Dr. Eamers

Just on the other side of the M5 motorway which sweeps around the west edge of Birmingham sits the West Midlands Distillery, a venture originally set up in 2017 by Jordan Lunn. His great-grandfather was a brewer, his great uncle a distiller and his mother a publican, so alcohol was always part of his heritage, and after several years of dabbling in small scale production he decided to move full-time into distilling, opening a distillery in Netherton in 2018 and encouraging family members to help him. The gin brand would be named after his nickname 'Dreamer'.

In 2020 the site moved to Rowley Regis and expanded to include a bar, bottle shop and visitors centre. A single malt whisky is on the way - the first from the Midlands - and the business also produces spirits under contract.

Jordan informed that once a year the team get together and look to make a one-off of 'something mad'. In the case of the Hell Smoked Rum, spirit sourced from the Caribbean was married with their own rum and aged in heavily charred barrels that had previously held heavily peated whiskies on Islay. Not only that, but smoked chilis and cacao nibs from local business Beanu Cacao were also added to the barrels to infuse even more flavour.

This is, to put it bluntly, fucking insane. On the nose there's a wonderful sweet melted chocolate note, with just a hint of spice. As you take it into the mouth and hold it for a second, that silky chocolate-y flavour holds on, adding salted caramel to the mix. But then all of a sudden - POW, there's a hit of intense chili heat. The chocolate hangs on for dear life as a wave of fire runs through, followed by dark smoke and charred embers.

It's a fascinating spirit with so much going on - it's not for everyone, and it's ceratinly not a sipper for after dinner. But as something to share with friends or try as a tasting event there's nothing like it, which is why I love it!