The International Rum Conference, formerly known as the Congreso del Ron, which moved from Madrid to Coral Gables, invited the National Association of The Bahamas (NAB), a Florida-based Bahamian association, to its two-day event, and encouraged attendees to make donations to NAB for relief efforts towards those affected by the catastrophic storm.

The event also saw John Watling’s, which is located in downtown Nassau, awarded the highest prize of a double gold medal in the Special Harvest/Single Cask category for its Single Barrel rum. John Watling’s Distillery also earned a silver medal in the White Rum category for its Pale rum.

In the past, John Watling’s rums have received medals, awards and honours from The Fifty Best in New York; Barlife Magazine in Prague; Rum Bahamas in Nassau; Taste of the Caribbean in Miami; Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago; and Congreso del Ron in Madrid.