DRINK : Old Mother Hunt Rum, the definition of pivoting!
There’s always going to be two drinks that define your drinking habits when you are younger. The go-to tipple that was your steady alcoholic beverage of choice, your first love and then there’s the tipple, the shot of something that you had one too many of and have sworn to never ever bring that stuff to your lips again.
My first time alcohol love is rum, especially Spiced Rum and Captain Morgans! My ‘devil’ spirit is Sambuca. The mere thought of it turns my stomach!
I do enjoy many other alcoholic drinks - whisky, gin, wine etc but if ever asked what’s my tipple of choice it will always be rum or a rum based cocktail.
SCOTTISH RUM : OLD MOTHER HUNT. BORN IN LOCKDOWN, ENJOYED IN FREEDOM!
A few years ago I had the pleasure of visiting some of Barbados’s rum distilleries - Mount Gay, Foursquare and St Nicholas Abbey. If the beautiful aroma from a whisky distillery gets you excited wait till you experience a rum distillery. All that sugar cane molasses is shhweeet!
After these visit’s I was delighted to find out that Scottish rum was on the up and the industry was starting to make a noise. We make rum in Scotland people! Isn’t that amazing.
I found a particularly nice rum called Old Mother Hunt that is crafted in Strathaven, Scotland. It’s created by Becky and Matt, wife and husband duo and was born out of necessity when Matt lost his job as a pilot during the pandemic and with two young children at home, Becky and Matt needed to do something - they did. They pivoted, they took a risk and started their own business. Old Mother Hunt rum was born!
The process for making rum is very similar to that of whisky and gin - copper still, distillation, infusion, blending … but with it’s own processes and methods obviously. Rum is made from molasses, a by-product of sugarcane (which does not grow in the UK, but grows vastly in the home of rum, Barbados).
Initially, like many producers of rum in Scotland, OMH had to import their pure white rum into Scotland and finish it off on site. But now with their distillers licence, Becky and Matt can create their rum from start to finish using molasses rather then importing the pure white rum.
Which means they are completely in charge of what and how they create their rum and the flavours added to it. As OMH is small craft batched rum, (their copper pot still holds 200 litres) means that each run will be slightly different; they use natural, whole ingredients in their rums so climate and weather play a large part in the flavour profile providing that slight variation each time they distil.
OLD MOTHER HUNT RANGE OF RUMS
Silver Rum, their white rum ABV 40% - from £15.95
Spiced Rum. ABV 40%. Winner of a Great TASTE Award 2022 - from £15.95
Golden Rum. Matured in Virgin American White Oak barrels which gives it that golden glow. ABV 44% - from £16.95
Coffee and Chocolate Rum. ABV 40% - from £15.95
Dark Rum. Infused with toasted Chestnut staves. ABV 42% - from £16.95
Smoky Oak. Smokiness comes from smoking the molasses ferment rather than the distillate. ABV 40% - from £15.95
Pineapple and Mango Rum. Infused with fresh and roasted pineapple and mango. ABV 40% - £27.95 (50cl only)
I have to admit that my go to when drinking rum is always ginger ale or cola with lots of mint. I know it’s not very inventive but sometimes all you want is a long drink and there is nothing wrong with a classic.
I did try the Spiced Rum over ice, and I have to say its rather lush. There’s a lovely sweetness that comes through but there is also warmth and spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, ginger, perhaps a hint of honey and a little caramel. It’s very smooth and oh so easy to drink.
Over the next two months, I’ll be working on two cocktails using Old Mother Hunt. An Autumnal one as we start to get our ‘coorie’ on and a spook-tacular one for Halloween.
Old Mother Hunt will also have two new flavours out soon : Vanilla and Toasted Coconut (Amazing. I’m gonna be all over this one!) and for Christmas they’ll have Winter Spiced.
They’ll also have a new “tasting set” which will be 3 x 100ml bottles, so there will definitely be no excuses to finding your favourite OMH rum.
For more info on Old Mother Hunt Rum, Becky’s Blog and their rum store, visit www.oldmotherhunt.co.uk