Distillery hopes to create a ‘unique community of spirit enthusiasts’ with the new venture.
A northern rum distillery has launched a new cask club, giving rum fans the opportunity to purchase a cask and create their own.
North Point Distillery, which is based at the former U.S Navy base in Forss near Thurso, produces a range of small-batch rum and gins, is one of a few rum brands in Scotland providing such a service.
Customers will hand-select a Firkin (a quarter cask) or a standard cask which they would like to purchase and age their rum in.
Firkins are priced from £750 to £1,000 and standard barrels from £2,000 to £3,350, depending on the cask.
With a capacity of holding 85 to 100 casks in the distillery, depending on size, the firm has also partnered with a local warehouse to ensure, if they do reach capacity, that there is another space to utilise for customers to store their casks.
Pilot rum
The distillery’s North Point Pilot Rum was the first spirit to be offered as part of the company’s cask club. It is a product of a molasses and fresh sugarcane distillate, finished in former Highland whisky casks.
Commercial director, Alex MacDonald, said: “Every year, cask offerings become more and more expensive and we wanted to make every effort to make ours as accessible as possible. That’s why we are launching with Firkin (quarter casks) as well as a range of standard barrels as part of our initial launch, nothing we do is off-the-shelf.
“We want our cask owners to feel part of a unique community of spirit enthusiasts, a club that is open to all and showcases the very best of our spirit and the community we make it in.
“It is hard to say how many bottles each cask will hold but we offer two different sizes, either the Firkin, which holds between 40 to 50 litres of rum, or standard, which holds between 200 to 250 litres. I tend to suggest bottle numbers as it is entirely dependant on the cask and the Angel’s Share loss of course.
“If someone wants a cask outside of our listed options on the website, we can also offer other casks such as madeira, port, red wine and sauternes etc. The cask options we have are some more of the popular options, in our opinion at least.
“I am looking forward to discussing the club with our new members and helping them select a truly unique cask for our truly unique spirit.”
Labour of love
And for anyone who doesn’t really know much about rum, or how it ages, the team are on hand to help all of their customers create the perfect rum.
Alex continued: “The length of time the rum is left in the casks is up to the customer. However, our expectations for ageing is circa one year for the Firkins and three years for the standard.
“We do offer our customers to age their casks further, and we advise our customers on not only the cask profile and expected tasting notes but the ageing profiles. We work with our Scottish cooperage partners and do a full cask check before filling the casks with rum so our customers do not have to worry about the cask selection.”
Boasting a bottling facility on-site, customers also have the option to explore other bespoke bottling services at the end of the maturation period.
Managing director, Struan Mackie, added: “We have been overwhelmed with the reception to our inaugural rum and we are delighted to launch the distillery’s first cask club, which will open up our spirit to a truly global audience.
“We have spent over six months curating the club, bringing together an unrivalled range of cask options to complement our rum. From our signature finish in ex-Highland whisky casks to hand-selected port pipes and Caribbean casks, we have created a cask offering that is both exciting and innovative.”
Those interested in the club can contact the team by emailing casks@northpointdistillery.com.