2009 Competition

[rumdog007]

Originally Posted by neatdrinker

A deserved rebuttal:
Somewhere in this thread, I became caught caught up in the competition feedback and all the "Bacardi-Bashing". Even catoririzing all Bacardi products as "crap"
After reading Ed's (and others), very well written and logical defense of the judging process, and, rush to judgement of a -difficut to organize, and bring to fruition -Rum event. I first took stock stock of my own "mob-mentality" posting, I then read a posting by our quite knowlegeable and well traveled member "RUMDOG" who praised Bacardi-8 year, and called it "Gold" in his opinion. I wrote that I was wrong in not even trying "'B"'s higher end product before stating that B is not capable of production of a quality and respected Rum. I now feel like a Vatican Moralist, Pushing to ban, burn, or boycott a movie/play/book, without even having viewed it.
So, with RUMDOG, stepping up and declaring B-8 as a quility product i bought a bottle. today. And, as i sit here composing this posting, I am sipping from a bottle of "8".
I have to admitt, Nice !, actually very nice!.
Hense-My apologies to the big B, and recommedation of a fairly fine product.(Thanks Rumdog).

neatdrinker, you are way too hard on yourself. I have had (still have) much smugger moments. BTW, I recall that somewhere within this web of threads where I proclaimed "my surprise" at my affinity for the 8. So, I, too, must have stumbled upon it with a goodly share of prejudice.

Oh, and yes, I look forward to sharing some rum and stories with you when I next make it to Long Island.

[TheRumelier]

Wally, aka Rumdog007 is one person I would always take a recommendation from and is always spot on with his reviews of various rums. In this case though I was a Bacardi 8 lover for a long time. I grew up on Bacardi Aсejo from Mexico and it was this fine rum that got me into this fun journey of discovery. The Limitada Reserva will be another regular tipple if it ever becomes available here, despite its heafty price tag. Bacardi do make some good rums!!

[neatdrinker]

Yes, I am learning that he is an excellent point of reference, in that most of the products he likes I also am fond of. And, we found an amazing coincidence, when he makes an occasional business trip to Long Island, all the way from California, he frequents this tiny little hole in the wall, out of the way, liquor store, run by an old Dominican guy, in a heavely mixed Hispanic neighborhood (Dominicans, Central & South Americans, Mexicans). This guy has just about EVERY quality rum brands that are discussed in the Forum, and every level of each. (such as All the Flors, all the Diplomaticos, Matusalems, Botrans, Barcelos, Cubaney, Cohiba, and much more.
It's a gas, in that you have to sometiimes get down on hands and knees, and dig into the back of the dusty clutterd bottom shelfs, to pull out a treasure.
Hope to try the Limitada when available here or on line.
(I like your web site also)

[Paulipbartender]

Ed you run a very well put together competition with an exceptional list of judges. Having seen it from the inside, I'd like to suggest some small adjustments that may make it even better.

Summarizing this discussion and my thoughts, I suggest you either downshift your grading curve or introduce a top (Platinum?) award.

Having 70% of the rums in the top category prevents identification of the VERY best. This many golds suggests all the rums in this group scored at the same level, which some did not.

Also, the medals should should only be published within their category. As you said yourself, rums won awards based on relative scores within their group. Awarding them all golds without reference to this group is slightly misleading. A gold medal for a spiced rum is a very different award to a gold medal luxury rum...

With less golds, and published categories, it would be much easier for consumers and discerning drinkers to use The MOR Competition to identify the best of the best. As people have said here, they were keen for the results to spot rums they really should buy. We should make it easier to spot the real gems.

[TheRumelier]

Originally Posted by TheRumelier

The Limitada Reserva will be another regular tipple if it ever becomes available here, despite its heafty price tag.

Just heard today that Bacardi Limitad Reserva is on its way to the Turks and Caicos, now I can start on another bottle from my shelf!! It will be interesting to see what price it comes in at, but who cares

[Edward Hamilton]

Thank you Paul for the suggestions. I will making some adjustments in the future.

You are absolutely right about naming the categories for awards. Certainly a gold medal for a flavored rum is a very different endorsement compared to a gold medal for a truly premium aged rum.

When I have some time I will add the categories to the results for last year. And I agree that three awards - gold, silver and bronze, don't adequately convey as much information as possible from all that was meticulously compiled over two days of tasting and another of calculations.

[Paulipbartender]

Happy to help, Ed.

When are you planning on flying into town?