Troy Roberts is a man after our own heart. He grew up in beautiful Sarasota, Florida, eventually venturing out into the world to find his passion, but during his time away, he would dream of sitting on the beach in Sarasota, watching the sun set with a rum in hand.
Eventually he heeded the pull back to a life on the beach, sold his business and headed back to Sarasota, where he bought a still and started a journey that would soon lead to the creation of the award-winning Siesta Key Rums.
Troy started Siesta Key Rum in 2007 under Drum Circle Distilling (named after an interesting eventthat occurs every Sunday evening on Siesta Key Beach to welcome what can be a mind-blowing sunset). He released his first rum, Siesta Key Silver in 2010. With the help of two close friends, his hard-working father (apparently he works for rum!) and his beautiful wife Nanci, Troy is now creating a line of amazing rums that have received, and continue to receive numerous awards and accolades.
When asked about the learning curve for creating a good rum, Troy said that it was quite a process. He tried every yeast, every molasses and every natural flavor that he could find before settling on the perfect combination for each of his rums. He continues to do the same thing with each new rum he creates. In addition to the silver rum – which is really so good that it can be sipped on its own, Siesta Key produces several other rums that are also available in the tasting room at the distillery: a gold rum, a spiced rum and a toasted coconut rum.
Both the spiced rum and the toasted coconut rum are fantastic; hand-crafted in small batches by infusing rum with fresh spices and actual toasted coconut. Troy doesn’t use any artificial flavors or sweeteners in any of his rums and you can absolutely taste the difference.
Two other rums produced by Siesta Key are rather hard to procure. Distiller’s Reserve Spiced is created using a traditional solera process. Troy initially created this rum for his own enjoyment but friends and family liked it so much that he had to start making more. A limited number of bottles of Distiller’s Reserve Spiced are available at the end of September each year and sell out quickly. Distiller’s Reserve Spiced is only available at the Siesta Key Rum Distillery and if you follow them on Facebook, you can get updates on the release date.
We were treated to a special taste of this years batch of Distillers Reserve during our visit as Troy kindly poured off a sample from one of the barrels. The natural spices, honey and Florida sugar cane combine to create a truly delicious rum experience – no wonder it sells out so quickly!
Additionally, The Siesta Key family has started a new trend in the rum business – a rum that is aged in beer barrels called the limited edition Beer Barrel Finish Spiced Rum. Interesting, to say the least, each batch of this rum is different depending on the beer barrels available. We really enjoyed sampling this creative rum as well. Limited amounts of the Beer Barrel Finish Spiced Rum are sold in the Tasting Room when available.
With all of the awards and word-of-mouth advertising from happy customers, the demand for Siesta Key Rum is growing. It is pretty widely available across Florida, is available through many Total Wine Stores nationwide and can be shipped to some locations by Broudy’s. When asked about the plans for the future of Siesta Key Rum, Troy paused a moment and said, “The growth is exciting, but that’s a balance we continue to work on”. The desire to continue to produce an artisan rum, experiment with different flavors and ideas, increase production to meet the demand and still have some free time to enjoy it is an important balance for the team.
There are weekly tours that you can take at the distillery at 2212 Industrial Blvd. in Sarasota.
Troy himself leads the tours that combine a wealth of information on the rum distilling process, an up close look of the equipment used, a good dose of humor and at the end – delicious samples of Siesta Key Rums.
We’d highly recommend this tour if you are in the area. You’ll not only get some terrific information on these delicious small batch, artisan rums, you’ll get to meet and learn from the man behind them and top off the experience with rum tastings!
Can’t make the tour? You can still stop by the Tasting Room for some free samples and to pick up a couple of bottles!
Be sure to follow Siesta Key on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and check their website for more detailed information on the rum distillery tour and the portfolio of award-winning Siesta Key Rums.
Have you taken the Siesta Key Rum Distillery Tour? Tell us about it!
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