Our Journey
Born along the Isle of Wight’s coastline, Barnacle Brother’s rum is a product of our surroundings. Both founding ‘brothers’ were born and raised on the Island, spending more time in the water than out of it, spearfishing, surfing and wild swimming all months of the year requires you to adapt to your surroundings. This is where Barnacle Brothers was born. We wanted to make a rum which makes you feel like you are part of something bigger, for us that is the ocean, and we believe our rum evokes a real sense of being transported back to those warm summer evenings, all whilst serving a premium, unique taste.
We originally became interested in seaweed in 2019, during a very cold winter dive. Bruno saw huge patches of beautiful looking seaweed, and following a very cold trip back home, we began talking about the massive applications of this amazing plant, ranging from flavour enhancers to toothpaste and even as potential climate saver. Our perception of seaweed from the stuff washed up on the beach during summer changed, and we began to look into the massive variety of seaweed and the potential uses in carbon absorption and drinks. After a lot of research and talking to everyone from local rum veterans to university researchers, we found the perfect combination of seaweed to enhance the flavour of our rum, working alongside our botanicals to add depth of flavour, and incredible freshness, all whilst taking away that traditional ‘burning’ associated with many spirits.
Why Seaweed?
Barnacle Brothers taste and infusions
Our rum is carefully hand crafted by master distillers, with the distillation process taking place in high quality copper stills. To ensure that Barnacle Brothers provides the highest quality, premium rum, we use Jamaican rums which are distilled alongside our range of macerated hand-foraged botanicals and seaweed to create our signature fresh taste.
Rock Samphire
Originally used by sailors to ward off scurvy thanks to its high vitamin C content. Rock samphire grows naturally along the Island's coastline. A fantastic, fresh botanical hand-picked to ensure maximum freshness; samphire creates a bright, citrusy freshness to cut through deep, complex flavours in our rum.
Gorse Flowers
Folklore rumoured that when gorse is out of bloom, you should not kiss your loved ones, thankfully gorse is often found flowering year-round on the Island, so kiss away. We found gorse to be the perfect way to maximise natural depth of taste in our rum, our gorse is handpicked across the Isle of Wight and adds a subtle coconut tone to our rum.
Organic sugar kelp
Historically known as the poor mans weather glass, kelp was traditionally hung outside, if they softened, rain was supposedly on the way, if it dried the day was meant to be nice. Our sustainably hand harvested sugar kelp comes from some of the cleanest waters in Britain, and this amazing plant provides a fantastically smooth complexity to our rum.