Daring to dream.
The inspiration for our brand came from looking out to sea across the beach where the fearless naval hero John Paul Jones had been born. When weighing up the risks of launching a new company or waiting for the Covid clouds to clear and returning to a ‘proper job’, we felt inspired to set out on our own voyage of adventure.
Scottish craft rum is the only fitting tribute.
John Paul Jones was born in Arbigland. He became a sailor at the age of thirteen and went on to become a revolutionary hero—the ‘father of the US Navy’. More than one hundred years after his death, his remains were found preserved in a rum-filled coffin. If we were to be inspired by John Paul Jones, who was nothing if not courageous, only one spirit would do. And, to be worthy of a revolutionary hero’s name, it’d have to be very, very good.
The special ingredient that binds our rums together.
We knew we wanted to craft rum with a Scottish spirit and looked at the coast for ideas as to how we could bind our liquid and our story together. We saw seawater (not much good in premium rum), pebbles (ditto) and seaweed. Which made us wonder. Why not steep our rum in seaweed harvested from the very beach that John Paul Jones knew so well? We loved the idea, so we set to work perfecting what is now ‘Lowland’, our flagship seaweed infused spiced rum.
Spiral wrack seaweed.
Spiral wrack seaweed grows abundantly on the coast of the Solway Firth, so we thought that using it to flavour our dark rum and botanical white rum would be a fitting tribute to our eponymous revolutionary. We also discovered pretty quickly that it works fantastically well—we now know why spiral wrack is known as the ‘olive of the sea’.
The birth of Lowland and Ranger.
When creating our original dark spiced rum, Lowland, we wanted to find the perfect balance of botanical flavours. Eventually, we decided on using Scottish spiral wrack seaweed, root ginger and peppercorns. When we knew the balance was perfect, we aged the rum in charred American oak, just as John Paul Jones would have wanted.
What seaweed brings to our Scottish craft rum.
Rum, ships and sailors go hand in hand. We wanted to celebrate that in every way we could, so we set out to transfer the allure of the sea into every sip of artisanal rum. Spiral wrack seaweed imparts a light salinity that perfectly complements both our botanical white rum and our signature dark spiced rum. The maritime salty notes from the seaweed enhance our revolutionary spirits in the same way as a fish supper tastes that bit better by the sea. It’s hard to explain, so please do try it and find out for yourselves.
Seaweed infused botanical white rum – a voyage into the unknown.
There are other rum brands that make seaweed infused dark rum, but as far as we’re aware we’re the only first and only one that uses seaweed in a botanical white rum. ‘Ranger’ is a craft light rum of the highest quality that we steep in whole, food-grade apples, limes and, of course Arbigland’s own spiral wrack seaweed. What results is a botanical white rum that leaves all others in its wake.
White rum vs Gin
Artisanal white rum tends not to be treated with the same reverence as craft gin. We think that might be due its use it as a neutral base in cocktails. Frankly, there’s not much point in taking the time to impart a white rum with natural botanical flavours if it’s destined for a rum & coke. So most major white rum brands don’t bother.
Using seaweed in ‘Ranger’ artisanal white rum.
White rum can be better than gin if you put in the effort; we took every bit as much care developing Ranger and we did with Lowland. Ranger white rum isn’t aged in oak (this would impart colour), which means that lighter flavours—such as those of Scottish spiral wrack seaweed—can shine. The slight saltiness is offset beautifully by citrus from green apples and zesty whole lime, resulting in a layered and rewarding clear spirit.
The Ranger Rum & Tonic
Ranger rum is a complex, subtle rum that works brilliantly in an R&T. We hope to lead the way in encouraging people to switch to this future classic, and we’re certain that Ranger is the best rum for rum and tonic.
We’d recommend using a neutral quinine tonic water and trying the following rum and tonic ratio.
- 1 part Ranger
- 2 ½ to 3 parts Indian Tonic Water (i.e. Fever Tree)
- Wedge of lime and/or slice of apple for garnish
A new ship ready to set sail.
Providence, the third expression of John Paul Jones Rum, is nearly ready to launch. Keep watch for more…
