Island Coast Honey Rum

Description

Continuing our very popular Members Extra theme of incredible infused rums over the last few months…This month we bring ‘Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey’ to the bar! From the award-winning Island Coast Spirits and made on the World Rum Awards silver medallist rum base, we have the very scrumptious, Tasmanian export that is the Island Coast Honey Rum!

The Island Coast Honey Rum is not just rum with a bit of honey thrown in at the end. Rather the infusion occurs alongside the whole maturation (2.5 years) which is carried out in a honey infused ex-Buffalo Trace Bourbon cask. The base spirit (distilled from a 50:50 molasses/cane juice wash) is added to the cask at 65% for the maturation, and then cut down to 40%abv with pure Tassie rainwater for bottling. And the Tribe gets it cheaper than Island Coasts own website or cellar door this month!

Island Coast is headed up by Rum Tribe member, Kirk Pinner. Kirk’s Island Coast brand has been quietly amassing World Spirits Awards medals for his whole range of spirits over the last couple of years. Island Coast produces whisky vodka and gin as well as rum. His Island Coast Rum is made on a wash of 50:50 molasses/cane juice and took out Silver in the World Rum Awards last year. This year he took Silver again for his Chilli-Vodka.

This month, we’re stoked to be launching Kirk’s newest product – Island Coast Honey Rum – his award-winning aged rum infused with the legendary Tasmanian Leatherwood honey. Leatherwood honey is special due to its rarity, unique flavour profile, and distinct origin in the pristine rainforests of Tasmania. It has a bold, spicy, and floral taste with a lingering aftertaste, and it is also valued for its antioxidant and antibacterial properties, which can help soothe sore throats, aid wound healing, and fight inflammation.

Now, we’re not claiming this is going to ‘heal all wounds’ – but those Leatherwood floral flavour notes certainly do ‘pop’ in this rum from the very first sniff.

 

 

Our Tasting Notes

Nose: Well it’s all about the honey on the nose – that’s for sure. Sweet floral notes of lavender, jasmine and, well… HONEY!

Palate: Very interesting on the palate – there’s a crispness (which is a bit odd as it’s pot-stilled) alongside the sweetness of the honey. Lots of fruit in there, dark chocolate and sweet espresso – with a distinctive honey top-note.

Finish: Predominantly lavender and honey notes. Dark chocolate and a little ginger float around too, but those lovely lavender and flowery honey notes are still playing ball right to the end.

The Island Coast Leatherwood Honey Rum presents more like a liqueur than a rum… which I guess it technically is with the inclusion of the honey (as a sugar substitute). It’s nice a syrupy on the palate – but does have a crispness to it which counters the sweetness nicely. If you’re a honey lover, this is a no-brainer – but even those who don’t passionately like honey will still find something delightful in those sweet lavender notes this rum has in spades!

From Island Coast

This special release Honey Aged Rum has been aged in an American Oak ex-Bourbon cask from Buffalo Trace. We coated the inside of the barrel with 5kg of Leatherwood Honey from our great friends at Blue Hills Honey Blue Hills Honey (Mawbanna, NW Tasmania). We then rolled the barrel every few days for 5 weeks, to allow the Leatherwood Honey to soak into the oak.

We then filled the barrel with our Island Coast Rum spirit. Which is a 50/50 combination of molasses and sugar cane, along with a further 5kg of Leatherwood Honey distilled into the Rum spirit. This was distilled to 65% ABV.

After 2 ½ years and once matured, we diluted the Rum to 40% ABV with Tasmanian rain-water, known to be some of the cleanest rain-water in the world.

Often referred to as the King of Honey and the Honey of Kings, Leatherwood honey’s bold, complex and unique flavour can best be described as “tasting like the rainforest”. This is because the wild rainforests of Tasmania are the only place in the world where the rare Leatherwood tree (Eucryphia lucida) grows.

Tasmanian researchers have discovered 12 previously unknown compounds in Tasmania’s famous leatherwood honey.

It identified the natural compounds responsible for the honey’s distinctive sweet, floral and earthy flavour that commands premium prices worldwide.
The newly discovered compounds include vanillic acid, lumichrome and lumiflavin. Several have proven antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties