British craft
From carbon-negative distilleries to homegrown sugarcane, we talk to producers at the heart of the UK’s craft rum revival about their innovative techniques
Kayleigh meets craft rum distillers in the UK
As with the gin revival of recent years, rum is certainly having its time in the spotlight – especially if recent numbers are anything to go by. Whether it was 2020’s warm spring and summer, the impact of coronavirus and the rise in cocktails being made at home, or simply more producers making rum, Majestic and Waitrose reported increased rum sales in 2020. What’s more, the WSTA (Wine and Spirit Trade Association) crowned rum the ‘drink of lockdown’, noting that it enjoyed the biggest growth across all spirits during the first lockdown of 2020, with flavour-added and spiced rum being the biggest growth categories in particular.
But it’s not just bigger rum producers riding the most recent rum wave; there has also been increased consumer interest in independently made alternatives. Incidentally, a number of craft rum producers around the UK have been experiencing somewhat of a “rumaissance” of their own. We caught up with some of the distillers who are crafting everything from rum spirit to flavourings themselves, to hear about their craft and to gauge their thoughts on where they see the industry going.
CRAFTING SUSTAINABLY
Our environmental impact on the world has not gone unnoticed in recent years, and ways to reduce it is something more and more distillers are putting at the heart of their spirit production. One distiller embracing environmentally friendly rum production techniques is Devon-based Two Drifters, run by husband and wife team Russ and Gemma Wakeham.
“We wondered why there weren’t many distilleries making rum from scratch in the UK, so we did a lot of research, sold our house, and set up Two Drifters Distillery. It’s only been 18 months, but it has been quite the whirlwind!” Russ explains. Russ and Gemma use British-refined molasses to create a range of rums, such as Overproofed Spiced Pineapple Rum, boasting fresh pineapple, sweet caramel and spiced vanilla notes. They typically make one batch of rum a week, which is approximately 450 bottles.
“We’re incredibly passionate about the environment, and we’ve created the world’s first carbon-negative rum distillery, just outside Exeter. The business is entirely carbon
negative, from field to glass. Our building, equipment and van are electric, and we have a zero-emission tariff,” Russ says.
While many of us turned to cocktail making at home during 2020’s coronavirus lockdowns, Russ thinks there’s a simpler explanation behind rum’s recent trajectory: “Consumers are realising you don’t have to make a complicated cocktail to enjoy rum. Gin sales have soared in recent years, partly because it is so easy to make a G&T. A good rum only needs a simple mixer or even just ice. Rum is finally getting the attention it deserves, and I think consumers are realising it’s such a fun, versatile spirit.”
RAW MATERIALS
For Will Edge, founder and distiller of Greensand Ridge, an award-winning carbonneutral distillery which specialises in gins, rums and fruit brandies in Shipbourne, Kent, an awareness of the environment is also key to crafting rum. “I started Greensand Ridge with the aim of building an ultra-low-impact distillery which uses food waste and surplus produce to make spirits. We aim to be zerowaste, zero-plastic and zero-chemicals, and to use only renewable energy. Rum fits in nicely as we have Europe’s only cane sugar refinery just 20 miles from the distillery, and they produce molasses as a by-product of their refining processes.”
Greensand Ridge’s rum is made from scratch, with the fermenting, distilling, ageing, blending and bottling all taking place at the distillery. As a result, the rum produced is pure and unadulterated: a key prerequisite for Edge and the team. “We ferment our rum from 100-per-cent UK refined cane molasses, using wine yeast and no other additives. It is an unsweetened, unflavoured rum, getting all its flavour profile from the molasses and cask ageing in Bourbon casks.
“Weird and wacky colours, flavours and gimmicks do not interest me – I want to make the absolute best ultra-premium spirit I can from the raw materials available to me, and I’m very proud of our rum.”
CRAFTED BY HAND
Andrew Walder, founder of the Isles of Scilly’s first and only rum distillery, SC Dogs, is taking the ‘craft’ element one step further by experimenting with growing sugarcane, and hopes to create a plough-to-bottle rum. “We are currently undertaking trials growing sugar cane here on the farm on St Martins. Initial trials have been promising, so next summer we are hoping to scale that trial up, and to produce a plough-to-bottle rhum agricolestyle spirit.”
Homegrown sugarcane aside, SC Dogs’ rum production is already deeply rooted in craft. “We make our rum from scratch, so we use only cane molasses, pure Scillonian water and yeast. Fermentation is done in two 2,000-litre temperature-controlled fermenters, and then is single pot distilled though our pot
“Rum is finally getting the attention it deserves... consumers are realising it’s such a fun, versatile spirit”
still,” Walder says. “The British rum sector is definitely on the up, and lots of inventive options are springing up across the UK. Is rum going to be the new gin? I guess only time will tell, but we can certainly hope so!”
TERROIR, TERROIR
Statistics reveal that flavour-packed rums are one of the key drivers of increased rum sales today. Typically, these consist of rums in which the base spirit is made overseas, before being spiced or aged in the UK. But there are distillers closer to home choosing to make the base spirit and add flavourings themselves. Richard and Fionagh Harding and Tom Read of The Cornish Distilling Company, based just outside Bude, distil rum from scratch using an on-site turbine for energy and borehole for water. One of their flagship rums is Kalkar, which consists of white rum blended with cold-brew coffee.
“It’s so important to know what you’re drinking... I think the craft British rum sector has a duty to educate the public about what’s in their glass, and about the spirit category as a whole. From what I have seen, the British producers making spirits on our shores are really championing this, giving the British rum scene a bright future,” head distiller and director Tom Read tells us.
For Orkney-based VS Distillery, flavours for its spiced rum are inspired by its environment.
“Our J. Gow Rum is produced on the tiny island of Lamb Holm off Orkney, an uninhabited island just 0.15 square miles – making it possibly the smallest rum-producing island in the world!” says head distiller Collin Van Schayk. The distillery’s dry-spiced rum is made with seven whole spices – two of which are secret and grown in Orkney – and boasts subtle citrus notes alongside warm undertones of stem ginger, oatmeal and cinnamon cookies. Van Schayk says, “Our main focus is aged rum. We use high-grade imported molasses – unfortunately it’s hard to grow sugarcane in Orkney! – but we don’t add any sugar or colouring to any of our aged rums as we want them to be honest, proper unadulterated rums.”
NEXT STEPS
The rum sector is clearly in an exciting position. It’s at once booming, with new brands, distillers, flavours and varieties popping up by the day, yet it’s also an area where a serious amount of time, care and craft is being put into production. Russ Wakeham at Two Drifters perhaps sums it up best: “Right now, the British rum sector is a very exciting place to be. Like with all ‘booms’, there are new brands popping up every week, but once you dive deeper into the industry, you’ll find there are some seriously exciting products, brands, stories and people rising through the noise.” We will definitely be keeping our ears firmly to the ground.