Today we have an interview with Oliver Gerhardt who is the man behind the popular (and growing) RumX app and RumX Facebook Community Group.

Formerly known as Rum Tasting Notes, RumX is an app available on both Android and iOS devices via the Google Play and Apple stores. The app enables you to rate your own rum collection as well as read the opinions of other rum enthusiasts around the world.

The site also has numerous rum reviews from various renowned rum bloggers around the world…………..and myself. Over 10,000 rums are currently listed.

In addition to this the app has an extensive database of rum brands, distilleries, shops and lots of other information regarding rum and the rum world in general.

The app has been developed by Oliver in his spare time, away from the day job and it really is a great app for all rum lovers.

The RumX Facebook Community also allows rum lovers to interact even further and discuss all things rum, in a friendly and well moderated environment.

So here is Oliver’s story………………

1. First of all what inspired your initial interest in rum and what has helped grow that interest?

My first contact with rum was – like most people I guess – as a basic ingredient in cocktails and long drinks. In my university days I “enjoyed” countless Mojitos and Cuba Libre’s, but I was never aware of the variety and quality behind the spirit. By chance, I tried a sip of Botucal Reserva Exclusiva one evening. At that time, I was thrilled to see how round and delicious a spirit can taste even neat.

After this experience, I became more intensively involved with the subject of rum, studying the bottle shelves during bar visits and keeping an eye out for the “new favourite spirit.” A key moment was then a rum tasting in a bar in Stuttgart, where rums from different countries were in focus. Here, for the first time, the insane variety was revealed to me and I was totally fascinated.

2. Are there any notable figures, websites, resources etc that have helped shape your rum knowledge and viewpoint?

In the beginning I followed mainly the German bloggers and thereby looked beyond the classical sweet rums. Here I am especially grateful to Marius from www.singlecaskrum.com and Florian from barrel-aged-thoughts.blogspot.com for their incredibly valuable contributions to the rum community.

In addition, Luca Gargano has also inspired me as a pioneer. Especially his intuition and passion for new – and partly forgotten – styles is a great enrichment for the rum world.

In the course of time, I was lucky enough to meet some inspiring personalities in real life. It is precisely this personal contact and the bond within the rum community that makes up a significant part of the fascination for rum for me. So I can hardly wait until fairs and gatherings are possible again soon. Maybe I’ll see some of you at the German Rum Festival in Berlin at the end of August…. 😊🥃

3. Where do you stand on the “additives in rum” debate?

Personally, I prefer natural rums without any additives. Here, the art of craftsmanship and barrel aging comes into its own best. Basically, however, I am of the opinion that everyone should enjoy what he or she likes. It is only important that additives are indicated transparently. That way, everyone can consciously decide which bottle to buy. For me, the new EU regulation is a first important step in the right direction.

4. What first inspired you to create the “Rum Tasting Notes” app?

When I started my journey of rum discovery, I was fascinated by the diversity of this spirit. When I realized that each country and each distillery conjures up its own character in the glass, I was on the seek for new taste experiences. Since I am unfortunately not blessed with a photographic/sensory memory, I began to record my taste impressions of the different rums in an Excel spreadsheet. This worked well in the beginning, but over time it became more and more time-consuming and cumbersome. As a passionate software engineer I then started the hobby project “Rum Tasting Notes”. The idea was to transform this tedious Excel spreadsheet into an intuitive app that I can carry around in my pocket anytime, anywhere.

Originally, I developed and used the app just for myself. As the functionality became more sophisticated, I showed it to a few rum friends one evening. The idea and vision were so well received that my friends directly encouraged me to officially publish the app in the App Store. That was the official birth of “Rum Tasting Notes” in December 2018.

5. Why has Rum Tasting Notes now become RumX?

Over the last few years, I’ve been continuously improving the app in my spare time. The focus was shifting away from just tasting notes. More and more community functionalities were added and the database has developed further in the direction of a rating portal and reference work. To express this change, I was looking for a suitable, catchy name that would reflect this new DNA. In the end, it was the name RumX that perfectly describes this change. The X stands for the 4 pillars of the app: Xperience (taste your rums like a pro), Xchange (share your experiences with the community), Xplore (discover your new favorite rum) and Xtend (manage your rum collection).

