102: The Rumcast Guide to UK Rum

The Rumcast

In this episode, we're back with a fresh entry in our Rumcast Guides series — and this time we're taking on the rums of the United Kingdom!

Over the last 12 years or so, the UK has seen an explosion of domestic rum distilleries, with the number now reaching over 25 (and counting). We set out to taste a wide selection of these rums to get a sense of the emerging category's characteristics, standout bottles, and notable distilleries, encountering everything from straightforward crowdpleasers, to long fermentation, dunder-charged flavor bombs, to unique profiles we hadn't encountered before.

Following an overview of the category, the episode is divided into four flights that cover nine different distilleries and 16 different rums:

(13:45) Flight #1 - Unaged Lower Proof Rums:

Ninefold Pure Single Rum (46%) (pot still, molasses, 3-4 day fermentation)

Sugar House White Rum (43%) (hybrid pot/column, molasses, 7-day fermentation)

Outlier Distilling Hoolie Manx White Rum (41%) (pot still, molasses, 10-14 day fermentation)

Scratch Faithful British Rum (42%) (pot still, molasses, around 14-day fermentation, use fresh and aged dunder)

Islay Rum Distillery Geal 2022 Inaugural Release (45%) (double retort pot still, molasses, 7+ day fermentation)

Retribution White Rum (44%) (pot still, molasses)

(59:19) Flight #2 - Aged Lower Proof Rums:

J. Gow Revenge Rum (43%) (pot still, molasses, aged 3 years in ex-bourbon and virgin oak, a blend of their HD and DS marks)

J. Gow Fading Light Chestnut Cask (43%) (pot still, molasses, aged in chestnut cask over 12 months, 14-day fermentation)

Ninefold Cask Aged Pure Single Rum (45%) (pot still, molasses, aged at least 1.5 years in American oak)

Matugga Golden Rum (42%) (NAS, pot still, molasses, 7-day fermentation, ex-bourbon casks)

(1:33:41) Flight #3 - Unaged Higher Proof Rums:

J. Gow Culverin TC Marque (50%) (Pot and column, molasses, 5-day fermentation)

J. Gow Wild Yeast Series #2 Kveik 2022 (62%) (molasses, double batch fermented for 7 days and 9 days with a triple blend of Hornindal Kveik, traditional Norwegian farmhouse yeast)

Islay Rum Distillery Ùine Mhòr (55%) (double retort pot still, molasses, long fermentations ranging from 4-6 weeks featuring the use of matured dunder, native bacteria, and two commercial yeast strains)

DropWorks Funk Drop Rum (63%) (double retort pot still, "sugar cane honey," 7-day fermentation featuring their "wild trinity" yeast, dunder, and addition of muck during distillation)

(2:08:13) Flight #4 - Aged Higher Proof Rums:

J. Gow Hidden Depths Vol. 2 2017 (51.2%) (cask strength, molasses, aged 5 years in ex bere whisky/OWC oak cask)

Ninefold 3 Year Old Single Pot Still TWE Exclusive (62.2%) (cask strength, molasses, aged 3 years in ex-bourbon from Woodford Reserve)

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