[dropcap]P[/dropcap]eter & Company Distribution (PCD) is sharing in the praises and accolades for its many products that formed part of the recent successful Saint Lucia Food & Rum Festival. The festival, held on January 12 -14, provided an excellent opportunity for PCD to showcase its wide array of fine regional and international rums including Cockspur, Appleton Estate, El Dorado and Bacardi. The offerings from PCD were not limited to their alcoholic beverages but included delectable treats from Grace Foods, complete with a live sampling station and refreshing Tropical Rhythms cocktails. Ms. Keneene Betty – Forde, brand manager for Grace Foods, indicated that the festival provided a unique opportunity to marry food and rum and create a match made in culinary heaven.
During Sunday’s finale of the Food & Rum Festival at the Pigeon Island National Landmark, the PCD Experience bars were teeming with activity as brand ambassadors, bartenders and mixologists wowed patrons with their various unique rum creations and cocktails.
For Ed Mathurin, brand manager for Bacardi, the Food & Rum Festival provided an excellent opportunity to indulge patrons in the many ways rums could be enjoyed beyond the common rum and coke. “Of course, Bacardi is known for mojitos, and our bartenders were firing up a range of mojitos including the Bacardi Dragon Berry, and giving a fresh twist to the use of Bacardi Gold along with the range of Bacardi,” Mathurin stated.
Pairing good food with great rums was what struck Denver Alcee, Brand Manager for Appleton Estate Rums the most. “This festival is another great opportunity for our customers and patrons to interact and directly engage with Appleton Estate rums and we saw that happening throughout the day,” Alcee said.
The iconic Cockspur rooster, bolstered by a more than 125-year-old rum tradition in Barbados, was also quite prominent at the Saint Lucia Food and Rum Festival. Cockspur’s more recent offerings of The Pineapple Coconut Splash and the Green Apple Splash were favourites of many.
However, the crowing jewel for PCD at the Food & Rum Festival was El Dorado 12. The Guyana-made rum was adjudged the “Best Rum” overall on Sunday, at the inaugural Caribbean Rum Awards during the festival. The awards were curated by Caribbean Journal, described as the world’s largest website covering the Caribbean, with original content and video focusing on travel and tourism across the entire Caribbean Basin.
The Caribbean Rum Awards saw fine rum producers from across the Caribbean and Florida having their products sampled by experts comprising local, regional and international rum enthusiasts and connoisseurs in a blind tasting process.
Thirty-two rums from Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Nevis, Dominican Republic and Florida were entered in six categories, including best white rum, best gold rum, best spiced rum, best rum agricole and best rum overall – won by El Dorado 12 Year Old.
“We were quite thrilled when we received news that El Dorado 12 had won, although this did not catch us by total surprise, given the great feedback we were receiving from patrons at the festival about the range of El Dorado Rums,” Germaine Serieux, Brand Manager for El Dorado at PCD says.
“This award at the Saint Lucia Food & Rum Festival, continues the award-winning legacy of El Dorado over the years,” Serieux added.
An elegant multi-award-winning rum, El Dorado 12 Year Old typifies the smooth mellow sweetness of Demerara Rums. A blend of specially selected aged rums, the youngest being no less than 12 years old, it is a combination of the Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills and the Port Mourant double wooden pot still, blended to perfection and aged in old bourbon oak casks.
On Friday January 26, 2018, Peter & Company Distribution will host a special celebration party in recognition of the Caribbean Journal Rum Award to El Dorado 12 Year Old rum. The event will be held at Keebees in Rodney Bay and will bring together customers, retailers and members of the Guyanese community to mark the occasion.
Peter & Company Distribution Sales and Marketing manager Dexter Percil expressed his delight at the award for El Dorado 12 along with a sense of great satisfaction at the feedback from patrons, both locals and visitors, towards the PCD range, display, tastings and cocktails during the Saint Lucia Food & Rum Festival.
