A Scottish spirits producer has unveiled one of the world’s rarest rums, aged for more than three decades and then finished in the depths of Loch Ness.
Daring drinks innovator Domhayn has pioneered a new approach to spirit-making, using hydrostatic pressure to transform flavour.
Its latest release, a Caribbean solera rum, was submerged over 218 metres below the surface of Scotland’s most famous loch in a sealed wooden cask.
According to founder James Patterson, the immense pressure at that depth naturally compresses and decompresses the oak forcing the spirit and wood to interact in new ways: “Creating a luxurious rum steeped in science and legend.”
Only six bottles exist, each etched with the exact coordinates of where it the cask was immersed, making it one of the rarest rum releases in the world.
The rum’s submersion date, 27 September, carries special significance. It marks the birthdays of tworemarkable creatives: Scottish folk music icon Dougie McLean and Cuban contemporary artist Alexi Torres, reflecting the spirits’ fusion of Caledonian and Caribbean influences.
The first bottle will be auctioned via Rum Auctioneer from 12 to 29 December, with a reserve price of £1,000.
The project follows the successful release of Domhayn’s first pressure-finished ‘whisky’* in the spring, which drew attention from collectors and connoisseurs worldwide.
Science below the surface
Domhayn’s proprietary technique involves carefully lowering the cask beneath the loch’s surface to place the spirit under immense hydrostatic pressure, developing a flavour composition that would be impossible to achieve on land.
James said: “When you descend that far into the loch, everything changes. The temperature, the pressure, the stillness. We’re not chasing gimmicks; we’re revealing what those extreme conditions do to flavour. It’s a conversation between the cask, the spirit and the environment around it.”
Each release is tested using mass spectrometry to measure and confirm that molecular change has indeed taken place.
James added: “By harnessing pressure rather than using sound waves or agitation, we’re opening a new chapter in how spirits can mature.”
Distilled on New Year’s Eve 1991, this exceptional Caribbean rum was aged in an ex-sherry filled cask and matured using the solera method before being transferred into a compact cask and then plunged some 715 feet below the surface of Loch Ness.
With only six bottles available – each one carrying the exact coordinates of its submersion, offering a direct, traceable link to the legendary loch that shaped its final taste – the release is a true one-off.
Once underwater, the cask is changed forever. The pressure reshapes the oak, resulting in a spirit that’s utterly unique and impossible to recreate.
“Each experiment gives us a spirit that simply can’t be replicated,” James said. “You can’t repeat these conditions. The result is a truly rare spirit, created once and never again. That’s what makes every release so special.”
He added: “This rum has lived a full life, over thirty years of quiet maturation, shaped by time and tradition. What we’ve done is complete its story, setting its final flavour profile in a place where pressure becomes part of the craft.
“We’re not trying to replace time. We’re asking what happens when you introduce nature’s forces into the equation and the results speak for themselves. A rich, smooth and highly complex rum.”
Under Pressure
Domhayn takes its name from the Gaelic word for ‘deep,’ symbolising not just the physical depths where the transformation occurs but also the layered complexity of the spirit itself.
Each submersion brings its challenges, from boat launching failures to unpredictable weather, but the small team embraces them as part of the process.
“It’s as though the loch reminds us that the prize has to be earned,” James reflected.
“You have to respect the conditions, the mystery and the patience it takes to work with something that powerful. But that’s part of what makes every bottle so unique.”
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Domhayn’s first bottle of pressure-finished ‘whisky’ sold for over £850 earlier this year, establishing the Stirling based firm as one of Scotland’s most curious and creative drinks producers.
This latest rum release continues that journey, exploring how hydrostatic pressure can shape spirits in ways still being discovered.
“Scotland’s lochs are some of the most remarkable natural environments on the planet,” James said. “And we’re exploring how we can harness their powers to change the spirits we know and love.”
