Not all rums are created equal. Some are Washed Ashore.
In a world full of mass-market sweeteners and supermarket shelves, true rarity in rum isn’t about slapping “limited edition” on a label and calling it a day. It’s about intention. Precision. And a kind of obsessive attention to detail that borders on the unreasonable. At East Neuk Spirits Co., we don’t chase volume. We chase magic. Which is exactly why Washed Ashore, our single cask series, just scored 93 out of 100 at the London Spirits Competition. And why the next one won’t sit around waiting for you.
Rum rarity isn’t just about numbers
Sure, scarcity adds value. One cask. A few hundred bottles. When they’re gone, they’re gone. But rarity isn’t just maths. For us, it’s mindset. It’s about how a rum is made, not just how many exist.
“We don’t do this to flood the market,” says our founder, David Taylor. “We do it to push what rum can be.”
Examples from the world of collectable spirits (famed single casks, closed distilleries, cult followings on Reddit threads) aren’t just rare because they’re old or few in number. They’re rare because they meant something. They did something no one else was doing. That’s what we’re chasing.
Think about the Velier Caroni 1996
(Words and pictures from Ivar de Laat at Rum Revelations)
“When writing about Caroni rum, I wonder what’s left to say? It’s been an interesting story to follow. Trinidad’s Caroni wasn’t a household name in most of the rum enthusiast scene. That all changed when the distillery closed and the remaining stock was sold off. One of the major buyers was Velier’s Luca Gargano. He’s largely responsible for making a product that’s often described as motor oil, tar and diesel, into something highly desirable and premium. Quite the miracle. How did he do that? First, tropical ageing. He’s left the rum in Trinidad and Guyana to mature and develop. That’s done wonders for the taste profile. Second, clever marketing. Because this is a closed distillery, it makes total sense to play on people’s fear of missing out.”
For the craft of the rum, not for the scale of a distillery
Unlike mass-market rums designed for shelf-life and consistency, these rare rum releases are crafted with flavour-first ferocity. Small-batch doesn’t mean small ambition. It means freedom.
First with our Amber Spiced Rum we use single-origin spices sourced through relationships, not supply chains, experimenting with salt-washed water from East Neuk Salt Co.. With our Washed Ashore series, we took that a step further.
Our focus is on sourcing rare and premium rums that originate in their tropical climates and make their way to the UK, where the maturation process is completed in our distinctive damp but humid climate that defines the maturation environment of scotch whisky and contributes to its coveted status within the world of mature spirits.
Our inaugural release in the Washed Ashore series is an agricole-style rum, produced in Mauritius. The rum is crafted from sugar cane juice, which imparts a distinctively fruity and funky base character. It began its life in the hot and humid climate of Mauritius, maturing in French virgin oak casks that encourage rapid flavor development. Over time, the rum evolves into a rich and complex spirit, bursting with fruity notes and hints of wood oils. A profile best described as “wine gums for adults.”
What makes the Washed Ashore single-cask rum series particularly rare is that the maturation journey of each cask is absolutely irreplicable.
We love that the humidity and temperature, that has such a huge impact on the flavour of the liquid, will never be the same again. Age isn’t the only factor to think about here.
For this first cask in the series, Mauritius gave this rum its fire. Heat swelling the oak, pulling the spirit deep into its grain. Then it came to the UK, where our cold, damp air does what it does best; tightens the cask, squeezes the flavour back out, and layers on something darker, slower, more refined.
Even another cask on the same journey will be affected differently by the changing weather. If you’re reading this in the UK, you’ll know that an April here can bring snow storms or heatwaves.
Two climates. One barrel. No repeats.
That’s how you make a rum with a memory.
Rum for the rare few, not for the many
Let’s be blunt, Dorchadas isn’t trying to please everyone. If you want easy, you’ve got options. If you want rare, you have to earn it.
Rarity builds community. Not the Facebook kind. The kind built on quiet obsession, shared discoveries, and knowing winks across a bar. The kind that gets the text before the next drop hits the site. The kind that understands: not every bottle is for sale. Some are for believers.
When we sent Washed Ashore to LSC, we weren’t chasing clout. We wanted to know if others tasted what we did. Turns out they did. 93/100. Strong praise. And a wave of new curiosity.
“It was a rum made with the kind of obsessive detail you rarely get away with,” says our founder David Taylor. “Which is exactly why it worked.”
What makes a rum rare?
- Scarcity with purpose
We’re not talking gimmicks. True rarity means small-batch or single cask runs where every drop is accounted for… because the point isn’t mass appeal, it’s distinctiveness. Fewer bottles, not for artificial hype, but because that’s all there can be.
- Unrepeatable processes
Rums aged in a single Madeira cask, or washed with East Neuk seawater, or taken from the Dominican Republic heat to the humid Scottish coast at a specific time. If it can’t be replicated, it’s rare. These bottles are time capsules, each one capturing a moment, a risk, a master distiller’s vision.
- Craft over consistency
Most commercial rums are built for sameness. Rare rums aren’t. They embrace the unpredictable, changes in ageing, fermentation, cask selection. Every bottle tells a story. Sometimes that story’s weird. Good. Weird gets remembered.
- Obsession-level detail
Rare rum isn’t for dabblers. It’s for people who know the smell of dunder pits, who chase ester counts, who compare vintages like fine wine. These bottles are made for the curious, not the casual.
For example, for our Washed Ashore series, we’re obsessive about the detail. Out of 100 casks, one will be selected for bottling as it has out performed the others in the 100 cask filling. This could be down to wood quality, warehouse conditions, the casks location in the warehouse or the cask position (upright or horizontal). All these factors play a part in the liquid quality and obsessive level of detail. We want to know it all.
- Myth and community
Like any great rarity, it gains status through reputation and pursuit. Closed distillery? Cult bottler? Reddit thread lighting up with allocation rumours? That’s when a rum crosses from “unusual” to “collectable.”
Want to get your hands on a rare rum?
Whilst there are still a few bottles left of this award-winning Mauritian agricole single cask, you can get yours in our shop. To join the Free Trade Community and be the first to hear when our next cask washes ashore, scroll to the bottom of the page and leave your email address.
We know what we’re about to get our smuggling hands on, and you’re not going to want to miss out on one of our 150 bottles of 11-year-old peated quarter cask from the Dominican Republic. Ooft.
The rarest bottles don’t shout. They whisper. Are you the kind who knows how to listen over the sound of the waves?
