Recent television has been peppered with irresistible references to stormy nights on England’s shores, in which roguish smugglers in loose white shirts and faded leather boots pull small boats up the beach under cover of darkness. These tales of infamous men – whose names have endured for centuries – bring to mind the smell of woodsmoke and sea salt, and warming brown spirits sipped from battered tin mugs.
And so to Lyme Bay on the unspoilt Jurassic Coast of England’s south-west, where the fossilised remains of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs lay waiting to be discovered under the sand and shingle. For more than 100 years smugglers in this area, such as the notorious Jack Rattenbury, would paint their rickety little “lugger” boats black and pack them full of contraband to sell to the highest bidder.
Fast forward to today, and these romantic scenes have given way to a vibrant, brilliant mix of influences. Nowhere is this blend of cultures more evident than in the food and drink we have on offer across the UK. Whether it’s Turkish meze or Korean fried chicken, chances are you’ll be able to find it here. In terms of food and flavours, Britain’s multiculturalism has always been a string in our bow, and for Lugger Rum – which is made in Devon’s Lyme Bay Winery – this international twist is essential to a modern-day rum.
Orange peel, spice and all things nice
Lugger Rum seamlessly blends complex flavours and spices to create a rounded, subtly complex, yet richly flavoured sipping spirit. Here’s how:
The Caribbean connection
Take your windswept Devon coastline and add Trinidadian and Guyanese rum, aged in charred Tennessee barrels to add smoky, vanilla notes. The resulting spirit pulls back on the sweetness thanks to the unique style of these aged rums, unlike many of the commercial, more confected varieties.
Spice it up
Cloves were lauded by Chaucer and Shakespeare for the unique flavour they imparted to ales and pies, and Elizabethan royalty would use them in pomanders to mask unsavoury bodily aromas. During the spice wars of the 17th century ships went to great lengths to bring these spices to our shores.
Nutmeg, highly sought after for its curative and mildly hallucinogenic properties, as well as its culinary ones, used to be worth more than livestock per kilogram. Britain couldn’t get enough of this exotic flavour, and using it became a sign of wealth. Now they’re two of the spices found in Lugger Rum.
The Mediterranean twist
Lugger’s flamboyant, citrus peel kick on the finish harks back to Plantagenet times, when expensive deliveries of oranges from the Mediterranean would be requested by Edward I’s Spanish wife, Eleanor of Castile, to remind her of home. Their beguiling scent permeated London’s theatre scene during Restoration England, when oranges were sold to theatregoers by wenches such as the infamous Nell Gwyn, who became Charles II’s mistress.
Lugger Rum is the result of centuries of British history and the inquisitive, innovative minds at Lyme Bay Winery. Here is a team who have been helping lead the surge in quality and discovery of English wines, and are now turning their hand to fine spirits. Their rum is a nod to all the delicious things that made the British food and drink scene what it is today, as well as the notorious smugglers who managed to supply more illegal brandy and rum to the West Country than was ever legally imported into the capital. The finish on Lugger Rum is sure to be a little smoother, however, than the contraband hooch dragged up the beach from those little lugger boats.
Lugger Rum is a Caribbean rum aged in Devon, featuring sophisticated notes of orange peel, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla. Pick up a bottle at Waitrose today
