Meet the Producers: Five Hundred Cuts Botanical Rum | 2021

Jul 1

BrewDog Distilling Co. launched into the rum market with a bang at the end of 2019, introducing Five Hundred Cuts spiced, botanical rum to the world! This authentic, handmade rum was inspired by the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, a trail-blazing 18thcentury illustrator of medicinal plants- making her the ‘original spice girl.’ Crafted in the North East of Scotland, our meticulous eye for detail and non-compromising approach meant it took six months and thirty-five recipes to complete the process, going from grain to glass.

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Five Hundred Cuts is innovative, full of wild flavours and free from artificial ingredients. Distilled in the world’s first triple bubble still from sugar cane molasses and fermented for five days using a mixture of red wine and rum yeast. The resulting liquid is then double-pot distilled to create a flavoursome white rum filled with rich, tropical flavours and a hint of dark berries. Taking inspiration from a traditional gin distillation, a combination of white rum is steeped in tonka beans, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and spices; whilst the remainder is pot distilled with an abundance of fresh orange peel, schezuan peppercorn, cardamom and cloves. The end product- a full-flavoured rum that is real in every sense.

A story full of zest and spice, Five Hundred Cuts plays tribute to Aberdonian heroine, Elizabeth Blackwell, and her unbreakable spirit. The name ‘Five Hundred Cuts,’ derives from Blackwell’s book ‘A Curious Herbal’ which documents the five hundred cuts (botanicals and spices) some of which are illustrated on the bottle label and found in the rum itself. Blackwell used the profits from the book to release her deadbeat husband from jail. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be fairytale ending we would all hope for as he was later beheaded by the king of Sweden for acts of treason. So, in a slightly morbid yet poignant way, the axe and his skull are both featured in the label design.