139: Inside Rum Buying at The Whisky Exchange, with Dawn Davies

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.You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.In this episode, we caught up with Dawn Davies, head buyer for The Whisky Exchange—one of the premier spirits stores in the UK.Dawn is a huge rum fan with an excellent palate (she's one of the very few Masters of Wine in the world), and her position at The Whisky Exchange gives her a fascinating perspective on the world of rum.You can watch the video version of the episode here.We discussed:What goes into managing a store selection that includes nearly 1,000 rum SKUsBalancing esoteric rum geek bottles with mass market selectionsWhich rums should be on more store shelves right nowStandouts from The Whisky Exchange's 5th annual Rum Show this past JulyWhat it takes to go through the grueling 5+ years long Master of Wine processHow Dawn approaches tasting rumsRevisiting The Whisky Exchange's rum classification system 6 years inAnnoying label terminologyAnd more!Relevant links mentioned in the episode:Follow Dawn on InstagramThe Whisky Exchange websiteThe Whisky Exchange rum classification systemThe Whisky Exchange rum flavor campsCheck out Boston Rum Week — coming up September 14-21