Award Winning. Scottish island rum.
Inspired by pirates, distilled beside the sea.
Home
About
J. Gow
J. Gow Rum takes its name from the infamous Orkney pirate John Gow. His short, violent career began in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and ended in Orkney. He was imprisoned, tried and hung. Not once, but twice, (after the rope snapped the first time) at London’s execution dock on the 11th of June 1725. While the name conjures up images of pirates, it also creates imagery of the brutal seas and rugged coastlines surrounding Orkney.
The Distillery
The rum is produced in Scotland, on Lamb Holm a tiny island (0.15 square miles). Home to the Italian Chapel and connected to mainland Orkney by the Churchill barriers. The distillery sits metres away from the sea. It may well be one of the smallest rum producing islands in the world.
Rum
Â
Scottish Rum
All of our rum is made entirely in Orkney, from start to finish. High grade molasses is imported (unfortunately it’s hard to grow sugar cane in Orkney) and fermented for 5 – 14 days, in our temperature controlled 2000 litre fermenter and 2000 litre still. We ferment to around 8% ABV which is then distilled in a stripping run to around 30% ABV. This stripped molasses wash (or low wine) is then returned to the still for a final spirit run.
We produce a range of rum styles, using various fermentation techniques with different percentages of backset/dunder. Mainly focusing on heavier, more full bodied rums.
Casks are laid down every year. Only releasing it when we feel it’s ready, and tastes just right. We currently have a mixture of chestnut, virgin oak, ex bourbon, ex red wine, ex port and ex whisky and ex sherry casks.Â
Future releases
We release a few single cask and limited editions rums per year, sign up to our mailing list for early access to these releases. We plan to add 8 year old rums and beyond to our range once these are ready.Â
Visit Us
Visit our shop and tasting room beside the distillery on Lamb Holm. Located next to the Italian chapel across the Churchill barriers.
Opening Times
Monday to Saturday 10am – 4pm
Sunday Closed
Sample our full range of spiced, unaged and cask aged rums.
Sample the full Orkney wine range
Merchandise – Gifts – Local Produce
Cocktails
Cocktails, long serves and recipes ideas using our J. Gow rum. Whether it’s a twist on a classic or something totally different, why not try them for yourself.
Apple Gow
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
100ml Cloudy apple juice
Mint Leaves
2-3 lime wedges
Add the rum and apple juice, mint and lime to a glass full of ice, stir and serve.
Pirates Blood
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
100ml Cranberry juice
Orange peel
2 dashes bitters
Add the rum and cranberry juice to a glass full of ice. Add 2 dashes of bitters, stir and serve with a twist of orange peel.
Old Gow
1 teaspoon demerara sugar (you can use sugar syrup instead)
A splash of water or soda
2-3 Dashes of bitters
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
A twist of orange peel
Ice to serve
Muddle the sugar with the bitters until dissolved, add a splash of water or soda to make it easier. Add the rum, orange peel and ice. Stir and serve.
J. Gow New Amsterdam
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
25ml Sweet red Vermouth
2 Dashes of bitters
A twist of orange peel
Ice
Add the Ice, Rum, Vermouth and bitters to a cocktail shaker, stir thoroughly, strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a twist of orange peel.
Sunset Manhattan
50ml J. Gow Fading Light
25ml Dry Vermouth
2 Dashes bitters
ice
Twist of Lemon & Cherry to garnish
Add the Ice, Rum, Vermouth and bitters to a cocktail shaker, stir thoroughly, strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a twist of lemon and a maraschino cherry.
J. Gow Jungle Thyme
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
20ml Campari
20ml Lime Juice
20ml Thyme Syrup* (Sugar Syrup works too)
50ml Pineapple Juice
Ice
Pineapple chunk and fronds for garnish.
Add all the liquid ingredients into a cocktail shaker full of ice. Shake well, pour into a tumbler with one large ice cube. Serve with a pineapple chunk and fronds for garnish.
*Thyme Syrup
Make a 2:1 simple syrup (dissolve 2 parts sugar into one part water in a pan). Once the sugar has dissolved take it off the heat and add a few sprigs of thyme. Allow to cool and transfer the syrup and thyme sprigs into an empty bottle. Use it straight away, or leave it longer to infuse in the bottle. Keeps for several weeks.
J. Gow Orange Daiquiri
1 tsp granulated sugar
15ml Lime juice
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
1 tsp Curacao/Triple Sec
10ml Orange Juice
Ice
Dissolve the sugar with the lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients and ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange and lime peel.
