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Matt Pietrek

@rumwonk.bsky.social
431 followers 91 following 202 posts

Writer, publisher, rum historian, educator and consultant. Author of Modern Caribbean Rum, and the Rum Wonk Substack. AKA Cocktail Wonk.

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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Came across this today. The remaining Caroni rum offered at auction in 2008. While a substantial amount of rum was for sale, including 5388 casks, several major players had already made purchases, presumably of the best lots. Among them, Angostura, Main Rum, Velier, and likely Bristol.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
I’m excited to announce that The Rum Never Sets is a 2026 Spirited Awards Top 10 Nominee for Best New Book on Drinks Culture, History, or Spirits! The Rum Never Sets is available exclusively from Wonk Press! www.wonkpress.com/products/the... #SpiritedAwards2026 #totc2026 #talesofthecocktail #totc
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Oh, hey there… Coconuts & Carnage says hello!
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
You know Saint-James and Negrita—but do you know the company behind them? Meet France’s largest rum maker, shaping the industry from Martinique to Réunion? The infographic shares the key details. This article goes much deeper: www.rumwonk.com/p/frances-la...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Révérend de Louisiane - the classic La Louisiane with the rye replaced by Planteray Stiggins’ Fancy. • 2 ounces Stiggins’ Fancy • 1/4 ounce Bénédictine • 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth • 3 dashes absinthe 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters Yes, it slaps.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
"I’ve been producing confident-sounding citations for articles that were never written, never posted, and never lived on your sites in any form." Perhaps the most accurate thing ChatGPT ever said. After asking it about Navy rum, it spit out a list of my articles. Except.... #chatgpt
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Want to support a small two-person business while saving 10% on all Wonk Press titles — including already discounted bundles? Just use our Holiday 2025 discount code: WONK2025. Want to help us out? Like and reshare this to help us reach more folks like you! Happy Holidays from Team Wonk Press!
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Today's pickup: Dry Curaçao “Tropical,” which joins the original and Yuzu Late Harvest in Ferrand’s lineup. What makes it tropical? Rather than the grape distillate of the original, it's built on rum from the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. No great surprise there. (1 of 3)
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Tasting Sail No. 2, the second limited-edition of Planteray’s Navy-style rum. To my palate, No. 2 dials back the fruitcake spices of No. 1, replacing them with more Demerara and heavy Trinidad notes. All in all, I find the No. 2 closer to the flavors I associate with the RN flavor profile.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
El Dorado's new PM/DHE release blends Port Mourant and Diamond High Ester marks. While PM isn’t high ester, DHE goes up to 7,000 gr/hlAA of esters. It follows El Dorado’s previous LBI/DHE blend. Bottled at 51.7% ABV, the PM asserts itself first, then the DHE mark roars to life with a long finish.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
“Jamaica rum” once said it all in drink recipes. But today, with every producer making a variety of different rums, it’s time to break down the common substyles seen in practice. See link to the Rum Wonk article with more details below - or use the QR code! www.rumwonk.com/p/jamaica-ru...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Hey NOLA friends! Or folks in New Orleans later this month for whatever reason... 😊 Come see me at the Arnaud's French 75 Bar on July 21st between 7 and 9 PM. More details in the post graphic!
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
So... here's a very interesting US TTB label approval: a (minimum) 51-year aged Appleton. 100% pot still, 62% ABV and 700ml. The label says "One of 25 Decanters" but that may just be for the US market. Appleton is teasing a July 15th launch, and pricing isn't known, but surely will be $1000+.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
My latest Rum Wonk newsletter story takes readers behind the curtain of independent rum bottlers, with some surprising twists. This infographic, which John Hsu of Raising Glasses created, is just the tip of the iceberg. See RumWonk for the full story: www.rumwonk.com/p/why-does-t...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
My latest on the Rum Wonk Newsletter. Additives in rum are a controversial topic. In this post, I present the regulations of 24 key rum-making regions regarding the matter. This infographic here is just part of the full story here: www.rumwonk.com/p/rum-additi...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Wray & Nephew’s “Edwin Charley Proprietor’s Collection" from 2005. The four rums are: ‘Foundation’, ‘Transformation’, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Virtue’. The slender 700ml hand-blown Venetian glass bottles contain glass statuettes inside. Each symbolizes one of the steps in the rum-making process.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
While Appleton Estate and 1749 are nearly synonymous, the brand itself only dates to 1944. The brand was registered in the US in 1945, as seen here. The earliest use in Jamaica was 1944. While "Appleton" previously appeared on Wray & Nephew labels, Appleton was a descriptor, not the brand itself.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Sugar Mill Rum first appeared in Jamaica circa 1961 and was the first column distilled Jamaica rum promoted as such. Jamaica's rum makers realized that they could no longer avoid using column stills. The brand's ownership is murky, but a 1972 W&N report suggests it owned the brand.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Reason #11,843 to not trust AI generated answers. (As if you needed more.) There are plenty of beloved recipes that use an ounce or more of Angostura. For the answer, i.e., "nope", see this Cocktail Wonk article: cocktailwonk.com/2019/10/too-...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
A peak into the insanity of shipping companies. These are the charges to send a 9 lb. from New Orleans to the UK via UPS. If we'd walked into the UPS store as a retail customer, we'd pay $323! But since we have a UPS account, it's "only" $60 -- less than 20% of what retail customers pay. (1/2)
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
I’m enjoying a Southern Slope, albeit with rum rather than bourbon. Used a little navy-style infinity bottle I’ve got going.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
