Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum 70cl, 40% ABV - Made by BrewDog Distilling Co in Scotland - 11 Hand Selected Botanics

Product Information

The line-up includes original Brewdog Seven Day Vodka and three flavoured expressions: Seven Day Vodka Passionfruit and Vanilla, Seven Day Vodka Rhubarb and Lemon, and Seven Day Vodka Raspberry and Lime. The BrewDog Distilling Company is charged with a single mission; to challenge perceptions of what a spirit can be. This is done with a meticulous eye for detail and an approach born of non-compromise – meaning everything is done under one roof, from scratch. Nothing is rushed. For a case in point we unveil their incredible hand-made rum Five Hundred Cuts – which took six months and thirty-five recipes to uncover. But their work has been very much worth it.

Part of the rum is then infused with Tonka Beans,Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger and spices. The remainder is then Pot Distilled again with a mixture of fresh orange peel, Schezuan peppercorn, green cardamom and cloves. This authentic, handcrafted rum exists to subvert the Status Quo when it comes to the bloodline of this spirit. Distilled in the world’s first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double-pot distilled to create a white rum rich in flavour of tropical fruit and dark berries.BrewDog Distilling Co. Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum starts with a white base rum. This is actually distilled here in the UK by BrewDog on the worlds first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double pot distilled to produce the white rum.

The ferment is then distilledand once done, they then “infuse a combination of this white rum with Tonka beans, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and spices; the remainder is pot-distilled with an abundance of fresh orange peel,Schezuanpeppercorn,green cardamom and cloves, over four hours, with a little unrefined muscovado added for subtle sweetness.” Gates added: “Elizabeth wrote this book and she illustrated all these botanicals, it’s a beautiful book. She worked on it to pay off her husband’s debts and get him out of debtors’ prison, and she got him out of debtors’ prison but then he went over to Sweden and got involved in some kind of coup attempt and ended up having his head cut off – which is a little bit unfortunate.” BrewDog Distilling Co. Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum. Those of you outside of the UK might not be familiar with BrewDog. Those from the UK will probably not be all that surprised to seeing me reviewing this “Botanical Rum”.So lets see what the Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum is all about. As with all good (and bad) Spiced/Flavoured/Botanical rums we have a story behind this particular brand. The Five Hundred Cuts Botanical rum is “distilled in the world’s first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double-pot distilled to create a white rum rich in flavour of tropical fruit and dark berries.” With the Raspberry and Lime, Kersley and his team found “raspberry distils really well into vodka” and took inspiration from a traditional raspberry-flavoured Scottish dessert, cranachan. And then we wanted to play on a classic but do our way authentically. Coconut and rum have been best buds for however many years now, and this is probably my favourite of the three. We’ve taken toasted coconut and infused that into the rum, which balances out with the molasses and complements the burnt-sugar flavour, while making a super bright drink.” New innovation: Seven Day Vodka joins the growing Brewdog Distilling spirits portfolio New vodka range: Seven Day Vodka Nosed it isn’t overly sweet and doesn’t smell of fake vanilla. The sweetness imparted by the Tonka Beans (similar profile to vanilla) isn’t overpowering. I’m getting a lot of ginger, orange peel and spicy szchezuan. Very much like Dark Matter this is going to be a real marmite kind of experience.

The new distillery was built because the original location was “not fit for expansion”, Steven Kersley, head of distillation at Brewdog Distilling, explained. As a mixer it makes a pretty heavy Rum and Coke and one which can be a little difficult – theres too much going on. With lemonade or tonic it fairs a bit better. In some ways the lemonade adds a touch of sweetness. Ginger Beer/Ale is a no-no it just ends up far too spicy. Again like Dark Matter this perhaps shines best in a Bloody Mary. That is a very tasty mix. We had the opportunity to attend the launch of the new Botanical/Spiced rum created byBrewDog,which was held at the Chelsea Physic Garden, where we had a chat with Steven Kersley, the young master blender behind this new spirit. According to Gates, Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum forms an “interesting bridge between gin” that could encourage drinkers to sample the new spirit.Now the brewer and distiller is growing its spirits portfolio with the launch of Gunpowder Gin, a punchy 57% ABV bottling recommended for sipping straight, or for mixing in a Martini or Negroni. He said: “Gin is a category that is well understood, and a lot of people are asking when that bubble is going to burst and where are people going to divert their attention to if it does.

We wanted to kind of rescue rum and make a genuine, authentic spiced rum. So we get our spirit and we get those botanicals and infuse and macerate the liquid with those botanicals – we are calling it botanical rum because that’s what it is.” But because all the equipment we use to make spirits are intricately linked, as demand for gin and vodka increases, we can’t make as much whisky as demand for the equipment is taken up by white spirits.” After distillation, Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum is aged in casks and is bottled at 40% ABV without artificial flavourings. In October 2021, Brewdog overhauled its spirits selection to coincide with the opening of its new distillery in Ellon, Scotland.

Winner of 2 spirit awards

It’ll really allow us to turbo-charge the amount of whisky we can lay down on an annual basis,” Kersley added. “Right now, we’re maxed at eight to nine casks a week, but we need to be at 30-35 casks a week. So far, this is reminding me very much of Dark Matter Spiced Rum. Which like Five Hundred Cuts uses only fresh spices – no artificial essences etc. More than can be said for a lot of Spiced Rums on the market.