Can rum from Scotland really be worth writing home about? - by Jan Ohrt

Blogpost by Jan Ohrt

Woodrow’s of Edinburgh is a well-known independent whisky bottler with a preference for buying whole casks and storing them in its own warehouses until they are ready for bottling. The company favours bottling at full cask strength, usually in small batches. This is something they are both known and respected for among whisky enthusiasts. But apparently, they also enjoy dealing in rum—and they seem to be rather good at it. Here, we take a look at their latest release: a single 32-year-old cask that spent its entire life in Cuba’s tropical heat. So, it is safe to assume that the Caribbean angels have had their share.

This is not the first time this Scottish merchant has dealt in rum. I once saw an empty bottle at the home of a good rum-loving friend. It was said to have contained a similar project, although that one had only been bottled after 45 years in a Cuban cask. It was reportedly an exceptionally charming acquaintance, but with only 261 bottles produced, one would be a costly proposition today—if you could even get your hands on one. I should add that we are still friends.

A very limited number of just 24 bottles of their 32-year-old rum have now arrived at Whisky.dk, specially bottled for the Danish market. Although importer HSG Whisky calls Edinburgh almost daily to ask whether we can get hold of a few more, we should not expect any additional bottles. So, even with this new and younger charmer, we should probably expect nothing but empty bottles before long.