Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum 70cl, 40% ABV - Made by BrewDog Distilling Co in Scotland - 11 Hand Selected Botanics

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With the Raspberry and Lime, Kersley and his team found “raspberry distils really well into vodka” and took inspiration from a traditional raspberry-flavoured Scottish dessert, cranachan. Some people think it might go to whisky and there are some that think it might go to rum, so strategically creating a bridge between people that understand the language of gin and transferring that to rum could be helpful.” The BrewDog Distilling Co team then infuse a combination of this white rum with Tonka beans, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and spices; the remainder is pot-distilled with an abundance of fresh orange peel, Schezuan peppercorn, green cardamom and cloves. The result is a full-flavoured blended botanical rum that is real in every sense. Free from artificial ingredients, full of spice and citrus zest; it is a product of meticulous craft. It’s not at all bad, though I must say it does taste like it would benefit from just a bit of sugar to maybe brighten some of the spices up a little. Some seem a little washed out. Almost as if there is too much going on at times. The new distillery was built because the original location was “not fit for expansion”, Steven Kersley, head of distillation at Brewdog Distilling, explained.

This has been in the pipeline for a bit of time. We long-realised we’ve got capacity constraints on the whisky and rum side,” Kersley said. “We’re a whisky distillery that’s got a serious gin problem, as we like to describe it. Gates added: “Elizabeth wrote this book and she illustrated all these botanicals, it’s a beautiful book. She worked on it to pay off her husband’s debts and get him out of debtors’ prison, and she got him out of debtors’ prison but then he went over to Sweden and got involved in some kind of coup attempt and ended up having his head cut off – which is a little bit unfortunate.”The move included a redesign of its 500 Cuts botanical rum and Lonewolf Gin ranges, bringing both brands under a more “Brewdog-led identity”, according to Steven Kersley, the company’s head of distillation. So far, this is reminding me very much of Dark Matter Spiced Rum. Which like Five Hundred Cuts uses only fresh spices – no artificial essences etc. More than can be said for a lot of Spiced Rums on the market.

BrewDog Distilling Co. Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum. Those of you outside of the UK might not be familiar with BrewDog. Those from the UK will probably not be all that surprised to seeing me reviewing this “Botanical Rum”. BrewDog Distilling Co. Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum starts with a white base rum. This is actually distilled here in the UK by BrewDog on the worlds first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double pot distilled to produce the white rum. We wanted to kind of rescue rum and make a genuine, authentic spiced rum. So we get our spirit and we get those botanicals and infuse and macerate the liquid with those botanicals – we are calling it botanical rum because that’s what it is.”

Try a Five Hundred Cuts Rum Sample…

After distillation, Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum is aged in casks and is bottled at 40% ABV without artificial flavourings. To be honest the sheer amount of spiced, flavoured and botanical rum currently being pumped out in the UK alone is frightening. Just look here at a recent screen shot of a new rum search on Master of Malt. Worrying just read some of the bullshit coming out of the some of those companies.

The Rhubarb and Lemon expression brings a “little yuzu and lemongrass to create a level of complexity and difference, which I think takes our vodkas to another level”, Kersley added. According to Gates, Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum forms an “interesting bridge between gin” that could encourage drinkers to sample the new spirit. It’ll really allow us to turbo-charge the amount of whisky we can lay down on an annual basis,” Kersley added. “Right now, we’re maxed at eight to nine casks a week, but we need to be at 30-35 casks a week. Now the brewer and distiller is growing its spirits portfolio with the launch of Gunpowder Gin, a punchy 57% ABV bottling recommended for sipping straight, or for mixing in a Martini or Negroni.

Scottish producer Brewdog Distilling Co has unveiled a navy strength bottling as the latest addition to its Lonewolf Gin line. Gunpowder Gin sits at 57% ABV Where we have the most volume and demand is on our vodka, gin and rum, so what time is left over is where we put our efforts into making whisky. The purpose of the 10,000-litre pot still is to reset the balance a little, dedicate time and become even more innovative with our whisky programme; just open the floodgates in terms of whisky production.” In the glass BrewDog Distilling Co. Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum, is a dark brown liquid with an orange hue around the edges.

Pretty much all the “botanicals” noted in the rum can be tasted and the orange peel really tempers the sweetness of the clove and the tonka beans. Making it much more balanced. That said with all these botanicals we are still getting a lot of additives. Not something that concerns me with a Spiced Rum but we have around 50g/L of additives. And then we wanted to play on a classic but do our way authentically. Coconut and rum have been best buds for however many years now, and this is probably my favourite of the three. We’ve taken toasted coconut and infused that into the rum, which balances out with the molasses and complements the burnt-sugar flavour, while making a super bright drink.” New innovation: Seven Day Vodka joins the growing Brewdog Distilling spirits portfolio New vodka range: Seven Day Vodka

Winner of 2 spirit awards

Some of the other spices used were: Clove, Lavender, Cardamom, Mace, and All Spice. All are illustrated on the label. The triple bubble still will sit alongside two 3,000-litre pot stills, one of which will become a full-time spirit still for whisky production. There will also be Brewdog’s 19m-tall rectification column. This will be much more of a Brewdog-led identity, and the way that’ll look is we’ll use some symbiotics and brands that people recognise with Brewdog, and transfer that onto spirits but in an authentic way,” Kersley explained. This authentic, handcrafted rum exists to subvert the Status Quo when it comes to the bloodline of this spirit. Distilled in the world’s first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double-pot distilled to create a white rum rich in flavour of tropical fruit and dark berries. The BrewDog Distilling Company is charged with a single mission; to challenge perceptions of what a spirit can be. This is done with a meticulous eye for detail and an approach born of non-compromise – meaning everything is done under one roof, from scratch. Nothing is rushed. For a case in point we unveil their incredible hand-made rum Five Hundred Cuts – which took six months and thirty-five recipes to uncover. But their work has been very much worth it.