Puerto Rico is the self-proclaimed Rum Capital of the World, so what better place to come and enjoy the best rums from all around the world?

This year marks the inaugural Taste of Rum, the official Rum Festival & International Rum Competition of Puerto Rico.

This event is actually two separate events — a Rum Festival and a Rum Competition.

The Rum Festival

The fun part that is open to the public is the Rum Fest. It will be held on May 24th at the Paseo de la Princesa in Old San Juan. It is a day filled with live music, local and international rum, and great food. There will be over 40 rums and restaurants participating that you can choose to sample. There are two time slots you can go — either mid-day (12noon to 5pm) or evening (7pm to 11pm).

For the mid-day event, you have 2 choices of admission — the $10 general admission or $30 premium pass. The general admission pass includes 2 rum samples & 1 typical food sample. The premium pass includes 14 rum samples & 6 typical food samples.

For the evening event, the cost is $45 — which includes unlimited rum & typical food samples. Proceeds from this evening event will benefit SAPIENTIS, a non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of Puerto Rico’s public education system.

No matter which time you go, or what type of ticket you buy, you will be able to attend and/or watch all of the entertainment and seminars. Entertainment will include live music, both from Puerto Rican musicians and also from other countries like the Dominican Republic. There will also be a Flair Tender Show & Competition, which will be a lot of fun to watch. The seminars will be held on the hour, and will include the History of Rum, Distillation, Mixology and Cooking with Rum.

Ticket Info – You can either buy tickets at the door (until 4pm) or ahead of time at Ticket Center, either online or in person at a Ticket Center location (including many Sears stores).

The Rum Competition

The International Rum Competition is a competition in which rum makers pit their products against other rums from around the world. This is not open to the public. It will be held at Hotel Casa Herencia, in Old San Juan, on both May 23 and May 24, 2009.

The competition on May 23 is from 12pm to 7pm. Judging begins at 1pm — they will be judging the Best White Rums and then the Best Gold Rums. The competition on May 24 runs from 12pm to 7pm — they will be judging the best Premium Gold rum. The awards presentation will be held at the end of the session on May 24.

You can visit the Taste of Rum web site for more information and an entertainment schedule.