Fynoderee auctions its first bottle of rum

Isle of Man-based Fynoderee Distillery is auctioning the first bottle of its Refuge Manx Rum this week to benefit the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

All proceeds from the sale of the bottle labelled number one will be donated to the RNLI to commemorate its 200th anniversary this year. The auction will be part of the proceedings at the RNLI Isle of Man gala dinner on Friday 25 October. Tiffany Kerruish, co-founder of Fynoderee Distillery, said: "We are hoping that people from far and wide with a love for the RNLI will enjoy bidding for this very special piece of RNLI and Manx history. To enable as many people as possible to make a bid, we have listed ‘Bottle 1’ on local auctioneers Murray’s website so that anyone with internet access will be able to bid for this unique, signed ‘number 1’ bottle of Refuge Manx Rum. "The bottle will be beautifully presented in a custom-made commemorative wooden box, which includes a souvenir booklet detailing the Isle of Man’s role in the formation of the RNLI and the production story behind our Refuge Manx Rum. It features the stunning new label for Refuge Manx Rum designed by local artist Julia Ashby Smyth, and is also signed by her." The 45% ABV rum was created by The Fynoderee Distillery to highlight the origins of the RNLI in the Isle of Man. The Ramsey-based distillery aged 11 quarter casks of Manx Rum in barrels inside the Tower of Refuge for one year during the RNLI bicentenary year. After a year at sea on Conister Rock inside the Tower, the rum is back ashore where it will be bottled, labelled and individually numbered at the distillery. Fermented and distilled by the Fynoderee Distillery from organic Colombian panela, Refuge Manx Rum is described as a light amber rum that’s naturally coloured and non-chill-filtered with notes of toasted oak, vanilla, salted caramel and bourbon. A fifth of the sales from every bottle – 2,500 in total – will be donated to the RNLI. The 200th bottle from the batch has been donated to the RNLI for its national archive. All the remaining bottles can now be ordered from the distillery's website for £125 (US$162). Last month, Fynoderee Distillery partnered with Danish distributor Bemakers to offer direct-to-consumer deliveries in six European countries.