Thanks for being a part of Drink To That. You’re awesome. The newsletter recently launched a new paid feature called The Premium Serve and if you’re interested in signing up you can get 10% off your first year of membership.
This provides access to new early creative projects, copywriting tips, deep dives into interesting drink categories and more.
Happy Monday all,
If you didn’t know this about me already, I’m something of a history nerd and find the Golden Age of Piracy to be a fascinating time.
It produced loads of legends and pop culture icons like Blackbeard, Black Sam Bellamy, Anne Bonny and more.
Pirates are forever linked with rum and today I’m in a swashbuckling sort of mood where I’ll be imagining the kind of rum stash that the infamous Anne Bonny herself might have.
There’s also an interview with one of the hottest spiced rum brands in the UK right now and it’s well worth reading (and drinking in) their story.
Best,
Jamie
A Pirate’s Life: Anne Bonny
A Pirate’s Life examines the drinking habits of history’s most infamous buccaneers and reimagines what kind of rum they’d enjoy in the modern day.
Anne Bonny is one of the most well-known lady pirates, having been featured in multiple works of fiction and been the source of much historical debate.
If she were alive today, Bonny would no doubt have a damn impressive rum collection, so let’s look at what kind of grog she’d stash.
Blacks Spiced Irish Rum
Given her Irish roots, Bonny would have a soft spot for rum that reminded her of the old country and she’d likely go for a bottle of Blacks Spiced Irish Rum from the Kinsale Distillery in County Cork.
Hailed as the first Irish rum, Blacks Spiced is made from molasses, aged in oak casks and then infused with different spices. Bonny would pour herself a glass in a tavern that was playing Irish folk songs and drink it straight.
Calico Jack Mango Rum
Bonny’s story will forever be entwined with the tale of Jack ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham. Their relationship has become woven into pirate legend along with the bond they shared with Mary Read.
So, Bonny would look to remember the best and the worst of her lover by drinking rum named after him.
Calico Jack Mango Rum is produced in St Croix under the banner of Beam Inc, a parent company that also owns Cruzan and Ronrico. Its tropical notes would transport Bonny back to her glory days of sailing the high seas and living a life of adventure.
Havana Club Anejo Three Rum
According to her legend, Bonny gave birth to her son in Cuba, so she’d have a natural affinity for the island and associate its rum with good memories. She’d opt for a classic bottle of Havana Club Anejo Three, which is produced from Cuban molasses and distilled in a column still.
With soft and mellow notes of lemon, citrus, ice cream and pine nut, the rum would help to clear Bonny’s palate. She might enjoy it straight or mix it into a cocktail.
Queen’s Share Privateer Rum
To some (especially Rackham), Bonny was a queen of the sea and she’d want to own a bottle that reminded her of the legacy she left behind. Privateer’s Queen Share is the perfect rum to sip while thinking of better days.
Queen’s Share is a unique style of rum that was traditionally made from the best barrels in a distillery and reserved for royalty. It required precise distilling and extended ageing to gain a unique flavour profile.
Privateer’s Queen Share is made from rum ‘hearts’ i.e the second part of the three ‘main cuts’ in a traditional distillation.
Towards the ‘tail’ end of the distillation, the hearts combine with the tails and Privateer distillers collect a fourth cut, which is known as the ‘seconds.’ Those small amounts are gathered over many different runs and redistilled together, creating a single barrel expression of Queen’s Share.
Red Bonny Rum
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and who wouldn’t want a rum named after themselves? Thoroughly sloshed, Bonny would enjoy dipping into a bottle of Red Bonny rum as a tribute to herself and the people who created it.
A dark drink blended from Guyanese rums, Red Bonny has gone through a tropical ageing process. With a flavour profile that conjures dark chocolate and liquorice, Red Bonny is best enjoyed straight or mixed with coke or ginger ale. It’s a fitting tribute to a woman who will always be remembered as an adventurer with a fierce passion for life.
An interview with Bruce & Louis Goddard-Watts: Founders of Sly Dog Rum
Congratulations on the launch of SLY DOG Rum and it’d be great to start off by learning more about the story behind the brand and what got you into rum production in the first place.
In terms of getting into rum production, we always drank rum while most of our friends were busy only drinking gin, we couldn’t understand why nobody was drinking the tastiest and most diverse spirit on the planet!
