What is rum et al.?

rum et al. is a collaboration between Dead of Night Distillery and rum et al. with 6 months left of direct to customer shipping we have started a project to release 3 different rums over the course of the next 6 months. baseline is the first release!

rum et al. is robyn smith, a chemical engineer, educator, and distiller. her journey in the distilled spirits industry began in 2018 as the research chemist for a high-tech start-up distillery making rum, whiskey, and brandy. her role there wasn’t just confined to she r&d and chemical analysis in the lab she built; she also got hands on experience working in production. robyn entered the spirits industry as a bourbon fan, but quickly fell in love with rum (literally during my interview with the distillery).

fast forward to 2024, robyn partnered with aaron rokjer at dead of night distillery and launched rum et al.! all of the rums are crafted entirely at his distillery in los angeles, california. this collaboration allows me the freedom to operate as experimental distiller.

Please check out the rum et al. for more information!

rum et al. : first release - baseline

rum et al. baseline

this rum is named baseline because that’s exactly what i want it to act as, a baseline for all of our other rums to be compared to. it is a no-frills, straightforward rum with absolutely no additives except for water to bring it down to bottling strength. it's fermented from 100% baking grade molasses for 16-22 days using the distiller's yeast strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae. it's then double pot distilled to a spirit strength of 75% abv. this is an extremely small batch, yielding only 12.5 gal of rum.

don't let the term baseline fool you, the rum is flavorful and delicious (it has a total congener concentration of 250 g/hlpa). that comes from the choice of quality raw ingredients, the long duration fermentation, and the pot distillation. when i nose baseline it reminds me of buckwheat honey slathered on cinnamon raisin toast and sprinkled with a touch of key lime zest. there's a little bit of a custardy thing paired with some earthiness like leaves and tree branches. when i take a sip, the mouthfeel is creamy and the dried fruit notes come forward immediately. that then evolves into over-roasted cinnamon bark. the citrus note that was present on the nose has transformed into grapefruit.

for more information about rum et al. and this batch of baseline, checkout their website rumetaliae.com!

Please note: Spirits are only available for pickup and shipping in California.

rum et al. : second release variable - “dunderclap”

variable

dunderclap

the line of variable rums all deviate from baseline because they have one variable changed. yes, the naming of the rum et al. batches are very literal. the dunderclap expression has 33% dunder added into the fermentation in place of some water. everything else was kept as constant as possible from baseline. it's fermented from 100% baking grade molasses for 17-23 days using the distiller's yeast strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae. it's then double pot distilled to a spirit strength of 75% abv. this is an extremely small batch, yielding only 14.5 gal of rum.

it’s also available at still strength!

if you’re as crazy as i am, you really enjoy high proof spirits. my favorite way of appreciating them is at still strength, meaning once it’s distilled, it’s bottled without any water added. the still strength of dunderclap is 75% abv, which is the same strength as baseline.

what does it taste like?

on the nose dunderclap (49% abv) has so much cinnamon and raisins with notes of custard. there’s citrus, like orange zest and orange blossom, along with brown butter. there isn’t any heat at all. the aromas are filled with syrupy fruits. on the palate the mouthfeel is oily and silky with no heat. there are immediate notes of dried figs, fig jam, and prunes. lots of prunes! there’s candied orange, toasted cinnamon stick, fresh grated nutmeg, and golden raisins. i also get notes of vanilla and honey.

dunderclap at still strength (75%) has similar notes, but the flavors and aromas are much more concentrated. on the nose there’s a variety of fruits, like dried apples, fruit leather, fig jam, raisins, and prunes. there are notes of vanilla and caramel alongside smarties and a touch of musk. on the palate, the sip is very oily and has very little heat. the first flavors i get are grape jelly and fig jam. there’s some earthiness that reminds me of wet branches. there are notes of candied grapefruit and honey roasted macadamia nuts.

what is dunder?

dunder is the dark liquid that’s left over in the still after distillation of the fermented wash. effectively all of the alcohol has been removed. what’s leftover is microbial solids, organic & long chain fatty acids, minerals, and unfermented sugars. straight out of the still, it’s sterile, but after only a couple days, yeast and bacteria begin to grow. the benefits of adding dunder include reusing some waste material, recycling & enhancing flavors, adding nutrients, adjusting the pH to a more optimal level, and introducing a little bit of microbial contamination. ultimately, this results in a rum with more complexity and flavors (mostly in the form of esters).

rum et al. : third release variable - “tailspin”

variable (tailspin)

my variable rum series explores how changing a single factor in the production process affects the final flavor. variable (tailspin) is all about distillation. unlike my previous batches, which were double distilled, tailspin was triple distilled with tails and dunder added into the second and third distillations. this was my way of mimicking the effect of a double retort pot still using only a traditional pot still (more on that below). by recycling tails and dunder, i gave the flavor compounds a second chance to make it into the final spirit.

everything else in the production process was kept as constant as possible from baseline and variable (dunderclap). it's fermented from 100% baking grade molasses with the addition of 33% dunder for 18-20 days using the distiller's yeast strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae. this is an extremely small batch, yielding only 18 gal of rum at 75.8% abv.

it’s also available at still strength!

i thoroughly enjoy appreciating spirits at still strength, meaning straight off the still without any water added, and i want to share that experience with you! that’s why i part of the batch is bottled at still strength, which for tailspin is 75.8% abv.

what does it taste like?

tailspin at still strength (75.8%) reminds me of juicy fruit gum and sweet & tangy barbeque on the nose. there are also musky and damp wood notes that remind me of eucalyptus branches after a heavy rain. it’s quite different from dunderclap and baseline! on the palate it’s creamy with immediate notes of prunes and burnt caramel. it’s roasty, yet fruity and sweet, like grilled peaches. that damp wood note carries through to the palate and is accompanied by some spices like cloves and anise.

with water added, tailspin (49%) becomes fruitier with notes of dried mango and creamsicle on the nose. there’s also cinnamon peaking through along with wet branches. on the palate, notes of dried figs and apples come forward, followed by roasted cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. the burnt caramel and prune note comes through on the finish.

how does this mimic a double retort pot still?

double retort pot stills are quintessential to the rum industry. they’re comprised of a pot still followed by two retorts (or, for my home distillers out there, thumpers) in series. the pot is filled with wash, while the retorts are loaded up with late and early tails from previous batches. this enriches the rum with flavor in one single distillation.

now, i don’t have access to a double retort pot still, but i wanted to recreate a double retort pot still using only a pot still. the first distillation was a typical stripping run, where only wash was distilled to low wines (35% abv). for the second distillation, late tails was mixed in with the low wines along with dunder to lower the abv of the liquid in the still. what comes off the still is high wines (~65% abv), which was mixed with early tails for the third and final distillation. dunder is also added to bring down the abv to safe levels for distilling (~40% abv). what comes off the still is tailspin!

this method allowed me to layer in complexity and capture a wider range of flavors, just like a double retort pot still would.

robyn smith, phd

rum et al.