11 barrels of ‘Refuge Manx Rum’ have been securely stored at the iconic monument for nearly a year

Recently, a team from The Fynoderee Distillery welcomed Lieutenant Governor, His Excellency Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer, Lady Lorimer, and their guests at Conister Rock to examine the 11 barrels of Fynoderee’s maturing Refuge Manx Rum, placed within the Tower of Refuge last September.

The Refuge Manx Rum represents the peak of a fundraising collaboration Fynoderee launched with the RNLI to honor the Isle of Man’s significant contribution to establishing the lifesaving organization by Sir William Hillary 200 years ago.

The visitors at the Tower sampled the new rum directly from the barrels, (which at 45% ABV certainly warmed the bones), and were briefed on the intricate process involved in crafting this unique rum at Fynoderee’s distillery in Ramsey.

They were also briefed on the impressive logistical feat of manoeuvring the heavy barrels into position and safely securing them for what has been nearly a year under lock and key inside the iconic monument.

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Fynoderee Distillery’s head mixologist, Ryan Corlett, was present to craft ‘Refuge Rum Old Fashioned’ cocktails, which were savored on the shingle beach facing the tower.

As the tide climbed, Ramsey harpist Arabella Ayen played Manx music for the gathered guests, marking possibly the first time music was performed on Conister Rock.

Fynoderee co-founder Tiffany Kerruish expressed: ‘We are very grateful to His Excellency and Lady Lorimer for their enthusiasm and backing of this venture, thus we were thrilled to host them on this outing, enabled by Jason Flemming and Phil Adams of Sea Eagle Rib Charters.’

“What began as Paul’s quirky concept has, thanks to the cooperation of numerous contributors, advanced to the point where we now relish the outcomes of our hard work.”

“As anticipated, spending a year in the Tower’s moist, saline-rich stonework has endowed the dormant spirit with a rich, historic nautical essence, creating an exceptional and savory golden Manx rum characterized by notes of toasted oak, vanilla, salted caramel, and bourbon.”

“We are nearing the announcement of the pre-sale for our historic, limited edition ‘Refuge Manx Rum’. We encourage everyone interested to subscribe to our newsletter to receive early notifications.”

Paul Kerruish further noted, “The forthcoming tasks remain daunting – what was stored in the Tower must now be removed, and we have plans to extract the barrels in the next few weeks.”

‘They will be brought back to the distillery in Ramsey for disgorging, cutting to a bottling strength of 45% abv, bottling, and then labelling.

‘We are going to be presenting Refuge Manx Rum in bespoke individual wooden crates with a commemorative booklet.

‘20% of all sales will be donated by Fynoderee to the RNLI so we really hope that the public will get behind us and make Refuge Manx Rum the Christmas present of choice for 2024.’

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