The Daily Pour Acquires The Rum Lab and Rum Festival & Congress, the Nation’s Largest Rum Platform

The Daily Pour has acquired The Rum Lab, operator of the Rum Festival & Congress, expanding our industry-leading network of premium spirits events beyond whiskey, tequila, agave and non-alcoholic beverages for the first time. 

The Rum Festival & Congress and its media arm, The Rum Lab, are among the most established names in the liquor events world, bringing enthusiasts together in New York, Miami, Chicago and California with plans for more cities in 2027. The festivals offer hundreds of expressions from leading brands under the same roof, in addition to cocktails and educational seminars suited for casual consumers and rum connoisseurs alike. 

With the Rum Festival & Congress under our umbrella, we now have a presence in every major premium spirits category — whiskey, tequila, agave, rum, and non-alcoholic beverages.  The Rum Festival is the fourth addition in less than two years to our growing family of event brands, which now include Whiskey Washback, Whiskey Riot, Arte Agave and Drink With Benefits, recently named a Top 10 Specialty Festival by USA Today. 

Combined, these festivals represent the largest ecosystem of their kind in the United States. The deal puts The Daily Pour on track to more than double its 2026 footprint, hosting over 40 events in 2027 and engaging in-person with more than 50,000 consumers annually. 

“The Rum Festival & Congress has built something exceptional in the rum space: a loyal consumer base, a strong sponsor network, and a reputation for world-class events,” Dan Abrams, founder of The Daily Pour, remarked. “The Daily Pour has now become the only platform in the country where a spirits or beverage brand can activate nationally, across events, content, and commerce, under one roof.” 

Federico Hernandez and William Hinkebein founded The Rum Lab in 2007 to promote rum education and premiumization. It was many drinkers’ first time encountering a term like “rummelier”  — and that attention to detail quickly earned a dedicated following.

“We built The Rum Lab on the core belief that direct education and genuine human connections are what truly elevate a spirit category,” Hernandez and Hinkebein added. “As technology evolves, true human experiences become even more irreplaceable. The Daily Pour shares this exact conviction and possesses the resources and vision to scale these festivals to new heights.”

As the Rum Festival & Congress rolls out across various markets, The Rum Lab media arm will be fully integrated into The Daily Pour, a website with over 200,000 monthly visitors and a 100,000+ subscriber newsletter. The strategy will complement our ever-growing operations, which also include an AI-powered spirits app and a video creator network with over 2.5 million followers. Hernandez will also be joining The Daily Pour team and continuing to run the day-to-day operations of the festivals. 

Brands interested in sponsorship, activation, or digital integration opportunities across The Daily Pour’s events portfolio can contact [email protected].