155: The Search for the Best American Rums with Mainland Rum's Seth Benhaim

Note: As a reminder, Rumcast Reserve bottles are officially available in stores and shipping from our online retailer! You can grab your bottles here.You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.In this episode, we sat down with the founder of the only independent rum bottler exclusively focused on sourcing rums from the United States, Seth Benhaim of Mainland Rum.Since launching a little over a year ago, Mainland Rum has released some of the longest aged American rums to hit the market in recent years, including a 10-year-old Louisiana and a 9-year-old California to go along with releases sourced from Georgia and Florida.With their first unaged release from a Minnesota distillery set to hit the market soon, we figured it was a good time to catch up and learn more about Mainland's vision. We discussed:Arriving at the idea to focus solely on American rumThe challenge of sourcing longer aged rums from craft distilleriesNegative perceptions associated with the categoryThe double-edged sword of releasing rums from closed distilleriesFirst impressions of Mainland's unaged "S. Pombe" release sourced from Black Frost DistillingThe future of the American rum categoryAnd moreHave a listen and let us know your thoughts or questions!Learn more about Mainland Rum on their website.