Ben Schaffer

The Birth (and Rebirth) of Rum Brands

By Ben Schaffer May. 15, 2019

Though it was founded in 1753, Jamaica’s Hampden Estate distillery only this year issued the first aged rum …

By Ben Schaffer Feb. 12, 2019

As cocktail revivalists have sought to rebuild their temples to temptation, they’ve necessarily delved into …

By Ben Schaffer Dec. 11, 2018

“There’s definitely a kind of magic about Jamaica,” Chris Blackwell told me as we sat in the front room of his …

By Ben Schaffer Nov. 15, 2018

The launch of the Rum Reader as a new voice for rum is an ambitious project, and we’re gratified for all the …

By Ben Schaffer Oct. 9, 2018

When I was no more than four, I accompanied my mother to the Farmers’ Exchange in our semi-rural town of …

By Ben Schaffer Sep. 24, 2018

In recent years, Barbados-based Foursquare and its outspoken leader Richard Seale have sprung to to the …