Scottish Spiced Rum - Rum is perfect for cocktails

The blend of strong flavours in The 45 Scottish Spiced Rum makes it perfect for cocktails.

Why? Firstly, rum’s potential for diversity is greater than that of any other spirit in colour, aroma, and taste.

This has led to booming popularity amongst consumers of all ages. In particular, we have seen an interest among millennial consumers in the craft, artisanal approach of many small-batch distilleries and have seen them venturing into the space in great numbers.

Secondly, market demand for new cocktails and different drinking experiences has fuelled the gin boom and the rum expansion to date, with a high potential for further opportunities.

With rum being an integral part of one third of all cocktails sold, the taste is already there and the discerning cocktail drinker is opening up to new ways to taste rum.

This necessity, driven by a thirst for new cocktails, has led to innovation and there are now close to 200 brands of rum available, compared with just 50 in 2006.

In pubs, bars and restaurants, our willingness to experiment with new and exciting cocktails on a night out, which has helped gin to become so popular, is accelerating rum quickly up the charts.

It is earning Spiced Rum a growing proportion of a UK spirits market whose overall value increased nearly £1bn to £11.6bn in 2019.

Scottish Rum Distillery- origins story part 2.4

So this is a story all about how our lives got turned upside down...

But enough about lockdown.

Our lives had been turned upside down even before that - by Scottish Spiced Rum.

Who remembers the part of 2020 when we were still social drinkers, rather than social distancers?

Talking of drinkers, that’s how our company started out. Last year, eight friends with many things in common - including their appreciation of drinking - embarked on a mission; a mission to make Scottish Spiced Rum.

You can read more about that elsewhere but I’d like to share the story of how our dream suddenly got real, how we realised we’d outgrown our garden distillery (the rum shack), which was set up in a secret location on the outskirts of Glasgow in the shadow of the Campsie Fells.

We secured a suitable location for our new, bigger distillery in February, with grand views of the majestic M74 motorway that runs through the heart of Glasgow.

We are advocates of the ‘recycle reuse reduce’ philosophy and sourced our materials that way - from oak casks fetched from deepest Clackmannanshire to the steel tables where the rum-making magic now happens, found in the loft of famous Glasgow pubs such as the Horseshoe.

Luckily we have a man with a real job amongst us.

Stevie, armed with his welding mask and probably other bits & pieces, created some sensual video clips for us of sparks raining down everywhere. Think Magic Mike, only filmed in Rutherglen. And, happily, he also created some perfect distillery furniture in the process.

The distillery is now up and running - sadly, at the moment, in government-mandated single person shifts, and producing tons (not literally - yet) of the good stuff.

Most importantly the pirate flags have arrived - you can’t have rum without pirates - and adorn the wall to inspire us further. Once this lockdown finishes, we’re so getting the place properly designed! 

One day there will be tours but until then, if you want to be part of our Scottish Spiced Rum story, you know what to do.

(by Marcus)

Dad Bods Assemble: The secret origins of The 45 Scottish Spiced Rum (Part 1.1)

The 45 Rum movement was started by a group of long-standing friends who met through a shared interest in socialising and sport. But we’re also interesting, funny and quite humble…
Among our number are engineers, an entrepreneur, company directors, Pharma Sales and media sales, a bar owner and a journalist. So, just like you, well cool.
We like to think we share the profile of those who will drink our Rum. We see ourselves as outgoing, adventurous and open-minded. Occasionally one or more of us does something interesting or says something funny. Our closest friends, family and admirers see us as an assembly of dad bods who will find any excuse to meet or have a drink together. They are right.
Any parallels between us and the Jacobites are very minimal at best so we think this should be clear. We won’t die if we get things wrong, hopefully, even if at one stage in the early development of our product we wondered whether that was a possibility.
Like our predecessors’ movement, ours too has founding figures – but they’re more like a big brother than a Bonnie Prince (thankfully, we think).
What we share with the people of The 45 is a commitment to what we have decided to do. It’s irresistible- regardless of how potentially insane. We are loyal to a vision that things can be changed for the better - something worth fighting, and making rum for.
But in truth, we genuinely like this idea; no matter which side of history you favour, which path you take, your actions can be bound by a common trait: loyalty.
For people who like rum and other spirits, we hope this is exciting news. We are bringing something new and authentic to the table, both as a company and in our product.
The 45 is a flavoursome spirit and we think you should also say this word out loud: Flavoursome. It’s not just a word reserved for the Ross Gellers or Oxo Commercials of this world. We needed it to have a distinct identity to match our grand Jacobite metaphor and it has; its spices and botanicals infuse a twist of wild Scotland in its uniquely nectarous, strong taste. Yes, we actually said “nectarous” and here’s a link to the definition, so it’s a real word!

What does this mean to the average drinker? A, it’s not bulky like beer - it’s compact and neat. 2, it’s not hard like whisky - it’s smooth and slightly sweet but still edgy. And D, it’s not floral like gin - it’s robust and substantial yet fantastically tangy and warm.

If there is one other thing that we have in common with the noble warriors of The 45, it is that we don’t know where our journey will take us… and we’re Scottish and almost completely out of our depth most days. But we will always be clear-eyed about why we set out on it.

We are asking you to join our movement. Dare to be different. Share the Spirit of Rebellion.

How do you drink spiced Rum?

This is not a stupid a question as we first thought it. We have grown so familiar with some drinks- from the new craft beers that have hit the taps over the past few years to the gin explosion- honestly, who is not making Gin? I bet you’re already making Gin…we’re not making Gin.

We even know that the options for the mixer have grown by so much- everyone’s on a craft this or that, tonic added is just dull these days.

So, what do you do with a Scottish Spiced Rum? Well, that’s a bloody good question, finally. The answer, as you’d imagine, is not that simple. You can actually do quite a lot. So, in the interests of covering a few bases and as an homage to the late, Bubba (Forest Gump), we’ll do a list:

How to drink The 45 Spiced Rum

Straight up:

In a glass with a big ice cube, add a tiny splash of water and a twist of orange peel. Game ON! This is serious- you will taste everything we have in there.

With a mixer:

We recommend expanding your mind away from a Coke but if you want that, please try something with a bit more punch than that stuff that comes out of the gun at the bar. Get a cola that has something in there- yes, a craft cola but you could, at a push, use a flavoured coke…even cherry!

A great, classic mixer for rum is Ginger Beer and that is fantastic. It will really accentuate the ginger in ours though so be careful!

Think about a Limonata (that fancy lemonade). This is great and works well with some fruit in the glass.

As part of a cocktail:

Sooooooooo many choices here but there are some that might surprise you. An Old Fashioned is really great with our spiced rum. Same everything else, just swap out the Bourbon for spiced Rum and you’re onto a winner.

Another surprise is in a Bloody Mary- swap out the vodka and use the rum. The sweet and spice really livens it up.

A champagne cocktail can also handle this- add your sugar, bitters and a splash of rum, top up with sparkling wine of your choice (no, that does not include lambrini ladies…).

So, there’s some ideas, but the most important first step is: get a bottle of The 45 Spiced Rum and make your life much better!