Sarah Miller examines the growth of British rum
and its place in the UK spirits landscape...

”A rum renaissance is on the way”... “Rum is coming for whisky’s throne!”... “Rum’s time is now!”

For the last 15 to 20 years the rum narrative has hardly changed. Award- winning writer Dave Broom first declared rum “the next big thing” as far back as the early 1990s, and only weeks ago a British trade magazine declared that “rum seems to be on the verge of big things”.

There is, of course, always a supporting argument – there are now believed to be around 70 rum producers across the UK, and on-trade rum sales have surpassed whisky for two consecutive years – but the reality is the rum boom hasn’t happened. And I am not sure it will.

Rum has long been under-premiumised and can be a confusing proposition for consumers. Not only is there a multitude of (sometimes meaningless) categories and classifications, there’s no easy and well-known rum serve to showcase

the spirit, such as the ubiquitous G&T. Consumers may enjoy drinking rum cocktails, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to identifying as rum lovers or knowing what to do with a bottle at home.

Despite this, rum was deemed the natural successor to gin, and many distilleries tried to get ahead of the trend and insulate themselves against the inevitable gin downturn by diversifying their range. But rum and gin require very different skill sets, and so many British brands have opted to import (often cheap) rum, and blend, sweeten or flavour it to create some character. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a proliferation of rums of inconsistent quality, which risk oversaturating the market, and has also created confusion regarding what British rum even is.

To my mind, British rum should be made by fermenting and distilling raw materials in the UK, and there are indeed a growing number of distilleries doing just that, such as England’s Scratch Spirits and Dropworks, Scotland’s Matugga Distillers and The Isle of Man’s Outlier Distilling Co. Not only does making rum from scratch enable distillers to experiment with every part of the production process to create a product with a distinct flavour and style, but also to embrace ideals such as provenance, which was so crucial to the success of gin as distilleries opened their doors and shared their stories, as well as transparency and sustainability.

Two distilleries at the forefront of sustainable production are Kent’s Greensand Ridge and Devon’s Two Drifters. Greensand Ridge makes its large range of spirits using only surplus produce from the local food system. Their Wealden Rum, for example, is made using out-of- date molasses from East London’s sugar refiner Tate & Lyle. This means that if they can’t obtain locally-produced molasses they simply won’t make rum.

Two Drifters, on the other hand, make only rum and so usually import molasses from a more reliable source in North Africa, where much of the world’s sugar processing takes place. However, having undertaken a full cradle-to-grave analysis of their carbon footprint, Two Drifters permanently remove the emissions they can’t avoid – including the initial sourcing and shipment of sugarcane from Brazil and importation of molasses – with Climeworks’ direct air capture technology to achieve their carbon negative footprint. And all this is achieved without compromising what is really required for British rum to succeed: exceptional quality and flavour.

I believe authentically made British rum will succeed. However, the market landscape has changed so much since the beginning of the gin boom it’s hard to imagine any spirit will ever have the same impact, or see the same success, again.

With more consumers cutting back on consumption and spending, and the drinks industry moving towards more seasonal and celebrity-led trends and spikes, it seems likely that craft rum will remain a spirit mostly enjoyed by a small sector of society. But, for those in the know, there’s certainly plenty to get excited about.

Sarah Miller is a UK-based spirits writer, judge and consultant.
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