About a year ago we noticed a huge uptake in rum drinking, especially spiced, amongst our friends. We knew we could bring something different to the market, something that didn’t use the same style and themes as existing brands. We had wanted to start a young and fresh alcohol brand for a while, so there was no better place to start than with rum.
It’s attracting a much younger drinker and the image of rum is certainly livening up. There has been a lot to learn in the world of rum production, but we have really started to find our feet and enjoying every moment of it.
For us being a SLY DOG is doing what you want and not being worried about what people will think. Sly dogs work smarter not harder, and they have a way of always coming out on top. While the brand was in development, we were never afraid to reach out and speak to people that have been there and done it, we managed to team up with some of the best rum experts and flavour masters to help create the liquid.
It’s taken a little longer than expected as we wouldn’t settle for anything other than perfection, so you could say we have been champion sly dogs. We hope SLY DOG is a brand that the new wave of rum drinkers can get behind, after all we do need more sly dogs in the world.
As part of building SLY DOG, you’ve been working with your family to get it to market. How has that changed your family dynamic?
We’re no strangers to family run businesses, so the dynamic hasn’t particularly changed much. We all understand and are totally committed to building SLY DOG into a lasting brand. We all share the same ethos, and all take pride in only wanting to put our name to something we really believe in and know we can take places.
It’s actually mum we feel most sorry for – Covid has meant we’ve moved back home, and she’s unexpectedly had 2 fully grown children back, and has to contend with all their washing and their appetites.
SLY DOG joins an ever-growing list of emerging spiced rum brands and it feels like the category is more popular than ever before.
With that said, spiced rum isn’t without its detractors and I’d be interested to get your thoughts on what you think the strengths of spiced rum is and how SLY DOG can elevate the category.
As rum becomes more popular, and new brands are brought to the market, they all seem to be following the same trends as the big dogs, still focusing on the traditional picture of rum as a bit of a “pirate’s drink”.
While the history of rum is still important, we want to be the Sly Dogs of the pack, doing things differently, focusing on the flavour of our rum more than anything else. So, we went to the best in the flavour business, and working with the UK’s leading “Flavour Master” and rum experts, we crafted a spiced rum that would stand out, and created a bottle that would stand out with it.
The numbers speak for themselves in terms of the sales of spiced rum. Even before the pandemic it was growing incredibly quickly, regaining parts of the market after the “gin-boom”. What the closure of hospitality venues has allowed for is a chance for experimentation at home. We ourselves have had new rums delivered every week to allow us to sample what’s available.
This has also given rise to the popularity of more expensive choices to what is normally available behind a bar, and with that a newfound appreciation for better tasting spirits. When hospitality is allowed to re-open, this change in taste will have to be catered for by the industry, and we hope to see SLY DOG at the forefront of that shift towards higher quality, flavourful spiced rums behind every bar.
How important do you feel transparency is in the spirits industry and how do you think producers can champion this honesty?
Consumers nowadays are as informed as ever, with access to all sorts of information about the brands and products they buy. It’s the role of every industry to meet these demands for transparency and the spirits industry is no exception.
The best way for producers to be honest, is for them to realise that what consumers really want is authenticity. While the word “sly” doesn’t always make you think of honesty, as a brand, we believe in being completely transparent with our consumers. The only thing we can’t reveal is what makes up our ferociously guarded secret recipe.
Where do you see SLY DOG rum being in ten years’ time?
Obviously 10 years is a very long time, and we have huge ambitions for both SLY DOG and the spiced rum category as a whole. As we convince more people of the enjoyment and satisfaction of spiced rum, we see SLY DOG leading the way in the transition from gin-heavy bar menus to ones that reflect the immense popularity of spiced rum.
Hopefully by then, we’ll have chewed up the Rule Book and introduced and converted people to the fantastic taste of SLY DOG rum.
What would your best advice be for someone who’d like to launch their own spirits brand?
Ask for help. Talk to as many people as you can. It’s been surprising just how helpful the industry has been. Everyone we’ve spoken to has been so friendly and willing to help, even if it’s just to point us in the right direction.
Obviously, you need to have a solid, well thought through idea of what you want to produce. But once you’re happy with it, talking to the right people is going to help you turn your idea into reality. And as is always true, you need to taste your competition. Sample the market you want to become a part of to really know what your brand can do.