118: Putting Sicilian Rum on the Map: The Making of Mater Rum with Hugo Gallardo

The Rumcast

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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.

Relevant links to the Jamaica Rum GI discussion in the intro:

The Gleaner: New GI rum rules bar aging outside of Jamaica

Rum Wonk: Jamaica's Rum GI Changes - Overview and Analysis

Rum Revelations: Jamaica GI Rumblings with a French Twist

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