DropWorks Barrel Drop Rum. We are back to Worksop today. Ahh Worksop Town I’m sure George Best played for them at some point…..I hear you all shouting, no Wes it was Dunstable Town!

Well he did so there. unfortunately it was George A Best and he was a Goalkeeper. Not a right winger or an alcoholic. He actually played his last professional game not far from me just down the road in South Shields.

That pretty much sums up my knowledge of Worksop a town in Nottinghamshire where DropWorks Distillery is situated. Close to the Welbeck Abbey Brewery, which I also know sweet FA about.

DropWorks Barrel Drop Rum is the first aged offering from the distillery. There is quite a lot of information about the rum on their wesbite so I will summarise it as best I can. For full details see here.

DropWorks Barrel Drop Rum is a molasses based rum. This is important as a number of distilleries in the UK use Panela or even Sugar as the base for their rums. Which arguably makes them NOT rum according to EU guidelines. Little however seems to be done about this. I suppose as long as Tax is being paid why would the government care?

Two fermentations ranging from 4 to 30 days using a unique Wild Trinity Yeast. The rum is made up of 3 marques of which 75% is Column Distilled, 15% Double Pot Distilled and 10\% Double Retort Distilled.

It does not have an age statement on the bottle but it has been aged up to 16 months. I am not sure what this means? Is only part of the liquid 16 months old? I don’t know.

It is aged in a selection of casks one of which is a hybrid of Portuguese and American Oak. Both of which have been Shaved, Toasted and Re-Charred (STR). There is also a small amount of the rum aged in Virgin Oak casks.

This rum is a continuous release as part of DropWorks core range. It is bottled at 40% ABV. You can pick a bottle up direct from DropWorks or at Master Of Malt.

It retails at just over the £30 mark. So its pretty well priced considering the work that goes into it.

So thats my information exhausted so lets see how this one goes down…………

DropWorks Barrel Drop Rum is in keeping with most other UK based rums. On the initial nosing its a heavy molasses, caramel and treacle profile. It’s certainly something much like Jamaican and Bajan rums that marks it out from other types of rum.

Something which I think the UK poducers should make more of a point about. I do think a little more solidarity and working together would help UK rum overall. Raise its profile worldwide perhaps.

Anyway I digress, further nosing reveals some fiery ginger root and some gingerbread biscuits. A touch of black pepper and some cocoa like notes. I’m getting some Rum and Raisin Ice Cream and some stoned fruits as well.

On the sip the molasses heavy profile remains so plenty of dark treacle and lighter caramel notes. Treacle Toffee but with a slight bitterness to it.

It’s rich and warming and quite fiery. The ginger and spicy notes from the barrel certainly come out as we move into the mid profile. There is a slight creaminess off set by the strong rum flavour which runs out into the finish.

Finish wise its a reasonable length and the strong flavours of the rum remain throughout. It’s certainly full bodied and does not shy away.

As a mixer it works really well as it stands up to pretty much anything you throw at it. Maybe not the best for the lighter cocktails such as Mojito’s but its certainly good in a Dark and Stormy, Navy Grog etc.