Meet the Producers | Dark Matter | 2021

It all began with a ‘what if…?’ moment between Dark Matter co-founders, brothers Jim and John Ewen.

 The question they asked themselves was: What if we built a rum distillery in Scotland?

 Undeterred by hurdles and underwhelmed by support, they went for it. Against the odds – not to mention good sense – they set up and established Scotland’s first rum distillery in 2015 and have gone from strength to strength. 

Dark Matter distills and creates its award-winning signature Spiced Rum alongside a trio of spiced and flavoured rum liqueurs in the small but perfectly-formed distillery in Banchory, Aberdeenshire.

Creating a humdrum spiced rum was never the plan, and so they searched the globe for ingredients that could deliver something distinctly different. The recipe includes freshly-peeled Oriental ginger, Thai green peppercorns, Indonesian long pepper, and South American allspice berries which intermix to give its signature spirit an explosive flavour profile.

Since its launch, Dark Matter’s signature Spiced Rum has gone on to become an awarding premium spirit with accolades including Gold at The Spirits Business Global Luxury Masters, on three separate years.