6. What help and inspiration have you enjoyed along the way?

Since I’m developing the app alongside my day job, I would never have gotten this far without the support of fantastic people. I’m especially grateful for the help of Benoit Bail-Danel, whose influence and network in the rum world has played a huge role in spreading the word about RumX in the community. Behind the scenes, passionate rum lovers and friends also support me in marketing, development and database maintenance. In addition, it would not have been possible to build the largest rum database in the world without the tireless support of RumX users. With every submission of a new release and every correction request, the database gets bigger and better – a huge thank you to everyone who contributes – you guys are awesome!

7. What do you hope to do going forward with the Rum X Community and the app?

On the one hand, I want RumX to take beginners by the hand and give them the ideal introduction to the world of rum. Here, for example, the editorial recommendation lists help to broaden one’s own horizon. But also the tasting assistant offers support for the optimal tasting and provides tips on what other users smell and taste. Currently, I’m working on an extensive discovery section that will push this idea further, which will be released later this year.

The heart of the app, however, is designed for experienced rum lovers. Through the digital tasting diary, you’ll never forget which rums you’ve already tasted and how you liked them. In the future, there will be personalized recommendations that use the swarm intelligence of the RumX community to find your individual, new favorite rum.

The third area is all about the community. The most-wanted feature is now already live: With the new RumX community forum, it’s super easy to organize private bottle splits. This way you can share the cost of new purchases with the community and on the other hand get a lot of exciting new tasting experiences for little money. It was exactly this sample exchange that helped me discover and learn to love the diversity of rum back in the day. In the future, the app will merge more and more with this forum and will be expanded with exciting new features, such as a friends system. So you can look forward to exciting new developments! 🙂

8. How do you see the future of rum?

Especially in the high-end rum market, it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. 1-2 years ago, you could still try a promising new release in advance without any problems and then buy a whole bottle if desired. Nowadays, due to the new dynamics, one is forced to buy a promising release directly blind – if one gets the chance at all. I personally regret this development very much. Especially because many bottles are probably gathering dust in cellars instead of being enjoyed by real aficionados.

On the other hand, I am very happy about the number and variety of new releases in general and the growing interest in rum. It feels like there are as many new, exciting bottlings coming out every month these days as there were released throughout the year a few years ago. In my opinion, this positive development will continue due to the ever-increasing demand and benefit us rum lovers. The important thing then is just to keep track and figure out which bottle to buy next – but that’s what RumX is for…. 😇

9. What would you advise our readers to look out for rum-wise over the next couple of years? Are there any brands you currently feel are flying under the radar that people should look out for?

Personally, I am a big fan of the independent bottler “Rum Artesanal”. Dominik Marwede does a fantastic job of selecting first-class barrels and that at an unbeatable quality-price ratio. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the German community 😉), the availability of these bottlings outside Germany is still quite manageable.

In addition, I am curious how the “El Dorado” series of DDL continues to develop. In my opinion, there are still real treasures to be discovered here, which can keep up with and even surpass old, legendary bottlings in blind tastings.

Finally, I think that – especially in Germany – Rhum Agricole is still totally underestimated. Especially bottlings from Neisson and HSE are among my absolute favorites.

10. How is your native rum scene? In the UK it is sadly dominated mostly by sales of Spiced and Flavoured rum. Also rums with additives are quite popular but not so much as I notice in places like Denmark and Poland.

In Germany, things look similarly disappointing. In the supermarkets you can find first-class whiskey standards, but if you look in the rum shelf you will find mostly rum-based spirits of the big brands. Only in smaller delis or tobacco stores you can find exciting bottlings – but that needs luck…

 

However, if you look into the topic of rum more intensively, you will come across very active and exciting rum groups. For example, the Facebook group “German Rum Association” is a real tip for anyone interested in natural and high-quality rum.

11. Can you name your 3 Desert Island or Bucket List rums that you really want to try?

Phew, that’s a tough question….  If I had three wishes, I would probably choose these three legendary bottlings:

Velier Skeldon 1978 (RX867)

Velier Caroni 1982 (RX3140)

Cadenhead’s 1964 PM 36yo (RX3731)

Now all I need is a magic lamp – or a lottery win…. 😅

So there you have it a very interesting take on the Rum World from Oliver and very interesting to here from someone doing something a little different in the rum world. I’m sure a lot of you out there will find the RumX a very useful way to record all the rums you taste on your journey.

Using the RumX app is certainly a lot easier than doing it via a website and using WordPress. I can tell you that for free………….

Thanks very much for your time Oliver