Warner’s Distillery, famed for its innovative portfolio of award-winning gin and noted as the pioneers of the flavoured gin revolution, has launched its first rum – WARNER’S SPICED BOTANICAL RUM (40% ABV) – and in true Warner’s style, its key ingredient is the bee-friendly, farm-grown dandelion.
Founders Tina and Tom Warner, and the Warner’s Distillery team are known for their market-leading spirits innovation via their farm-grown ingredients. The development of this unique rum evolved from a 2019 gin innovation project using only ingredients that were within a bee’s flight of the farm.
The Warner’s Rum liquid is hitting UK bars and shelves just as the rum category continues its growth trajectory passing £1bn in sales in the UK in 2022, an increase of 51% on 2019 and taking 13% of the total spirits market according to Nielsen IQ.
Creating a spice from the farm estate was going to be the difficult task until they began experimenting with the bee’s best friend, the dandelion. They discovered that dandelion roots when roasted and distilled deliver a warm spice to a spirit and so Warner’s Rum was born. The Warner’s team now cultivate 600 square meters of dandelions, with each bottle of rum effectively supporting more than 750 bee flights. The dandelion root is then dried and roasted at their local coffee roasters to create a unique spice which forms the base ingredient for the rum.
Warner’s Spiced Botanical Rum uses a white Caribbean rum base distilled with roasted dandelion root, brown bananas too ripe to sell, discarded orange peel and spices including smoky black cardamom, cinnamon, and pink peppercorn. Post distillation, more roasted dandelion root is added alongside orange peel, cassia and sarsaparilla. This not only builds flavour, but it also gives the liquid its vibrant golden colour.
“Every now and again manna falls from heaven and lands in a bottle and we’re so excited to finally let this amazing liquid out of the bag!” says Co-Founder, Tom Warner. “In true Warner’s style we’re crafting innovative flavours from nature while also creating the most amazing tasting spirit. We’re all very proud of where we’ve ended up with our first-born rum – uniquely spiced by the British countryside. We love it and we can’t wait to see what you think.”
“In the process of building this innovative liquid we’ve learned just how versatile and sustainable the humble dandelion is,” adds Co-Founder Tina Warner. “It is a hardy plant that some may call a weed and in addition to the number of pollinators it supports, the plant itself has multiple uses and we’re excited to be the first to put it into a super-premium spirit.”
Warner’s Rum has launched exclusively with Greene King in more than 150 Chef & Brewer restaurants across the UK and is available for consumers to buy via Warner’s own website –warnersdistillery.com from 17th October, and is rolling out across independent shops.
