Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this episode, we're excited to take you inside a very new emerging rum locale — Sicily, the Italian island where Distilleria Alma is bringing back sugarcane cultivation. Since 2021, Hugo Gallardo and his co-founders have been crafting cane juice rum from multiple varietals and bottling it under the label Mater Rum.
We were lucky to try multiple bottlings of Mater and can confirm that it's worthy of your interest not just because of its interesting origin, but also because it tastes pretty damn good. So obviously we had to get the full story from Hugo!
We discussed:
The long history of sugarcane in Sicily (and why it disappeared)
How the distillery almost ended up in the Philippines
The ongoing evolution of Mater's production process
The differences between the yellow cane and purple cane rums
Rumors of additional Sicilian rum projects from heavy hitters of the rum world
Sicily's unique environment and culture
What kinds of Mater releases we may see in the future
Bringing Mater to the U.S.
And much more!
Check out Distilleria Alma's website for more info on Mater Rum: distillerialma.com
Have you had an opportunity to try Mater Rum yet? Would love to know your thoughts!
Relevant links to the Jamaica Rum GI discussion in the intro:
The Gleaner: New GI rum rules bar aging outside of Jamaica: jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20241009/new-gi-rum-rules-bar-ageing-outside-jamaica
Rum Wonk: Jamaica's Rum GI Changes - Overview and Analysis: rumwonk.com/p/jamaicas-rum-gi-changes-overview
Rum Revelations: Jamaica GI Rumblings with a French Twist: rumrevelations.com/post/jamaica-rum-gi-rumblings-with-a-french-twist
In this episode, we're excited to take you inside a very new emerging rum locale — Sicily, the Italian island where Distilleria Alma is bringing back sugarcane cultivation. Since 2021, Hugo Gallardo and his co-founders have been crafting cane juice rum from multiple varietals and bottling it under the label Mater Rum.
We were lucky to try multiple bottlings of Mater and can confirm that it's worthy of your interest not just because of its interesting origin, but also because it tastes pretty damn good. So obviously we had to get the full story from Hugo!
We discussed:
The long history of sugarcane in Sicily (and why it disappeared)
How the distillery almost ended up in the Philippines
The ongoing evolution of Mater's production process
The differences between the yellow cane and purple cane rums
Rumors of additional Sicilian rum projects from heavy hitters of the rum world
Sicily's unique environment and culture
What kinds of Mater releases we may see in the future
Bringing Mater to the U.S.
And much more!
Check out Distilleria Alma's website for more info on Mater Rum: distillerialma.com
Have you had an opportunity to try Mater Rum yet? Would love to know your thoughts!
Relevant links to the Jamaica Rum GI discussion in the intro:
The Gleaner: New GI rum rules bar aging outside of Jamaica: jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20241009/new-gi-rum-rules-bar-ageing-outside-jamaica
Rum Wonk: Jamaica's Rum GI Changes - Overview and Analysis: rumwonk.com/p/jamaicas-rum-gi-changes-overview
Rum Revelations: Jamaica GI Rumblings with a French Twist: rumrevelations.com/post/jamaica-rum-gi-rumblings-with-a-french-twist
![[Free Bonus Episode] Ian Burrells Full 100th Episode Interview + a Mystery Sample Tasting](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/99RwZVVJbdY/mqdefault.jpg "[Free Bonus Episode] Ian Burrells Full 100th Episode Interview + a Mystery Sample Tasting
In this free bonus episode, were releasing global rum ambassador and Equiano co-founder Ian Burrells full interview from our 100th episode, which was full of interesting nuggets about the development of Equiano, rum education, where we can expect to see exciting new rums come from over the next several years, and much more!
Also, we try to guess our way through a mystery sample provided by Rumcast Patron Kyle in DC, only to fail spectacularly.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.")
