Made in Cornwall by The Wrecking Coast Distillery this unique Muscovado Silver Spirit is the first of its kind to be produced in the U.K. Not a Rum? Avian Sandercock, Co-Founder and Head Distiller explains “We were clear about the flavour profile we were looking for in our first rum, so to achieve this we needed Muscovado sugar as the base ingredient. Under EU directives, rum must be made solely from molasses so we make it clear this spirit is made from Muscovado sugar. To us, it presents many of the classic rum flavour aspects as well as the grassier notes found in Agricole rums made directly from sugar cane juice.”
Made in Cornwall in their distillery, they mix the raw Muscovado sugar with Cornish spring water and carefully monitor the pH levels of the resulting syrup to ensure ideal conditions for the specialist rum yeast to thrive. The syrup is mixed thoroughly and warmed to a precise temperature before the yeast is added together with a carefully selected nutrient source to keep the yeast in top condition.
This temperature is maintained throughout the whole fermentation but this is achieved more by cooling than heating as with ideal conditions for the yeast, the vigorous fermentation produces heat so they circulate cooling water through the fermenter and use the heat produced to warm the building. Fermentation takes around 5 days and produces a sour ‘beer’ where all the available sugars have been turned to alcohol. They aim for this ‘beer’ to be at 8% ABV so as not to stress the yeast which can result in unpleasant flavours. pH and sugar levels are checked several times a day to keep the environment just right. As they make more batches, they’re retaining some of the previous ferment and tails to use as backset. Eventually, they want to have a healthy dunder to use!
Once fermentation is completed, using their hi-tech stills, they perform a single distillation which is a hybrid pot/column distillation and brings across a spirit at around 70% ABV. For barrel ageing, they can target a lower ABV but this works perfectly for the silver. Once distilled, the spirit is transferred to a large stainless steel resting tank and proofing water is gradually added over a period of months and the spirit is allowed to mature over 9 months. At this stage, after much sampling, they are ready to bottle so the spirit is proofed down to the required 57% ABV or ‘overproof’. It is then filtered, bottled, labelled, and sealed in the distillery.
Tasting Notes:
- Nose – opens with a combination of thick, oily, sweet acetone, and lots of stone fruit. Salted apricot and fresh green apple evolve into a massive hit of pear drops. Finish on some pencil shavings and an earthy, truffle-like note. Further nosing after letting it stands releases an overripe tropical fruit salad, from pineapple and mango to papaya and passionfruit.
- Palate – Fresh, grassy and earthy sugarcane flavour, akin to a young agricole. The fruitiness persists, particularly the pear and apricot, and some raspberry white chocolate notes emerge. There’s also a little bitterness to balance the sweeter flavours.
- Finish – very little alcohol burn for the ABV, the acetone from the nose makes a reappearance, the earthiness keeps on going. Ends on a note of vanilla and nutmeg.
Batch 01 Only 446 bottled from our first batch Country of Origin Created, produced and bottled in our distillery in Cornwall, England Pricing £46.95 inc VAT for a 70cl bottle
Other products in The Wrecking Coast Distillery range: • Clotted Cream Gin • Honey Sloe Gin • Cornerstone Rare Cornish Gin – Tom Brown at Cornerstone Restaurant • Scurvy Gin Navy Strength • Kea Plum Rum Liqueur
