Sarasota rum wins competition

SARASOTA — Drum Circle Distilling's Siesta Key Silver rum was named Best in Class at the RumXP International Tasting Competition last week in Miami. Drum Circle is owned by Troy Roberts, who spoke to the Business Review about the growth of his company in late 2009. (See “Bang the Rum.”)

Between 2007 and 2009, Roberts spent nearly $1 million of his own money to get Drum Circle going. Part of that initial investment came from the sale of a website, corvetteforum.com, to Internet Brands, an Internet media company that was taken private by Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners last year for $640 million.

Located in Sarasota, Drum Circle operates a distillery occupying 6,400 square feet of space.