On this episode of inside the distillery, we sit down with Richland Rum Founder Erik Vonk. I apologize in advance for the sound quality. Recording in a working distillery is tricky. Parts of the video can be tough to hear. Because of that, I've included some of the highlights below. 

Show Notes:

- Richland Rum is the first and only single estate rum in the US. They grow process and distill sugar cane from their farm. 

- They only distill from cane syrup or cane honey. 

- Erik was inspired by his grandfather who was a rum agricole collector in Holland

- Richland produced its first rum in 1999. 

- They harvest the sugar cane once a year. They process and store the cane syrup for an entire year of production.

- They use only 53-gallon new charred oak barrels. Their standard rum is aged from 4-6 years and is always single barrel.

- The Cask Exchange programs have just been released and include a port exchange and an IPA exchange. It's important to clarify that this is a cask exchange an not simply a "cask finish". There is a big difference between the two. These barrels held Richland Rum for 3 years. The barrels were then sent to Chateau Elan and used to age their port. After bottling, the barrels were returned to Richland to hold the Rum that was originally in the barrel for another year.