The Islay Rum Company The Original Islay Rum {Peat Spiced} 2023

The Original Islay Rum in its Peat Spiced 2023 form comes from The Islay Rum Company, made on a double retort pot still from molasses, aged in whisky casks and then spiced, bottled unsweetened at 40%. The whole concept leans into its Hebridean home, a rum built to echo the medicinal, smoky character of Islay single malt.

The double retort pot still gives a weighty base, and the whisky cask ageing plus the peat spicing push it firmly toward Islay territory, the nose and palate both dominated by medicinal and licorice notes with a smoky thread. Drinkers are divided, some miss the expected warm spices and find it more medicinal and licorice led than a typical spiced rum, while others enjoy it in a rum and coke where the peat reads as flavour and difference rather than novelty. Declared unsweetened, it is an honest, idiosyncratic crossover, of most interest to peat lovers curious about a rum that chases the Islay profile.