The team from The Fynoderee Distillery recently hosted Lieutenant Governor, His Excellency Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer, Lady Lorimer, and their guests, for a visit to Conister Rock to inspect the 11 barrels of Fynoderee’s maturing (and soon to be launched) Refuge Manx Rum, placed inside the Tower of Refuge last September.

Refuge Manx Rum is the culmination of the fundraising partnership that Fynoderee entered into with the RNLI to commemorate the Isle of Man’s key role in the formation of the lifesaving institution by Sir William Hillary 200 years ago.

During the visit to the Tower the guests tasted a sample of the new rum direct from the casks (which at 45% ABV certainly warmed the bones) and learned more about the process of making this special rum from scratch at Fynoderee’s Ramsey distillery.

They were also briefed on the impressive logistical feat of manoeuvring the heavy barrels into position and safely securing them for what has been nearly a year under lock and key inside the iconic monument.

Fynoderee Distillery’s head mixologist, Ryan Corlett, was also on hand to mix up some ‘Refuge Rum Old Fashioned’ cocktails, which were enjoyed on the shingle beach in front of the tower.

As the tide rose Ramsey harpist Arabella Ayen performed Manx music for the visiting party to enjoy, which was quite possibly the very first time a musician has ever performed on Conister Rock.

Fynoderee co-founder Tiffany Kerruish said: ‘We are very grateful to His Excellency and Lady Lorimer for their interest in and support for this project, so we were delighted to take them out on this trip, which was facilitated by Jason Flemming and Phil Adams of Sea Eagle Rib Charters. 

‘What started out as an outlandish idea of Paul’s has, with the help and support of many different parties, reached the exciting moment where we are tasting the fruits of our endeavours.  

‘As we had hoped, a year within the sea-soaked stone walls of the Tower has imbued the resting spirit with the historic maritime atmosphere, resulting in a really interesting and delicious golden Manx rum with notes of toasted oak, vanilla, salted caramel and bourbon.

‘We are very close now to announcing the pre-sale of our historic, limited edition “Refuge Manx Rum” and would urge anybody interested, to sign up to our newsletter to be first in the know.

Paul Kerruish added: ‘The next steps are still challenging – what went into the Tower now needs to be taken out, and we have plans to retrieve the barrels in the coming weeks.

‘They will be brought back to the distillery in Ramsey for disgorging, cutting to a bottling strength of 45% abv, bottling, and then labelling. 

‘We are going to be presenting Refuge Manx Rum in bespoke individual wooden crates with a commemorative booklet.

 ‘20% of all sales will be donated by Fynoderee to the RNLI so we really hope that the public will get behind us and make Refuge Manx Rum the Christmas present of choice for 2024.’