About

J. Gow Rum

Named after Orkneys very own 18^th century pirate John Gow. J. Gow Rum distillery sits metres away from the sea on Lamb Holm, a 0.15 square mile uninhabited island. Which makes it probably the smallest rum producing island in the world. John Gows 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. He was one of the last pirates hanged in London. While the name conjures up images of pirates, it also creates imagery of the brutal seas and rugged coastlines surrounding Orkney.

Our Story

After re-joining the family business in 2013. Collin worked several years for the Orkney Wine Company (making fruit wines since 2001). With his dad ultimately priming him to take over the business. Instead of taking over the business he took over half of the building, installed a 2000L pot still and started making rum in 2017.

Scottish Rum

Every step of the rum-making process, from fermentation, distillation, ageing, and bottling is meticulously carried out on-site at the J. Gow Rum distillery. Molasses is imported, mixed with water and yeast and fermented to around 8%, for 5 to 14 days depending on the recipe. It’s then double distilled for a traditional pot still spirit, or distilled in a single pass utilizing the column on top of the pot. This takes the spirit from 8% to 85% in one run. The rum is then left unaged, spiced or filled into casks for several years to mature. Once ready it’s bottled and labelled by hand.

Several different recipes are produced using various fermentation techniques. Some are made with backset (waste left in the still from a stripping run) instead of water in the ferment. Others also incorporate dunder, a bacterially fermented still waste that contributes to the development of esters, enhancing the complexity and richness of the spirit.

Now, after two years, the new cask warehouse is complete, offering ample space to house several hundred casks. This expansion allows for the relocation of all casks from the production hall to the warehouse next door, freeing up space for distillery tours to resume in the summer. It’s an exciting time for the distillery as older rums mature for release, including a single cask 8-year-old next year, and a core range 8-year-old set for release in spring 2026.