This is the 4th visit from my English rum distilleries tour I did towards the end of last year. Two Drifters is one of the more well known English rum producers and I do admire their commitment to their rum craft and sustainability.
Two Drifters is one of the (slightly) bigger rum distilleries I’ve visited and it’s based in Exeter, Devon. It was established by husband and wife, Gemma and Russ Wakeham in 2019. The idea came to fruition while they were both working in Vancouver, Canada and it was born from their love for rum. The inspiration for the name came from the song Moon River performed by Audrey Hepburn where there’s a verse saying “Two drifters, off to see the world…”. This was the song on which Gemma walked down the isle at their wedding and I find that to be a really amazing story for a brand. Their very first batch of rum consisting of 50 bottles was made on the 1st of April 2019.
Having never been to Exeter, I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful, especially with the weather being particularly sunny that day. I made my way to the distillery fairly easily, with a train to the city and a bus to the business park where their facility is. Two Drifters is located in an Aircraft style hangar near the city’s airport which also features a bespoke bar next door, the Drifters Rum Bar. Fun fact, the bar was made from a fallen tree that was just down the road from them. Their whole setup looks very modern and well organised, ready to make over 2000 bottles per week.
As soon as I arrived I was greeted by Russ who was quick to introduce me to Gemma as well. I could tell they were busy with the rum production, but they didn’t make me feel like I was imposing at all. On the contrary, they took their time to make me feel very accommodated and welcomed.
They gave me an in depth tour of the place and told me how they have their hands full with distilling due to the high demand for their products. Their rums are currently available in the UK (obviously), Canada, France, Denmark and Italy and their Two Drifters Signature rum can also be enjoyed on the British Airways planes.
Speaking of production, let’s talk about how the Two Drifters rums are made.
Fermentation
Two Drifters have 4×2000 litre tanks for fermenting their molasses. They use a rum yeast for all their ferments and every two batches they add dunder from the previous fermentation and then blend the said batches for consistency. They ferment over a 7 days period and the resulted wash is around 10-11% ABV.
Distillation
The stills configuration is quite interesting at Two Drifters and, not to mention, pretty as well! They have a 3000 litre pot still that’s used for the 1st run with the spirit coming out at an alcohol strength of around 40-45% ABV. Next for the 2nd distillation they make use of their 5 small 83 litre pot stills which strip the distillate leaving it at around 75-85% ABV.
They have a small 6-plate column still as well which is used to make a component that only goes in their Two Drifters White rum. For that they take the already double distilled spirit and run it through the column in order to get a lighter, crisp distillate that clocks in at 94% ABV. All the stills are ran using electricity rather than gas.
Ageing
Interestingly enough, Two Drifters use exclusively Madeira wine casks. When I spoke to Gemma she said that they experimented with other types of barrel such as American oak, but it wasn’t exactly what they wanted for their rums. According to her, their rum has some “lovely orange aromas” and so it pairs well with the profile of the Madeira casks. It is also quite convenient because there’s less carbon footprint when it comes to transporting the barrels to their distillery. Their only aged expression which uses these barrels is their Two Drifters Signature.
When I asked about the possibility of using other casks or launching older expressions, they said the demand is too high to sit on stock to age longer. On one side it is a shame, but on the other side I’m glad they’re keeping busy and producing results.
Sustainability
Two Drifters is one of the few UK distilleries to have a B Corp Certification. What that means, long story short, is that Two Drifters is committed to make the world a better place with focus on sustainability and community welfare.
Their approach to being as sustainable as possible is by self imposing themselves a carbon tax, so if anything in their rum making process or transport creates any CO2, then they work with Climeworks where they pay a fee to have the excess removed. So their goal is to avoid creating any CO2 in order to be a Carbon Negative Rum, as the label states, while keeping it cost effective.
Some of the practices they’ve adopted in order to be as carbon neutral as possible are:
- the distillery runs on 100% renewable electricity and their vehicles are also electric;
- they use carbon neutral packaging and courier and their bottles are lighter than the average, making it easier for transport;
- they sell sustainable merchandise;
- the distillery has a closed loop chilling system;
- they don’t waste any water and they filter their own water using reverse osmosis and UV (don’t ask me the scientific details behind that).
And the list is longer, but their website is very transparent about what they do and you can also find their sustainability report here if you’re interested.
Now that’s all about the distillery and the tour I had around it. Afterwards Russ and Gemma brought me to their newly set Drifters Rum Bar (which also dubs as a Rum Shop) where I had a little tasting of their rums, so let’s talk about that.
They have 4 expressions in their range, Two Drifters Pure White Rum, Two Drifters Signature Rum, Two Drifters Lightly Spiced Rum and Two Drifters Overproof Spiced.
Two Drifters Pure White Rum is the only one that contains distillate made on their 6-plate column still. It’s filtered and bottled at 40% ABV with notes of toffee, citrus peel, coconut and blueberries. Russ was kind enough to make me a Daiquiri with it and, yes, it works very well.
Two Drifters Signature Rum is pot still distilled and is their only aged expression.It spends around a year in former Madeira casks which, according to Russ and Gemma, are a little bit wet (contain some leftover Madeira wine). This one has burnt sugar added (basically caramel) and is bottled at 40% ABV with notes of clementines, candied bananas, warm oak spices and vanilla. I’ve previously reviewed this, but it makes for a pretty decent sipper.
Two Drifters Lightly Spiced Rum is pot still distilled and infused for 24 hours with spices such as star anise and vanilla. This is also filtered and bottled at 40% ABV with notes of warm spices, tea, citrus and a dry finish. The recipe for the lightly spiced was modified over time to reduce the intensity of the flavours and let the base rum shine through. It’s one of the better spiced rums out there in my opinion.
Two Drifters Overproof Spiced is pot still distilled and filtered, but it breaks the norm a little when it comes to production and style compared with the others. It contains the same spices as the Lightly Spiced, but also has 2 pineapple essences added, one for for smell and one for taste, as well as some salted caramel. It’s bottled at 60% ABV with around 13.5 grams of sugar per litre added and it really boasts the pineapple and salted caramel notes. The Overproof Spiced was created during lockdown when they experimented with various ways to infuse it, but in the end, the essences was the most stable option and didn’t give and cloudiness. It was meant to be just a fun limited edition, but it gained a lot of following and popularity so they decided to make it part of the core range. While I’m not big on pineapple rums, this one is actually not bad at all.
This was a fantastic visit, very informative and fun. If you ever find yourself in Devon I highly recommend making some time and book a distillery tour with Russ and Gemma. Check out how their rum is made and have a drink at the bar next door… maybe play some ping-pong too!
Now, once again, I recommend everyone to support Two Drifters one way or another. They are a great company with great ethos regarding sustainability and, of course, their products are very tasty. You can follow them on their socials (Facebook, Instagram) and/or simply purchase a bottle (or more) from their shop. They also sell tasting sets, merchandise and gift cards so get in there!
Many thanks to Russ and Gemma Wakeham for welcoming me to their distillery and showing me how their rum is made!
Cheers!