J. Gow Rum and Maple Flip
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
15ml Oloroso Sherry
15ml Maple Syrup
3 Dashes Bitters
1 Whole Egg
Ice
Allspice (ground)
Cocoa Powder
Dark Chocolate
Add the rum, sherry, maple syrup, bitters and egg to a cocktail shaker. Add the ice, shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Strain into a glass. Dust with allspice and cocoa powder, garnish with grated or flaked dark chocolate.
Hot Buttered Gow
2 tsp Demerara sugar
2 tsp Unsalted butter
2 Dashes of bitters
A pinch of ground cinnamon
A pinch of Allspice
50ml J. Gow Spiced Rum
Cocoa powder to garnish
To make it strong…
Add all ingredients except the rum, to a pan. On a low heat, melt the sugar and butter into a syrup. Remove from the heat, add the rum, stir and strain into a heatproof glass (or mug). Dust with cocoa powder to garnish.
To make it long…
Add ingredients to a heatproof glass (or mug) add 100 to 150ml of boiling water, stir and sprinkle over the cocoa powder.
FLBD (Fading Light Banana Daiquiri)
1 tsp Sugar
Juice of 1/2 a Lime
1/2 a Banana
50ml J. Gow Fading Light chestnut cask rum
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Mash up the banana, add ice, shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Super easy to make 2 at a time (use 1 whole lime & 1 whole banana).
Cask Offer
J. Gow 2024 Cask Offer
J. Gow Rum takes its name from the infamous Orkney pirate John Gow. His short, violent career began in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and ended in Orkney. He was imprisoned, tried and hanged. Not once, but twice, (after the rope snapped the first time) at London’s execution dock on the 11th of June 1725. While the name conjures up images of pirates, it also creates imagery of the brutal seas and rugged coastlines surrounding Orkney.
The Distillery
The rum is produced on Lamb Holm, a tiny island (0.15 square miles) just south of St Mary’s village. Home to the Italian Chapel and connected to mainland Orkney by the Churchill barriers. The distillery sits metres away from the sea, providing an ideal unique climate for ageing rum. It may well be one of the smallest rum producing islands in the world.
The rum is meticulously crafted using a 2000-liter pot still, from cane molasses. Employing fermentation periods lasting between five to fourteen days, we extract the finest flavours from the molasses, resulting in a robust, ester-rich spirit bursting with character.
Apart from our signature offerings such as the spiced rum, Culverin unaged, chestnut cask-aged Fading Light, and Revenge 3-year-old rum, an array of styles have been carefully aged in casks for future releases. These span from lighter, higher-proof rums to full-bodied, intensely flavoured varieties brimming with esters.
Within our inaugural year, we were featured in Ian Buxton’s esteemed “101 Rums to Try Before You Die”, and won three medals at the 2018 IWSC, including the trophy in the rum & ginger beer category. Subsequently, our journey has been marked by an additional two gold and nine silver medals across various spirit competitions, including the International Spirits Challenge, World Rum Awards, and London Spirits Competition.
As well as our core range, our limited edition and single cask rums have garnered high praise from leading reviewers worldwide.
The cask offer is your chance to own your own cask of award-winning Scottish island rum, inspired by pirates. Distilled beside the sea.
We are offering 20L virgin oak casks, Fortified/Sweet Wine octave casks (around 65L), 100L Rejuvenated oak casks or 200L Ex bourbon casks filled with a choice of 3 different rum styles. (other casks are available on request).
You can choose from the standard pot still rum casked at circa 62% (the same recipe as our Fading light).
HD (heavy dunder) pot still rum (the same recipe as Revenge), a heavier big flavour rum casked at circa 62%.
Or SP (Single Pass) Higher strength rum which utilises the column on top of the pot to create a lighter spirit casked at circa 63.5%.
Cask owners will receive a certificate of ownership, samples of their rum each year from year 3 onwards. Invitations to any special distillery events and priority on any new or limited edition future releases.
The cost includes storage for 8 years (this can be extended for an extra fee) bottling and labelling, with your choice of label. It does not include any duty or VAT payable once the rum is bottled.
Full terms & conditions can be found here;
J. Gow Rum 2024 cask offer terms
For serious enquiries and more info please email
info@vsdistillersltd.com
Tours
Unfortunately we are unable to offer any tours at the moment whilst the new cask warehouse is under construction. We are hoping to run them again this summer.
Situated on the picturesque island of Lamb Holm, just next to the Italian Chapel, why not drop in and sample our range of Orkney made rums.