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.

We all owe a debt to gin (but we’ve paid it off!)

Our resident researcher and communications director, Michael has some thoughts on why we’re making rum. And they can be quite insightful!

Before the gin-inspired craft spirits boom, the drinks industry and the way spirits were consumed were very different to the way they are now. 

Whether savoured straight as an acquired taste (a single malt or fine cognac) or diluted with a rigidly associated mixer (gin and tonic, rum and coke), there was little thought given to trying something new. 

Some sample a different brand, maybe – but few drinkers of spirits would venture beyond their tried and tested way to enjoy their favourite drink.  

We sometimes, without realising, wore a badge that everyone knew was “your drink”. 

And there’s nothing at all wrong with that. Tried and tested sounds way better than tried and regretted, after all.

Some of us remember this limited choice and big-name brands only approach. Of course, we always had a broad choice in some things here in Scotland with our Whisky distilleries but even they went through a big-brand consolidation in the latter half of the 20th century. So many are now part of the multi-national drinks companies that swallowed up every type of booze they could get hold of, like that one friend that will literally drink anything at a party...   

As for brand loyalty, well, the big boys worked hard to ensure we stuck with them. From international marketing campaigns to localised promotions, we knew what we liked. It was a hard thing to change.

Same brand, same mix, same experience. Who can really blame them - it worked!

Regardless, our love of the spirit has continued to grow

The times they are a-changing and it’s good for you and good for us! The huge expansion of the craft spirit market has brought different options to what is a vastly increasing number of spirits consumers. Odds are, if you’re reading this you’re already a regular consumer of Spirit. And we all know which one is almost always top of the list! 

Gin has evolved. From the old-ladies' ruin to the modern drinker’s sophistication, it’s all there! In its many reinvented forms and flavours, it is as often drunk with just ice or as part of a cocktail, without the need for a tonic. And of course, we’ve all now entered into the “craft mixer” market - fancier and more botanical tonics, lemonades, colas. And we applaud them all - they have changed the game and it is for the better! 

Now, there is a new player on the scene which is making the market its own. We have picked up the baton from the Gin pioneers and are running a completely new race…too many sports metaphors? So, here's some facts for you:

Rum sales in the UK passed the £1billion mark in 2018 for the first time ever – an increase of 7.5% on the previous year. In 2019, the taste for Rum is set to change altogether - from a White Rum being top of the list to Spiced Rum leading the way into 2020. There's a clear pattern here and we have hardly scratched the surface.

Have you been to the bar recently and sighed? We have and we’re fairly committed to getting to a bar. We have seen it and we have felt it. As rum’s versatility becomes better known and gin fatigue (yes, we are calling it that) prompts more and more drinkers to try a new product, there is an opportunity for something different to come to the fore. (Cue fanfare.)

Step forward The 45 – a delicious spiced rum which tastes as great on the rocks as it does in adventurous cocktails and many more mixers than rum’s traditional partner, cola. We’ve tried it with everything you can imagine. It works and it’s definitely spicing things up.  

(By the way, if rum and coke is your thing, you should sample our spirit with a craft cola and we guarantee you’ll find your favourite drink has just got better.)

We are delighted to be offering you a traditionally-manufactured product with an authentic back story and identity – which we’ll tell you more of in later blogs. We’ve worked hard to keep things craft. This is hand-made by friends who have learned together.  

What’s really exciting is that the interest of you, our audience, and other potential rum consumers is already piqued. We’re on a journey together. 

This is a real rebellion and it is only just beginning. We’d like to invite you to join the journey from its outset. Forward The 45!