Northern Irish Rum
Smugglers Reserve Rum
A blend of Dark rum from Barbados and rum distilled in Donaghadee. The Barbados rum has been aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels and the Copeland rum aged in a mixture of French Pinot Noir wine and Quarter Bourbon casks and blended in a ratio of 90:10, bourbon to Pinot Noir.
Inspired by the clandestine smuggling activities that took place along the Copeland Islands in the 18th and 19th centuries.
For great rum cocktails, head over to our Cocktail page.
40% ABV
Shop Our Rums
Smugglers’ Reserve Rum
Inspired by the smuggling through the Copeland Islands during the 18th & 19th century, this is our flagship dark rum. A marriage of light rum from the distillery and heavy rum from Barbados. Perfect for your favourite rum cocktail at home.
IWSC Silver Award 2022 | Label of the Year, UK packaging awards 2021 | Design and Packaging Master Awards 2022 - Master Award70cl | 40% ABV.
Bordeaux Grand Cru Rum
Smugglers’ Reserve Overproof Rum
Copeland Hero Bundle
Introducing the Copeland Hero Bundle! Discover the coastal spirit through our hero products including:
- Our award-winning, Traditional Irish Gin 45% ABV
- Smugglers' Reserve Rum 40% ABV
- Merchants' Quay Blended Irish Whiskey 40% ABV
Smugglers’ Reserve Overproof Rum Giftbox
Copeland Smugglers’ Reserve Rum 5cl Mini
What is Irish Rum?
How is Copland distillery Rum made?
Copeland Distillery currently have two equally delicious options for all rum connoisseurs, and they follow a very similar manufacturing process. They differ in the ratio of the blend itself and the aging process.
Mashing
Mashing is the first stage of the production process, which is where the different ingredients are mixed together. Copeland rum is made with 200KG of sugar cane molasses, and diluted down with hot water. Before extra ingredients are added, the 1100L of molasses wort needs to cool down, after which the yeast and nutrients are added. The Wort is left to ferment for a week which is how the liquid becomes alcoholic. This Alcoholic liquid is called the wash.
Distillation
Once the wash has been fermented for a week, on the 7th day it is split into two wash distillations. These are more commonly known as runs, and these runs need to start distillation on the same day. The end result is a total of 360L of what is known as ‘low wines’. On day 2 of the distillation process, the low wines are distilled a second time. The low wines for our Irish rum is distilled through the spirit still, where they are cut into heads, hearts, and tails. The heads and tails are repurposed and used in the next day's spirit run with the fresh low wines. The hearts are kept, collected, and batched together; the hearts are then diluted down to “cask strength”.
Aging
The Smugglers Reserve and Overproof rum are aged slightly differently, and blended with different ratios. The Smugglers Reserve is made from heavy Caribbean rum, made to Copeland Distilleries specifications, and blended with our own rum. The rums are re-aged for up to 12 months in a mixture of First Fill American bourbon oak barrels and French Pinot Noir casks and are then blended at a 9:1 ratio (Bourbon: Pinot Noir). The Overproof rum is made from specific batches of re-aged rum, which is filled one batch at a time, using French Pinot Noir and First Fill American bourbon casks. They are then bended at a ratio of 1:1 giving a smooth, superior rum and it is then bottled at 57.2% abv. If you want to find out more, why not visit us? Our Tours are back! Find out more.
