By Stefanie Collins, editor b&c
When Stolen created their unique version of a Spiced Rum, they wanted to do something completely different. As passionate rum drinkers, they were tired of overly sweet and simplistic flavour profiles that defined the category.
Stolen Spiced Rum was their brainchild, with a unique infusion of natural flavours appropriated from around the world, including smoked American hardwood, Colombian Arabica coffee, vanilla from Madagascar, and Moroccan fenugreek.
The most prominent flavour in Stolen Smoked Rum had always been the smoke, imparted by a process known as pyrolysis. This means that the hardwood is first burnt at a very high temperature, then, in the absence of oxygen, the initial smoke condensate separates, rises, is captured in a chamber, condensed and cooled into a liquid. This method creates a smoke flavour, which is added to the base rum along with other natural flavours.
The result is heady and masculine – with toffee and vanilla aromas on the nose, coffee, smoke and butterscotch finish on the mouth. Stolen Smoked Rum is not sweet and sticky like most spiced rums.
While the flavour profile of Stolen is layered and complex, what really stands out is its smoky finish, so it is only fitting to give the smoke the headline it deserves – hence the rebranding of Stolen Spiced Rum to Stolen Smoked Rum.
Samm Creasey, marketing manager for Stolen says “We decided it’s time embrace our point of difference and hero a unique development in a century old spirit. So we’re dropping the ‘Spiced’ moniker and calling it what it is.
"This change celebrates the true essence of Stolen and its unique position in the rum category."