Rum blogger, reviewer, enthusiast, consultant and cocktail bartender.
My name Alexandru Marius Sandu, originally from Romania, I moved to the United Kingdom in 2014. In 2016 I started my hospitality journey which helped me hone my understanding of spirits, their origins and production methods. During this time I became increasingly interested in the intricacies of rum and so The Rum Barrel was born. I built this website in 2019 in order to document and share my passion for the sugar cane spirit.
I’m available for rum and cocktail classes or consultancy and I’m also open to any rum related collaborations. You can get in touch with me by emailing me at alex@therumbarrel.co.uk or via the Contact option.
Scoring system:
Flavour/taste (1-70) is based on the complexity of the rum: from not possessing any organoleptic properties associated with rum to being mindblowingly complex and out of this world.
Value for money (1-15) is based on the price/volume/ABV/complexity/craft/availability ratio.
Transparency/purity (1-15) is based on the amount of information available for the average consumer and how accurate it is vs. the amount of additives present in the rum.
Overall (1-100) is the total.
I have chosen to split the score into 3 categories in an attempt to make my scoring system more consumer informative. The Flavour/taste of the rum is the largest percentage of the Overall score and definitely the most important, while the other 2 categories aim to “reward” or “punish” based on how consumer friendly the brand is.
To be noted that, while partially based on facts, the scoring system is completely subjective and it’s my own personal preference/take on the rum at the time of the review. My tastes can evolve in time and the way I score the rums will change accordingly.
For additional information read the Disclaimers section.
Cheers!