| Judging was held March 23 and 24, 2006 in Ybor City, Florida Judges were chosen for their experience in the culinary and beverage industries as well as media contributors with an interest in finer spirits. Importers and distributors of sugar cane spirits were also on the judging panel. The following are some of the people who judged the 2006 International Sugar Cane Spirits Competition: | |||||
| Paul Artrip - Virginia - rum connisseur and collector, food & beverage writer for regional Parrot Head clubs the rum daddy. | |||||
| Don Brown - Florida - Founder, Caribbean Chocolates Trading Co, manufacturers and wholesalers of Caribbean flavored Chocolates and Confections. | |||||
| Robert Burr - Florida - Writer, publisher and world traveler, Robert Burr has been collecting and evaluating rums from many countries for decades. Robert has compiled a list of outstanding rums and information about Gifted Rums tasting events in South Florida at Gifted Rums. | |||||
| Robert V Burr "Jr" - Coconut Grove Florida - Rum enthusiast and spirit guide for the younger generation, Rob has a passion for sharing his knowledge of rums and related cane spirits. He and his father work together on the Gifted Rums Guide in South Florida. | |||||
| Ian Burrell - London Thailand - owner of a Caribbean restaurant in London, England boasting the largest collection of rums in the UK. Ian is the rum expert for "Taste & Flavour" School for Spirits and has worked as a mixologist and rum ambassador for J Wray & Nephew. | |||||
| Christopher Carlsson - New York - connoisseur of fine spirits and editor of Spirits Reviews. | |||||
| Peter Covino - Kissimmee Florida - entertainment editor, dining critic and spirit connisseur at the Osceola News-Gazette in Kissimmee, Florida (near Disney World). | |||||
| Gary Crowder - Connecticut - Sr. V.P. of Resort Operations at Mohegan Sun, owned by the Mohegan Tribe, one of the largest US entertainment, gaming, shopping and meeting destinations. | |||||
| Wayne Curtis - New Orleans Louisiana - writer Wayne's whose work has appeared in New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Preservation, American Scholar, American Heritage and others. His latest book "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails," will be available at Tales of the Cocktail. | |||||
| William M. Dowd - Albany New York - associate editor and chief restaurant critic for Times Union newspaper. His work has appeared in dozens of U.S. and Canadian newspapers, on Dowd's Bar Blog, among others, and in national publications including the December '04 cover story of Sante. He has also judged several wine and spirits competitions. | |||||
| Catherine Eagles - San Francisco California - president Buzzbar Productions and rum connoisseur. | |||||
| J W Gay - California - President and CEO Inner Circle Rum, Inc. After the better part of a lifetime in the wine business, JW retired as Chairman Emeritus of Southcorp Wines the Americas last June. | |||||
| Patrick Harrison - Ybor City Florida - Pricipal/Public relations at The HLA group. Patrick has hosted many industry and media tasting events across the country and is the 2006 President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. | |||||
| David Morejon - Ybor City Florida - owner Latam Restaurant a local favorite known for their authentic Cuban and Spanish food and extensive bar. | |||||
| Daphne Muse - Oakland California - writer with interests ranging from food and jazz, to Major League Baseball. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, Hungry Mind Review and her commentaries have aired on WTOP-FM and NPR. www.daphnemuse.com | |||||
| Jeffrey Pogash - New York New York - Director of Communications, Moet Hennessy USA. Jeffrey writes the 'Spirit Archives' column in Bartender Magazine and is author of How To Read A Wine Label. | |||||
| Philip Prichard - Tennessee - President and distiller of Prichard's Fine Rum. | |||||
| Jack Robertiello - New York New York - writer and web editor for Adams Beverage Group, the leading beverage alcohol magazines for retailers and restaurateurs. Previously, Jack was the editor of Cheers, also by Adams. He is the author of "Mangia, The Best Italian Food in New York City". | |||||
| Ian Williams - New York - Ian Williams is author of Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776 which he says took years of intensive, on-site hands-on research across the Caribbean. New Ian speaks and writes frequently about rum and claims that audiences react better when they can sample what he is talking about. Ian Williams | |||||
