Independent Scottish rum brand Dorchadas Rum has unveiled the second release in its collectible single-cask Washed Ashore series: Cask 02, an 11-year-old Dominican Republic agricole rum finished in a peated Islay quarter cask. Just 139 bottles are available.
This release showcases Dorchadas’ signature approach to rum maturation: a process that deliberately layers contrasting environments and cask types to achieve complexity rarely seen in the category. Cask 02 has already been shortlisted for International Distilled Rum of the Year at the Scottish Rum Awards
The rum began life in the Dominican Republic, where it was column-distilled from sugarcane juice and matured for nine years in ex-bourbon barrels. Tropical heat accelerates interaction between spirit and oak, driving vanillin, caramel, and ripe fruit notes into the liquid.
From there, the rum was reracked and shipped to Scotland, where maturation slows dramatically. In Scotland’s cold, damp coastal air, evaporation rates drop, tannins soften, and subtle secondary compounds have time to emerge. Finally, the spirit was transferred into a peated Islay quarter cask. This smaller cask size increases the surface contact between spirit and oak, while residual phenols from the whisky add layers of smoke, spice, and a savoury, drying edge.
The result is a spirit that moves from sweet to smoky with unusual clarity; agricole freshness deepened by oak, then sharpened by peat.
At natural cask strength (62.3% ABV), Washed Ashore Cask 02 offers layered notes of hot orange, buttery banana, vanilla, burnt biscuit, creamy filter coffee, spicy oak, and pine. A bold, complex rum, equally suited to contemplative sipping or pairing with smoke and flame at the barbecue.
“Rum has traditionally been seen as a bit one-dimensional – especially by the whisky world, which Scotland is world renowned for. But change its environment, and you change its voice,” says David Taylor, Managing Director of East Neuk Spirits Co., parent company of Dorchadas Rum. “In the tropics, this rum absorbed fruit, vanilla, and sugarcane brightness for nine years.
In Scotland, it slowed down, gaining depth and dryness. In Islay oak, for two years, it took on smoke. Cask 02 is proof of how terroir and time can transform a spirit… and why single cask rum deserves a place alongside the most complex and celebrated whiskies.”
The Washed Ashore series is a rolling programme of experimental single cask bottlings, each one unique and never to be repeated. Following the award-winning success of Washed Ashore Cask 01, demand for Cask 02 is expected to be high among collectors and adventurous drinkers.
Product details:
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- Origin: Dominican Republic
- Style: Column still agricole rum
- Maturation: 11 years (9 years ex-bourbon (Dominican Republic) + 2 years peated Islay quarter cask (Scotland))
- ABV: 62.3% (cask strength)
- Bottle size: 70cl
- Bottles produced: 139
- RRP: £82
- Label artwork: Sineadfirman Photography, adapted by MintModern
Availability:
Dorchadas Washed Ashore Cask 02 is available now online, via select independent retailers and wholesale via Royal Miles Whiskies, Select Drams and Inverarity Morton.
