Exclusive Interview with Mr. Toby A. Tyler, Master Blender of Afrohead and One Drop Rum

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Q: Please state your name, title/ company name (if any) and location.

Toby A. Tyler, Master Blender, Rum Blending Consultant, Restaurant Consultant and Musician - Harbour Island, Bahamas.

Q: You are originally from Australia but are now residing in the Bahamas. How did this happen?

I met my ex-wife back in 1996 in Sydney, Australia. She’s Bahamian. She had an old rundown property on Harbour Island which we decided to put on the market and sell. We came to the Bahamas in early 1997 to put the property on the market, but we never did! I talked her into keeping the property, which had an existing small restaurant and a seven room hotel. Both were in pretty bad shape and in need of some tender loving care. So we remodeled them and we turned them into a very successful restaurant and boutique hotel which received great reviews after completion.

With my prior years of experience in the restaurant industry, I ended up bringing in chefs from Sydney, Australia. We focused on having an impressive wine list (i was a private wine curator), bar, food and hotel accommodations making it a high-end getaway. It was during these accomplishments that I turned my focus to spirits and began collecting rum.

Q: You are a renowned wine cellar curator and restaurant consultant. How does that experience tie in with rum?

I’ve been around the restaurant and food business all of my life and professionally since 1988 and with the property here in the Bahamas being a restaurant, I built a strong extensive wine list and a great brown spirits collection. I never understood rum until moving here. My first introduction to rum was when a dear friend of mine, Harvey, travelled to Cuba and brought back a bottle of Havana Club 15. I tasted the rum and that changed the game for me. It changed my life direction! It totally caught me off guard as I was a scotch drinking guy and I still remember the beauty and the balance plus not being overly sweet.

Basically after trying the Cuban 15 year old I started looking around and started to collect rums whenever and wherever I travelled. Tasting my collecting that I had and to understand what I was really looking for in a blend. I also recall that after interviews about my extensive award winning wine list I would then get asked “Why such a large rum collection?” Then I would go through my collection and try a few rums with the reporters and would speak of my passion. Twice I was told “You seem to know so much about rum you should make your own!” This was around 2004-2005 and as my mother always told me “Son, you can do anything you want in this world - follow your passion!” So I did.

Q: Your first rum, Afrohead, was a huge success, with its iconic presentation and flavor profile, but you were recently in the rum news because of your launch of a different rum: One Drop. What can you tell us about this new project?

Afrohead has been around for about 12 years now here in the Bahamas. It entered into the US market in 2015 and it was extremely well received.

Now ‘One Drop’ – I was working on a side project in mid-2017. I was asked to have the blend be Jamaican juice. After about 4 months I was told the project was “Put on the back burner”. So I kept the blend in my pocket.

At about the same time, some great friends of mine, Joe and Ithalia Elison, moved back to the island. They had been away for six years living in New York City. Joe had sold his business there, but kept his brand name and logo. We were talking mid-January last year and I told him I had a blend but the project had stopped. Joe mentioned he still had, from many years ago, his logo and design that had never been used so we decided to combine them. It was just the right time, the right place- things just aligned. I re-worked the blend and decided on bottles. We then had the blend shipped here to Harbor Island where we did all the hand bottling, hand waxing and labelling.

This is the exact same way Afrohead Rum had started, in the back room of a 200 year old building using the exact same hand pump and tubing. In the nose and taste, the blend told you it was obviously derived from Jamaican juice, but I wanted to put a twist to the blend.

I used my inspiration from my scotch drinking days so I wanted the finish to have more of a whisky-like character. So the rum starts out like most Jamaican rums, but has a drier finish, which is exactly what I wanted. We worked on the finish, pumped up the proof and I knew then it was right.

My mentor always told me to trust my palate and so this was the beginning of ‘One Drop’.

Q: Given the success you had with Afrohead, were you surprised at all about ‘One Drop’ being named “2018 Best New Rum of the Year” by Caribbean Journal?

It was a total surprise! I was aware that Caribbean Journal reviewed ‘One Drop,’ but not aware at all about being in a competition of 200 rums and turning up as #1.

I was very deliberate with Afrohead blends and very deliberate with the ‘One Drop’ blend so I’m happy that people get my take on what I do. It certainly was humbling.

With Afrohead blends, their flavor profiles and what they achieved, gave me the confidence to go after the flavor profile I truly wanted for ‘One Drop’.

Q: Where are Afrohead and One Drop currently being distributed?

Afrohead is now in 12 states in the USA - check out - www.afroheadrums.com.

‘One Drop’ is currently only available in the Bahamas. We are in talks with people at present and intend to eventually spread distribution.

Q: Are you planning any additions to the One Drop line? If so, what are they and when do you expect to release them?

Yes. I’m currently working on a Gold Rum as well as a small batch 4 year old rum that was

also aged in Tequila barrels for an additional 3 years. Super interesting, just need to make sure the blend sings before it is ready for bottling and put in the hands of the consumers.

I hope to have both blends ready for release the first part of March 2019. Both blends are close to final approval and I’m just finalizing on bottle selection.

Q: What advise do you have for someone who is new to the rum world? How should they go about getting their bearings?

If you enjoy Bourbons, whiskies, Cognacs and other brown spirits, rum is a great alternative. So, start with buying a good quality aged rum, say more than 8-10 years old.

If you’re new to the rum industry, I recommend you start with the same. In my opinion, rum is the most versatile brown spirit so it’s an easy step to take, but just start tasting and you will find what works for your palate.

Q: What is the best way for people to contact you?

Through my website - www.tobyatyler.com

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Trust your palate - drink what you love and cram every experience you can into life!

Margaret: Again Toby, thank you so much for this opportunity and I wish you all the

Margaret E. Ayala, Publisher of "Got Rum?" magazine