Sell on flavour profiles and relative value, says Rum Show panel

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 13 July, 2026

The Whisky Exchange’s annual Rum Show (10-11 July) is by any measure a comprehensive affair, bringing together over 40 producers, featuring 350-plus rums, with both trade and consumer slots for good measure.

The trade session at the event, at Glaziers Hall in London on Friday 10 July, also offered a series of excellent masterclasses and panels, of which ‘Upselling Rum: How to Maximise the Potential of Rum’ was perhaps the most salient to a trade audience looking to upsell their portfolio of this increasingly popular spirits category.

Hosted by Sly Augustin of Trailer Happiness, who was joined by Lewis Hayes of DropWorks and Tristan Stephenson of Black Rock Bar, the session took a deep dive into how best to range a rum offer, with diversity of selection often trumping sheer size of the backbar collection.

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Regardless of the size of the rum selection, both Hayes and Stephenson agreed that “quality and curation” was most important in underpinning the need to attract new customers through “storytelling and flavour profiles”.

“If you own a bar, your job ultimately is to try and get that perfect glass in front of the person that’s come in, and how you go about doing that will change depending on the types of customer that you get in,” said Hayes.

“It may be that you do need 700 bottles to be able to fine tune that selection process, but you can do it with many less bottles… sometimes the most impressive thing is having a bar with just 10 brilliantly thought-out rums, encompassing broadly the entire category in terms of flavour (most importantly), but also geography, how old they are and the base material, all those things.”

If you are limited in the number of rums you can or wish to carry, then the advice is that each of those rums that do make it onto the list must have an authentic story to communicate to the customer, who can be as daunted about a ‘wall of rum’ as, say, a ‘wall of wine’.

However, Augustin revealed a slightly different approach at his Tiki bar, where he described the décor vibe as “being bits of stuff found on the beach and that just looked cool – ‘I’m going to add it’”, saying that sometimes a rum just “popped out” for its look and style.

“Then it has interesting points of reference, and it’s almost like treasure hunting,” he said of the customer experience.

Stephenson agreed, saying that this aspect shouldn’t be under-estimated, suggesting that: “For most of us that work in bars, we’re very used to the sights of the back bar full of bottles, but for regular consumers, that’s the epic nature of sitting at a bar and seeing all these amazing bottles, it’s incredible… not so much as a tool for selling, but as a tool for [bringing people in] to the bar.”

On the importance of the rum category itself – and this being set against current tough trading conditions for many – Hayes cited recent IWSR data which reveals that, “in the UK specifically, more money is spent on rum in the on-trade than on Scotch”.

The inference was clear – that as much effort should be put into shaping any given rum portfolio as a Scotch offer, with understanding of the “nuances and diversity of rums” being key to delivering a successful selection, to underpin and boost sales.

Augustin joked that rum has been “the next big thing… forever!”, but he and his panel also agreed that at the premium end, when compared with other long established spirits categories such as whiskies and brandies, rum still offers very good value for the quality to be found in the bottle.

Against a backdrop trend of consumers opting for less but better quality and true value when they do go out to spend on drink, this ‘value’ message could be a powerful one to trade punters up through the rum offer. And, certainly, the incredible diversity of quality rums on tasting at the Rum Show backed up this assertion to the full.

Stephenson probably best captured the essence and direction of the overall discussion, outlining a need to capture “the right harmony between story, brand and liquid that all marry together in perfect balance”.

Get that right, was the suggestion, and the consumer will most likely come back for more – and be more open to exploration across and up the range.

Pictured (L-R): Sly Augustin, Tristan Stephenson and Lewis Hayes

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