Rum is the new gin and British women rum-makers are leading the way.

Cleo Farman is on a mission and has no doubts about her goal: “I want to convert gin drinkers and tempt rum virgins!”

Burning Barn Rum, which is smoked over applewood.

The former marketing manager for Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island property, also ran the Odd, Oddest, Odder and Blue Pig bars in Manchester.

At her Chorlton base, she now concocts Diablesse Caribbean Rum and Diablesse Clementine Spiced Caribbean Rum (www.diablesserum.co.uk).  

“There’s loads more to rum than a Cuba Libre and I’m fed up of gin getting all the attention.  I wanted to create my own rums that are pure, unique and authentic and I’ve well and truly achieved that with Diablesse,” Farman says.

“ From raising finance for the project in the first place which was probably the biggest obstacle, to fathoming out the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) licensing laws, to learning how to get hold of Caribbean rum, to extracting information on all costs around bottling and producing the rum,  to getting the blend right and the flavour profile right… I’ve faced so many obstacles out of my comfort zone!”

The name Diablesse comes from a legendary story about a Caribbean seductress who enticed men into a forest and was never to be seen again.

Only a few months after being made redundant from her marketing job, Victoria Black started Newbold Spirit in Leamington (www.newboldspirit. co.uk). 

“I was made redundant on July 2 and by July 4, I had registered Newbold Spirit at Companies House. I’m so thankful I got the boot and am doing something I have always wanted to do. We were inspired by our friends at Arran Gin.  The rum is made in the Caribbean.  We turn it into spiced rum. There were lots of tastings and friends were more than willing guinea pigs.  There was a shocker of cardamom, coffee and way too much chilli,” Black notes.

“These days more of us are splicing the main-brace. Rum is booming. The world market is thought to be worth over £1 billion.  The British are becoming a nation of rum-makers. Many couples are involved.”

As rum drinkers, we were frustrated at the sea of gin on backbars and the subsequent lack of choice in rums

Paola and Stuart Leather make Rathlee’s Rum in Lostwithiel, Cornwall (www.rathleedistilling.com). Paola comes from Bogota, Colombia, and blends Colombian rum with Cornish spring water to produce her West Country Golden Rum. She worked as quality manager and technical brewer for St Austell Brewery. 

The first British rum was made by former biochemist John Walters, now based at the English Spirit Distillery in Great Yeldham, Essex.  Old Salt Rum, the original British rum launched in 2012, is named after the old salt depot in Dullingham, Cambridgeshire, where the dark rum was first made. It has spawned many imitators as well as innovators.

Newbold Spirit Rum, a spiced rum.

Twenty years ago, Joy Spence became the world’s first female master blender. Working at Jamaica’s famous Appleton Estate Distillery after teaching chemistry in Kingston, she moved to England where she completed a master of science degree in analytical chemistry at the University of Loughborough. She then worked as a research chemist for Tia Maria.

The rum industry now has a handful of women who hold the master blender title, such as Brugal’s Jassil Villanueva and Zacapa’s Lorena Vásques Ampie.

 Although made from peanut butter, the UK’s unique Rumbutt is suitable for nut-allergy sufferers.  Founder Michelle Partington is an honorary teaching fellow at Lancaster University’s Business School.

Cleo Farman, the brains behind Diablesse rums.

“Rum is such a versatile spirit to add flavours to.  I had a bottle of rum in my kitchen and thought I’d pop in some peanut butter and powder. I tweaked the quantities. And after 11 versions came up with Rumbutt. It can be served with lemonade and lots of ice, garnished with fresh raspberries. Raspberry juice is a good pairing,” Partington says.

Shelly’s also produces Rumbarb, a blend of Caribbean dark rums with rhubarb, demerara and vanillas, besides Raspberry Ripple and Manchester Tart gins.

Based in the west Midlands, Edinburgh-born Katherine Jenner makes her Burning Barn Rum (www.burningbarnrum.com), which is smoked over applewood.

“The craft movement is not a fad. It’s a recognition of the value that more of us are placing on sourcing ingredients and innovative production methods,” Jenner points out.

Her business was quite literally forged in fire: “It was a long-held ambition to start and run my own business. I always wanted to do this in the food and drink sector. My first job was working for a wine-trading platform dealing in fine wines. I gained some WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) qualifications in wines and spirits and then, after moving to Lidl, on September 25, 2015, a massive fire developed on my husband Harry’s family farm.”

They were fruit farmers who diversified into toffee apples.

“The fire was a massive inspiration for me to leave a job I was no longer inspired by,” Jenner remarks.

“At the time gin was everywhere. As rum drinkers, we were frustrated at the sea of gin on backbars and the subsequent lack of choice in rums.

“It didn’t happen overnight. After a lot of recipe testing and number crunching, we decided to go for it. My aim is to provide the taste and quality progression in rum, from mass produced to craft as already enjoyed by beer and gin drinkers.” 

They use the old apple trees planted by her husband’s father 30 years ago. They don’t produce fruit in quantity anymore so they harvest the wood chips to season and smoke the rum.

Jenner also makes a honey and rum liqueur as well as a spiced rum.

“I've never been to the Caribbean. My mission is for my rum to be the rum of choice for drinkers who wish to progress from the sweet spiced rums of the big names to a more complex offering made with authentic ingredients in an honest way,” she says.