Ocean-Aged Spirits Are Back!

In the beginning, spirits were moved from where they were made to where they were traded in barrels by sea. Time and constant motion along the way accelerated the maturation of the spirits. Over time, barrel aging along the way to market was replaced by aging and bottling at the source. However, nowadays, some brands have decided to return to this old practice to produce authentic ocean-aged spirits.

The main reason is that the stormy seas and air had an extraordinary effect on the aging rum blend. Extreme temperature changes forced the rum to expand in warmer climates and contract in colder ones, resulting in elegant and complex spirits. Even though some of the spirits aged while in motion will experience more of an impact than others, depending on the length of aging plus the weather conditions.

Let’s talk about some of the new ocean-aged spirits.

In 2022, Goslings launched an ocean-aged spirit called Spirited Seas to celebrate ocean adventures and the brand’s origins on the island of Bermuda. The experimental expression was aged onboard a container ship on over 80 Atlantic crossings between New Jersey (in the US) and Bermuda.

In 2020, Goslings sent 60 first-fill Bourbon barrels filled with a proprietary blend of aged dark Bermuda rum on a container ship, the Oleander. The ship covered about 60,000 miles over 40 weeks, which allowed the spirit to interact with the charred American white oak and every wave felt onboard the vessel.

Spirited Seas is bottled at 44% ABV and offers subtle oak and allspice aromas. On the palate, it provides hints of stone fruit, caramel apple, and salted dark chocolate, while the finish is smooth, clean, and lingering with spiced dark oak.

The distillers at Iron Works Distillery in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, also make a rum aged partially at sea on a floating boat warehouse. The boat stays moored in Lunenburg Harbor, and they let the motion of the Atlantic Ocean toss the rum inside its barrels. Twice a year, they dock the boat and switch the barrels before bottling the spirit as Rum Boat Rum. 

In addition, Never Say Die also released an ocean-aged English Bourbon. The Bourbon, distilled and matured in Kentucky, was aged on a six-week trip across the Atlantic before finishing its maturation at the White Peak Distillery in Derbyshire, England.

Production of the whiskey began in 2017. This was distilled in the style of a traditional Kentucky Bourbon and bottled at a cask strength of 56–61% ABV. The final maturation offered it a unique flavor profile, thanks to the colder, less humid UK temperatures and exposure to ocean air throughout its voyage.

Featured image source: cocktailsdistilled.com