b'We met Katherine Jenner, Co-founder & MD of Solihull based Burning Barn Rum.We chatted (& tasted) all things rum & found out how, from a distaster a great brand was born!F O R G E Dfrom H E F I R ETand Americans drink Bourbon. The dark spirits that have been popular in the US craft distilling revolution have been W hen we set up Burning Barn Rum almost 2those that have had a history of being produced in that years ago, it was based on research and trendsarea before prohibition decimated the American artisanal demonstrated in other parts of the drinks market and adistiller.passion for a spirit that had so much unrealised potential. After our eponymous Barn burnt down and we decidedThe great thing for Burning Barn is that Rum is Englands we wanted to make spirits, the damascene moment wasversion of craft Bourbon or Rye Whisky. Whiskey in the realisation that rum had a very similar market shareEngland doesnt have the required historical and cultural to gin but was offering none of the innovation, authenticresonance because it is a fundamentally Scottish product. flavours or compelling origin stories that were fuelling theRum, on the other hand, has been an integral part of the ginnaissance. There was clearly a demand for rum andEnglish spirits canon since the 17th century. It has been we could see the demand for authenticity, innovation andstored and blended in the warehouses of Liverpool and provenance writ large in the stories of craft gin and beer.Bristol since that time and it has fuelled some of the great institutions of our country. It is a spirit that has been a part of the proudest moments in English history and some of the darkest and most shameful. It is not dissimilar to gin in this regard with its previous incarnation as a mothers ruin depicted by Hogarth. The stars have aligned: demand for the category is there (Rum sales in the UK hit 1billion in 2017, up from 960m in 2016, according to the Wine and Spirits Trade Association), demand for authenticity, innovation and provenance is evidenced in other categories and rum is the only dark spirit with a compelling cultural and historical precedence in England. Burning Barn is perfectly positioned to react to these demands with our innovative locally sourced flavours. Our The Actual Burning Barn Smoked Rum is smoked with applewood from our very own apple trees, our Spiced Rum uses whole spices that we hand roast on site and our Honey Rum uses English Our Smoked Rum isOur challenge was to capitalise on the explosion in craft/ Honey some of which again comes from our very own hives. In the highest tradition of English rum-making, smoked with appleartisan alcoholic beverages. The aim was to pre-emptwe blend these flavours with rigorously sourced rums dark spirits following gin into the craft sector, and the UKfrom the Caribbean. As consumer tastes mature they will following the US trend in spirits as it did with craft beer.demand more complexity and authenticity from their rums. wood from our ownThe US craft spirits revolution saw a 1200% increase inBurning Barn aims to be the flavoured Rum of choice for producers of craft spirits between 2003 and 2016almostthose who love the category but want to move on from apple trees all of this growth was in dark spirits with a historical,the mass-produced, synthetically flavoured offerings of the cultural and geographical precedent. big names.The time for rum is now! This historical, cultural and geographical aspect cannot be underestimated as it is these factors that shape consumer habits and preconceptions. It is why Russians drink Vodka 72'