About the Hosts

John Gulla

John’s love affair with rum began years ago, after exploring the Bourbon hobby but becoming jaded with the difficulty in finding allocated bottlings and their soaring prices. Upon realizing the remarkable diversity of style and global footprint of rum, his interest evolved into a passion that demanded further exploration in every way. John enjoys attending rum events/festivals, learning about the various locations and nuances of rum-making in various countries/specific regions, exploring rum’s variety of styles and flavor profiles, and doing his part to broaden the hearts and minds of others on rum through producing the Rumcast with Will. As a life-long Miami resident, John is also heavily involved with the Florida Rum Society and assists with their efforts administratively and in the South Florida area.

John’s preferred way to enjoy rum is sipping neat and slowly engaging with its aroma and flavors over time, but he won’t turn down a well-crafted Hemingway daiquiri or Rum Old Fashioned either!  

Current favorite rum: Foursquare ECS 2005

Will Hoekenga

All Will wanted to do was learn how to make a proper Mai Tai. He didn’t realize that Googling the difference between Jamaican rum and Martinique rum would be the first step down a rabbit hole from which he’s yet to emerge. A writer by trade, Will merged his profession with his hobby in 2019 with the launch of American Rum Report, a website and newsletter focused on covering the wave of emerging rum distilleries in the U.S., a small corner of the rum world that happened to be closest to him. In launching the Rumcast with John, the goal became to cover the global rum landscape through conversations with people shaping it.

The overarching goal of all this rum-related activity is to spread the word about an amazingly diverse spirit that deserves to be better understood and appreciated. And to drink it along the way!

Current favorite rum: An impossible question to answer, as it depends entirely on the setting and mood. The good news is there’s a rum for every combination of those two things you could possibly encounter. Sigh—leave it to John to come up with the tough prompts for the “About the Hosts” page.