Askival - Botanical Rum (70cl, 45%)

"Rum from the Isle of Rùm
A blend of 5-year-old Caribbean rums and local water are infused with wild botanicals and spices foraged and inspired from the Isle of Rùm.


A wee bit about our main botanicals
Meadowsweet runs along the banks of Kinloch river winding down through the glens on the island. Traces of meadowsweet have been discovered in excavated pots on Rùm linking its use to the mead making process, no doubt as an aromatic. As mead is a drink synonymous with the Viking's we most definitely cannot state a claim to being the first on Rùm to make an alcoholic beverage with meadowsweet. Meadowsweet helps enhance the natural vanillin present in the rum and brings clean floral notes.

Roasted Kelp represents the coastline as well as the deep history that kelp has with the island and the MacLean Clansman that farmed it here. Eventually, the price of kelp rocketed during the Napoleonic wars and then sadly crashed after the Battle of Waterloo resulting in the clearing of the tenants. From a flavour perspective, our roasted kelp brings comforting saline depth and notes of dark chocolate.

Spruce represents the more recent years of the island. The reforestation of Kinloch Village and castle estate in 1900 is one of the best examples of reforesting in the Hebrides. That may be because when the Bulloughs (a wealthy Victorian family) bought the island, they covered the entirety of Kinloch Village in soil imported from Ayrshire to create a more verdant landscape. This was the first botanical we stumbled upon during our initial search to make a rum from Rùm. This both enhances and brings bright and clean citrus notes that are prevalent in Askival.

Tasting Notes:

Nose
Oceanic, mildly floral, winter spices, vanilla custard, wet alpine forest

Palate
Dark chocolate, sea air, pear tarte tatin, mouth-filling umami, buttery, Cassis, herbaceous

Finish
Salted caramel popcorn, dried apricot, white pepper"