EXCLUSIVE: A new Scottish rum is swapping palm trees and pirates for red squirrels, lochs and forests, setting out its stall as something distinctly rooted in place. Seòlta Spirits, founded by Glasgow-based marketer and former bartender Nick McAlpine, has launched a Hazelnut & Heather Honey Spiced Rum that combines a Caribbean base with Scottish flavour and a commitment to supporting wildlife.
From the start, McAlpine wanted a rum grounded in Scottish landscapes. “I wanted something that drew on Scottish wild places and stepped away from the palm trees and pirates you typically see with rum.” That idea sits behind the brand’s tagline, “step off the beaten track,” aimed at people who like getting out into nature and choosing something different.
The name Seòlta is an old Gaelic word meaning crafty and skilful, from seòl, meaning sail. It nods to the rum’s Caribbean origins and the brand’s innovative, craft-focused approach.
Based in Glasgow, McAlpine is inspired by nearby landscapes like Loch Lomond, Balmaha, and Conic Hill. Sightings of red squirrels helped shape Seòlta’s visual world and its “curious creatures” idea.
Those “curious creatures” are his shorthand for the animals living in Scotland’s forests. McAlpine wants the brand to feel similar, not on every shelf, but a nice experience if you come across it.
McAlpine’s path to creating his own spirit started on the other side of the bar, he said: “I worked in bars on and off for about 10 years and fell in love with drink brands. Just from cleaning the bottles and looking at them, I became fascinated by the way different brands tell slightly different stories.”
McAlpine recalled that the flavour concept behind Seòlta’s first release came to him in a quiet moment. “I was driving along a really mundane stretch of motorway with my mind wandering, and I started thinking about rum,” he said. “You get hazelnut rums and honey rums that both sound lovely, and it just clicked that the two of them together would probably work as well.” With that idea in mind, he turned to his friend Stuart McVicar at The Biggar Spirits Company to help bring the recipe to life.
The recipe took around six to eight months of trial and error, with McAlpine and the Biggar team testing spice blends, honey levels, and hazelnut amounts to find the right balance. The moment they found the final recipe stood out for McAlpine. The development process left him with many half-bottles of previous recipes as a quiet archive of the journey.
Heather honey is the main ingredient, giving Seòlta a distinctly Scottish feel. It’s sourced from Scottish suppliers, tying the liquid back to local landscapes. Hazelnuts and spices are also bought through local businesses. “I wanted the branding to show Scotland’s wild places and support local suppliers,” he said.
Giving back is core to Seòlta, as someone who loves nature and wildlife, he sees the charity link as a natural fit. McAlpine said: “We are going to donate about 5% of our profits to the Scottish Wildlife Trust each year.”
When asked how to best enjoy Seòlta, McAlpine prefers to keep things simple and let the spirit speak for itself. He told Larder Magazine: “Probably a couple over ice, I know it sounds almost uninspiring, but it really just works. The heather honey and the hazelnut give it a sweetness, it’s not a sugary sweetness, but it’s very palatable, and a couple of cubes of ice smooth it right out and the spices are really warm.” He also suggests it works well in cocktails like Old Fashioneds, daiquiris, and sours, describing it as a diverse, wintry spirit with plenty of scope for bartenders to experiment.
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Seòlta officially launched on Halloween and is currently available online, with independents beginning to stock the rum and bring it onto their shelves and back bars. McAlpine hopes to see recurring customers and for the rum to become a regular choice, with dream placements in bars like Brel in Glasgow and the Badachro Inn in Wester Ross, showing the brand’s Scottish roots have taken hold.
For more information and to purchase a bottle, please visit: www.seoltaspirits.com