It's an almost daily question in the rum groups, "Where are the best places to buy rum in the Caribbean?" My latest Rum Wonk posts address the topic in a two-part series, including tips on getting it all home and duty-free limits. www.rumwonk.com/p/good-place... www.rumwonk.com/p/good-place...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Make ours the same.... (1948 advertisement) Coruba wasn't always a Wray & Nephew brand. However, the brands rum has been made by W&N since 1962, and the company was acquired it in 1965. The new Jamaica Rum Fans FB/IG page is sharing Jamaica content on the regular now.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
NRJ’s most recent release is “MSR,” distilled in 2007 and aged for 17 years. MSR refers to a column-distilled mark made at Clarendon. Although the MSR mark’s ester levels are listed as less than 10 gr/hlAA, the flavor is classic long-aged Jamaican—anything but lightweight. Bottled at 55.1% ABV.
A bottle of “MSR” Jamaican rum
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Now in my Top Ten list of “Days” I won’t be celebrating.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Regarding Mitchell's statement, "For as long as Jamaica has exported rum, it has crossed oceans to undergo further maturation," Consider this from the March 18, 1920 West India Committee Circular showing 6.754 puncheons of Jamaica rum. 6,754 puncheons are 2.7 million liters, or 940,000 US gallons
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
"...Jamaica rum was suited for washing off the feet of horses." Smack talk from the Barbadians in a 1951 Barbados Advocate article. Elsewhere, “The English people were surprised when they drank Barbados rum and found that they did not have to go to the drug store and buy themselves a mouth wash.”
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
In advance of the forthcoming Wonk Press book on Royal Navy and London Dock rum, some rare video footage of a Royal Navy rum ration issuance during Operation Mainbrace (1952). Sorry, no sound in this one.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
“Mount Homosexual Eclipse,” “Havana Membership Especial,” and “Cruzan Aged Darkish” are among the examples of “Reasonably Aged Rum” in a new article, “The 9 Important Tiki Rum Types – A Newbie’s Information” 1/3
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Hoping it comes with a magnifying glass for us olds. 😂
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Perils of a Publisher #394: Google Ads stopped showing one of our products (without notification) because of "promotional text" in the item image. The item image is the actual cover of the book. FFS Google... get your shit together.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
After a short break to gallivant around France, the Rum Wonk Substack is back with more nerdy thoughts. The infographic here is the quick hit. The full story is here: www.rumwonk.com/p/rum-not-al... And if you like what you're seeing, give it a subscribe. It's free!
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
No “both sides” here from The NY Times…
Elon Musk and his team have taken a hacksaw to the federal bureaucracy one agency at a time, and the question has become whether he’s on a crusade that will leave the government paralyzed or deliver a shake-up it has needed for years.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Rum History in Photos. Column stills at Vizcaya distillery in Cuba, owned by Jose Arechabala S.A., best known today for founding the Havana Club brand in 1934. Date unknown, but presumably prior to the mid-1950s. #rum #cuba #cubanrum #havanaclub
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Rum history in photos. Fermentation tanks at an unspecified Martinique rhum distillery circa 1936. From a text by Désiré Kervégant.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
A crash course for some, a refresher for others. My latest on the Rum Wonk Substack sets the record straight on the "secret sauces" of Jamaica rum. Use the QR code read more, or visit: www.rumwonk.com/p/jamaica-ru...
An infographic about the use of dunder, muck, and acid in Jamaica rum.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Regarding the eternal Sturm und Drang regarding what can be called a "Mai Tai", some guidance from Victor Bergeron himself in 1946.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Years ago, very high-end rums were dubbed "Liqueur rums" by certain brands. It didn’t mean they were liqueurs or sweetened. Rather, it suggested that they were just as good as a "fine liqueur." Shown here is a 1955 ad for Saint-James rum that ran in the UK.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
I bought this early on. It's cheap, portable, works well enough and the foot pedal speeds things up. But knowing what I know now, I'd spend a bit more to get page flattening capabilities. But the real game changer is Abbyy FineReader for your OCR. www.amazon.com/CZUR-Shine-U...
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Or your friends anywhere! Happy Holidays from Team Rum Wonk! This Myers's rum advertisement ran in the Jamaican Gleaner during the 1938 holiday season.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Look Ma! I made an infographic!
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
A Nui Nui with my Exotic Cocktail Club friends at Latitude 29 is exactly the sort of holiday cheer called for.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Why three minutes to "master" this drink? Does that include 2:45 of rummaging through your kitchen drawers for a bottle opener?
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
While Rhum Saint-James is among the flagships of Martinique rhum agricole, they didn't always use cane juice. The brand described itself as neither cane juice nor molasses in this 1933 advertisement. Instead, it used concentrated cane syrup. Some producers now call this "cane honey."
A 1933 advertisement for Rhum Saint-James
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
"This sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary." says McConnell. Cheeto Jesus can only dream of manifesting such levels of hypocrisy.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
While you’re supporting your local bookstores, please also consider supporting direct-to-consumer publishers like Wonk Press. We invest our profits in authors rather than Amazon. Books for Spirited People - rum, tiki, and tequila! Use code HOLIDAYCHEER for 10% all books and bundles. #booksky
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
When life gives you tons of Meyer lemons, @clickychick.bsky.social makes killer lemon bars.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Ah.. found it. Cane syrup rather than crystals in this case.
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Matt Pietrek @rumwonk.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Are you sure the Bayou is made from cane juice?
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