More than an investment. A place at the table.
A world of rum.
A community of founders.
Founded by 100. Built for a world of connections. The Founders Club connects people through exceptional rum, memorable experiences and meaningful relationships.
Private gatherings · access to the makers · journeys curated for an international community
The story
The people you meet at this table
We bring curious people together through remarkable rum, extraordinary places and introductions that last. The club is about the people you meet — the friendships and the business relationships you build — wherever you come from.
So we set the table, with a liquid worth crossing an ocean for, on the island that made rum.
It takes an island. It takes one hundred founders.
1 · The club
Founded by 100. Grown by invitation.
A shared passion for rum, people and access — in two circles, one community.
Founders 100 — the original investors
Permanently limited to the original one hundred, who are investors in the business. Permanent recognition as founding members, priority invitations and access to selected events, releases and Barbados experiences. Investment benefits and shareholder rights belong to this group alone, stay distinct from club benefits, and live on the separate investor site — never on this page.
The Founders Club — invited members
Members who join after the hundred are invited members, not shareholders: the same international community, the tastings, gatherings, rum journeys and selected releases — without investment rights. The original hundred stay original forever.
2 · Experiences
Four ways the club gathers
Private Gatherings
Dinners, cocktail receptions and intimate tastings — the smallest rooms with the best company.
Barbados & Beyond
Island heritage, distilleries and cultural experiences, on the island that made rum.
Rum Adventures
Curated visits to festivals, bars and distilleries worldwide — the map, taken personally.
Meet the Makers
Masterclasses and access to leading bartenders, blenders and the hands behind the bottles.
Rum adventures · ideas under consideration
Twelve journeys on the table
Ideas under consideration for 2028 onward — five rum and cocktail experiences suggested by Ian Burrell, and seven more anchors from the house. All proposed: dates, venues, access and partners subject to confirmation, and nothing promised before it is agreed.
Miami Rum Congress
A weekend in Miami Beach — rum seminars, producer tastings and the Grand Rum Tasting, with visits to three local distilleries: The Little River Distillery, Miami Rum Club and Big Cypress Distillery.
Madeira Rum Festival
A trip built around the festival's local rum tastings and masterclasses, with a distillery visit. Ian is often at this one.
Tales of the Cocktail
Tastings, seminars and the city's great cocktail bars — with five rum distilleries close by.
The Mauritius rum trip
Distillery visits and guided tastings at Rhumerie de Chamarel and Domaine de Saint Aubin.
The Nepal rum trip
A small-group visit built around Khukri Rum — with a private distillery visit and tasting, if access can be arranged.
Home ground
The island gathering — distillery visits (subject to agreement), dinners, heritage and the festival itself. The one no member misses.
The builders' city
A founders night in San Francisco — dinner, tasting and the future flagship home, "Designed for builders."
Rum down under
A festival weekend with visits to Australian distilleries — from Queensland's cane country to the new wave.
UK RumFest
The festival Ian Burrell founded — tastings, industry access and a private founders gathering. Also the fourth 2027 flagship.
Jamaica
Rum heritage in festival season — the estates, the blenders and the music that carries it all.
Rhum Fest Paris
Europe's great rum weekend — tastings and masterclasses, with the city's cocktail rooms after dark.
The Tokyo bars
The world's best bar culture — masterclasses and a guided run of the great rooms, glass by glass.
3 · The programme · proposed
The first flagships
The programme opens with a small number of flagship experiences, led by five anchors suggested by Ian Burrell — Miami, Madeira, Mauritius, Nepal and Tales of the Cocktail. Timing is honest: the first may land late next year, with the programme proper from 2028. Everything here is proposed and subject to confirmation; nothing implies secured access or bookings.
Washington DC
A private founders dinner, rum tasting and introductions in an early US market.
The Barbados Gathering
The flagship island gathering — distillery visits, dinners, heritage and Crop Over itself.
An Evening at the Castle
Peoria, Illinois — a castle-hosted reception and dinner, cocktails, guided tasting and founders networking.
UK RumFest
London — a rum-focused weekend with tastings, industry access and a private founders gathering.
RSVP and register-interest links follow with the live site.
4 · Founders network
The people at the table
From the first day: introductions within the hundred, invitations to gatherings, and the island gathering each year. A private member area follows once it is scheduled. Membership is by invitation; terms are shared privately, person to person — never on this page. One route in, answered by a person:
richard@11parishesrum.com
The club door and its sign-in follow with the live site.