Meet the Scottish Distiller That’s Bringing Premium Rum to the Land of Whisky

When you think of Scotland, whisky is the first spirit that comes to mind—and for good reason, given the stellar reputation of single malt scotch. But this craft distillery, located just outside of Edinburgh, is trying to convert scotch whisky drinkers to Scottish rum , and is now offering a private cask program to entice investors. Matugga Distillery was founded in 2018 by husband and wife team Jacine and Paul Rutasikwa.

The distillery currently produces two labels—Liv Rum and Matugga Rum. Liv has three expressions in its lineup—white rum, navy strength and spiced rum. Matugga has a golden rum, spiced rum and Mavuno, a limited-edition single cask expression aged for three years.

And now the distillery is opening up a private cask ownership program to the general public in the hopes that spirits aficionados and those interested in rum as a long-term investment will take notice. As we reported recently, rum has overtaken whisky sales in the UK, which is a huge development given the historical popularity of blended scotch there. Every year the rum industry would have us believe it is going to be the next big thing to compete with other brown spirits, and while that has not quite happened yet on a global level the category does continue to grow.

Whisky expert Charles MacLean MBE agrees with this sentiment. “For many years now, drinks writers have been saying that ‘rum will be the next malt,’” he said in a press release. “Recent statistics seem to support this.

[Matugga] will certainly put Scottish rum on the map, and given the global prestige of scotch whisky, it will benefit from the connection. ” There are a limited number of casks available to invest in at the moment priced at £3,300 per barrel (about $4,000). Each ex-bourbon barrel will yield about 350 bottles of rum after three years, every drop of which was distilled by head distiller and co-founder Paul Rutasikwa.

His wife Jacine’s family comes from Jamaica, which obviously has a long history in rum production. Paul, on the other hand, was born in Uganda, a country that grows sugarcane but is not really known for rum. He has plans to link production back to Africa, however, by opening a farm there to harvest sugarcane and turn it into molasses that will be sent back to Scotland to be distilled.

According to Paul, the mild Scottish climate can be conducive to rum maturation as much as it is for whisky. “Most rums are aged in tropical countries,” he said. “However, we have proved right here in Scotland that rum also ages brilliantly in cooler climates.

Although it takes a bit longer, the end result is as delicious, mature and rounded as anything from the tropics… Scotland has a little known and very deep rum heritage linked to the Age of Imperialism. Now, in 2023, we’re part of Scotland’s exciting new wave of rum distillers and there’s a real opportunity for us to create history and take Scottish rum worldwide. ” If you’re interested in investing in the Pamoja Rum Cask Offer program (“pamoja” means “together” in Swahili), check out the Matugga website for more details.

.