Spirits bottling is an unusual industry. At its best, knowledgeable experts can comb through old casks to share spirits which are rare, forgotten, or historically interesting and which would otherwise be overlooked. At its worst, it can involve little more than picking up a barrel from an established distiller, pouring it into bottles and slapping a different label on it, and selling it on. But within the Scotch industry particularly, independent bottlers have proven their worth by discovering treasures that are highly in demand and making them available to collectors.
Now, a new bottler aims to highlight rare and exotic spirits, by focusing on single barrel selections. Roaming Road Spirits is opening with a curated mixture of rums from around the world, with expressions from Venezuela, Jamaica, Belize, Guyana, Australia, Barbados, and Panama which have been aged for between 8 and 20 years. Each offering will be a one-off, highlighting special spirits that have been aged in single barrels, and is available for purchase online.
“Quality and curation act as my compass as I seek rare and remarkable single-cask spirits,” said founder Mike Gilmore. “Over the past 16 years, I’ve explored countless distilleries – building relationships, trust, and a shared passion along the way. I founded Roaming Road to make sure that these unique finds don’t get lost in a major producer’s blend.”
As well as these rums, Roaming Road is planning to release a series of cask-strength Cognacs and Armagancs in the future. Gilmore acquired these from smaller French brandy houses as part of his explorations while running a rare liquor store in Pinedale, Wyoming.
“Raise a glass to the adventure ahead, to new favorites waiting to be uncorked,” said Gilmore. “Unleash your palate’s wanderlust. Expand your world and knowledge of Single Cask Spirits and join us on this Roaming Road.”
