Rum Connoisseur
Interview of The Week

MARYANN BRINLEY

Shipwreck Brinley Gold rum

1. Who is Hedi Maryann Brinley?

Good stories are hard to find. Heroes rescue victims. People find true love. Everyone lives happily ever after. You need cliffhangers, cures, happy endings and why not some buried treasure. And that’s exactly what we, the Brinley family, found on the sunny island of St. Kitts with a history of sugar cane and rum-making that goes back generations. So how did a nice, New Jersey family turn into rum-runners? Well, the seeds of Shipwreck Brinley Gold – makers of award-winning Vanilla, Coffee, Mango, Coconut, Spice, Coconut Rum Cream and White Rum Reserve – were planted on our very first trip to St. Kitts in 1985. Bob, Zach, Maggie and I fell in love with the island and by 2002, we had met the local rum-maker, a French wine-maker by training who had been on the island making rum for years. This island, with its rich history of growing sugar cane and making rum had never been able to export a rum to the rest of the world. So we stepped in. We launched our first premium flavored rum, Vanilla, with a goal of creating the very best, all-natural, amazing, best-tasting flavored rums in the world.

Zach Brinley, president of our company, left his job on Wall Street in 2002 to take the lead and we are convinced that he is our not-so-secret ingredient for building a successful brand, now available across the United States, in select Caribbean islands and as far away as Australia. We are still, however, a hands-on operation, crafting our rums in a small factory just off the deep-water port in every-sunny, authentic St. Kitts.

2. Biggest achievement you personally feel you have accomplish for the rum industry.

Our biggest achievement for the rum industry? Creating and blending absolutely delicious, premium, flavored rums. Our competitors seem to think that adding a dash or pour of artificial flavoring will do the trick. Not us. We use only the best we can buy…Brazilian coffee extract…authentic coconut with no icky suntan lotion note…fresh, juicy mango with a note of citrus and peach…natural Madagascar vanilla extract…real cream and toasted coconut. With our Shipwreck Spiced rum, aged in American oak once-charred barrels for four years, each small batch is a blend of 10 barrels infused with natural spices and flavors. Think vanilla, nutmeg, clove, orange, and exotic island spices here.

3. What made you fall in love with rum and when did it happen?

The very first time we stepped off that small plane in the dark at night on the island of St. Kitts, we four were hit with the sweet green scent of sugar cane, which grew right up to the sides of the old airport back then. “What is that?” I remember asking Bob. “Sugar cane,” he answered. “Can you imagine?” Zach was 7 years old. Maggie just 4 but our family had found a home away from home, a place we visited once, twice, sometimes three times a year for decades.

4. What is that thing that makes you want to continue in the rum industry?

The extraordinary adventure of it all! When I think back to our first days after incorporating our company on the back porch of our home in Montclair, NJ, I remember a buzz of excitement that swept all of us up. Imagine? A rum company? Where would it take us? Now, we want to continue to grow our family-owned and operated Shipwreck Brinley Gold Rum into a internationally successful brand.

5.   Favourite Drink + Recipe

If you are ever on St. Kitts, you absolutely must get yourself onto a Leeward Island catamaran cruise, one of our favorite family get-away-from-it-all excursions.  And they guys and girls who sail this boat gave us the very best rum punch I have ever made and sipped. And believe me, I try rum punches everywhere I go.

“Shipwreck Island Rum Punch”
2 cups Shipwreck White Rum
1 cup Shipwreck Coconut Rum
1 cup fresh lime juice
4 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
4 dashes bitters
Freshly grated nutmeg for each punch glass

Serve chilled over ice with that sprinkling of nutmeg. And if you can be sailing on a catamaran on a deep blue sea under sunny skies, better yet.

 

6. Where do you see the rum industry today and in the next 5 years?

We believe that the rum industry is right on the edge of a huge growth spurt. No other spirit offers such range of flavors and variations giving drinkers such tasting opportunities.

7. What do you think needs to happen to grow the premium category of rum?

People need to discover our wonderful line of premium Shipwreck Rums hand- crafted on St. Kitts, the smallest country in the western hemisphere by the way…then we’ll all see more growth. Seriously, we often see our rum as perfect for non-drinkers or first time sippers of spirits. Even your grandmother can drink our rum and when that happens, we’ll all see more growth in the rum market.

8. Which rum would you recommend a person that:

Sipping a premium rum for the first time: Shipwreck Spiced Rum;
Scotch whisky: Our Spiced Rum would also be great for a Bourbon lover.
For that gin or vodka drinker: I highly recommend our newest White Rum Reserve.

9. How can people learn more about you? Website? Social Media Page?

Visit our www.brinleygoldshipwreck.com to read all about our story, the rum, the island and the shoppe where you can buy things…you’ll also be treated to a photo gallery.