Miami Rum Fest 2016: Can you purchase bottles there??

I can tell you the London rum festival had a huge section of rums to buy - I think it's through the Whiskey Exchange company. Not sure specifically about the Miami festival, but with so many rum lovers in the room - I would at least hope they sold rum :)

I attended the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival in 2015 and will be attending again in 2016. The quick answer is yes, you can buy bottles there but... Last year a local liquor store chain had a number of rums available for purchase. In addition, you could place an order and they would bring it the next day. Unfortunately you can't select from everything that's available for tasting. The sales are limited to the items that are available in Florida and they have in stock. I traveled by car and will do so again so I'll be doing some shopping in area liquor stores. The rum selection in the Miami area is excellent and prices are good too. I've attended only one other Rum Festival (Louisville, KY in 2014) and bottles were not available for purchase there. It depends on the state law. I had a great time at last year's Miami RR that included tasting many different rums over three days, meeting a lot of nice people who are fellow rum enthusiasts, attending informative lectures, getting rum recommendations, etc.

Thanks for the feedback, Andy and DelectaBlee. This will be my first rum fest so I'm looking forward to it. $75 a ticket seems a bit pricey but I will still be giving it a shot. Based on their site, there will be a decent selection. I'm eager to see which Diplomatico Single Vintage will be up for sample.

You're welcome, RedBlaze6. Yes, the ticket's aren't cheap but I enjoyed last year's so much I'm back for another round. Some of the lectures they offer are worth attending, too. This one is not as regulated as others in some states so you won't be giving up tastes if you attend a lecture. Also it's a good chance to meet people behind some of the distilleries. One word of advice: prioritize your list if you can. Some of the more sought after rums may be gone later in the weekend. I'll be there for the full three days plus I'm going to be a juror (or judge) on the consumer tasting panel. You can search for the awards on the web site. Click on the XP link which I believe will take you to the Expert and Consumer tasting pages. You'll find me listed there along with a photo (look for Ben). If you spot at the event, stop and say hello.

Great advice. I will keep an eye out. Thanks again.

Hey guys im ill be at the rum fest this saturday See you guys there :)

Made a trip to the Rum Fest today. Decent spread of brands but kind of a lame location. They do in fact sell bottles by the exit but they are highly marked up. The liquor store that is selling them at the event is Jensen's of Miami. If you tell them to drop the price cause of the mark up they will. I grabbed a bottle of Trigo and Bumbu Rum. Both are in attractive bottles.

DelectaBlee, what's up with the Diplomatico station? The Rum Fest advertised that a Single Vintage would be up for sample. They have one there but refused to open it. Kind of bullshit if you ask me. That rum is one of the main reasons I'm attending. I will be there again tomorrow. I will be pissed if they don't offer it up.

Hey Ben was a pleasure to meet you man Ill be in touch now in the plane back to Montreal , Redblaze6 onh i did not even see that bottle i really hope they will open that tomorrow for you , let us now pls , cos also i woukd like to know was all about

Jonathan, I was there today. They popped open a new one just for me. Great stuff.

Doc Brown's Really Bad Rum was pretty good as well.

Redblaze6 amazing man happy to hear that So is a must to have? What year was ? 2000 - 2001? Missed :( i was there today saturday And yes Really bad rum was good i like it

They had the Diplomatico 2000 on hand. Initially asked to try and got denied. The guy on hand got the green light from his boss and called me over to crack open a fresh bottle. It has same profile as Diplo Res Exclusiva but less sweet and well balanced. An outstanding rum and the best I tried during my two days at the Rum Fest. Also tried El Dorado 21 and Abuelo Centuria at the VIP Tasting bar. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with both. They each had similar profiles to their younger brothers (El Dorado 15 and Abuelo 12) with a nothing substantial enough to call for the $100+ price tag. Glad I tried them but their younger siblings will do the trick.

Jonathan, it was nice to meet you as well. Redblaze 6, I don't know what to tell you about Diplomatico. I'm just attending like many others and have not involvement in organizing or what the rum reps are doing in their booths. Glad to know you got to sample something special after all. Ben

Redblaze6 Prettt nice that at the end u got it Well thats why we paid 75$ right To get the chance to try some new staff Im a fan of diplomarico reserva exclusiva but havent had the chance to try the single V. Thanks for the review on centuria :) and el dorado . I ilke the 12 and 15 already

Redblaze6. In the future keep us posted about rum BumBu Have a good day guys