Name: Lewis Hayes
Company: Drop Works Rum
Job: Founder and Master Distiller
Website: dropworks.co.uk
Socials: dropworks.distillery

How long have you been working in the rum industry?
I’ve been working with rum in one way or another for over two decades now- first behind the bar, then running my own award winning venues – Merchant House and Black Parrot – Europe’s best stocked rum bar, which are still going strong today, consulting for brands internationally, judging competitions and of course, over the past three years I’ve built Europe’s largest premium rum distillery – DropWorks and have been focusing on establishing and growing the DropWorks brand.

In that time I’ve poured, tasted and talked about thousands of rums, long before I started making my own at DropWorks.

What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Opening DropWorks and seeing our British‑made rums pouring in top bars and restaurants has been huge for me. It’s one thing to dream up a distillery, another to watch the incredible people working in hospitality actually get behind it.

Most recently, launching Distiller’s Drop #002, a bold, Bordeaux red wine cask, British-made rum pick up Gold in the Spirits Business Rum and Cachaca masters felt like a real “OK, this is definitely working” moment!

Can you remember your first rum, and indeed what it was?
The one that really lodged itself in my brain was Zacapa 23, back in the days before its evolution under Diageo. It was this rich, dessert‑like rum that made me sit up and pay attention to the category and what it had to offer.

From there I fell down the rabbit hole with El Dorado, Foursquare, Doorly’s 12 was a favourite, and then some of the big, characterful rums from places like Guadeloupe, plus independent bottlers like Samaroli and Velier.

What does rum mean to you?
Rum is the broadest, most versatile spirit category we have. It can look and taste like almost anything, which is ever so exciting!

For me, rum is a playground: a space where you can respect heritage producers and, at the same time, do something modern and a bit disruptive like British‑distilled rum aged in Bordeaux casks perhaps?! As we’ve done with Distiller’s Drop #002…

Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
Still absolutely in the thick of it at DropWorks, with a bigger team, a deeper barrel library and a longer list of bars and retailers pouring our rums globally around the world.

British rum firmly being recognised as a serious part of the global rum conversation would also make me very happy.

What was your last rum?
The last new rum I tasted was, unsurprisingly, Distiller’s Drop #002, however we still “check” the casks and bottles at the DropWorks Distillery regularly, partly for quality control and partly because it’s a hard one to walk past without pouring a glass.

Do you have a favourite rum and food pairing combination?
I love playing rum against savoury dishes, not just desserts. On the sweeter side, a dark, molasses‑forward rum with proper high quality dark chocolate is still a bit of a weakness of mine.

What’s your favourite rum-based cocktail?
Most of the time I drink rum neat, because I want to see exactly what the spirit is doing.

If I am reaching for a cocktail, it’s usually something simple and classic but spirit forward such as a Daiquiri, or a Rum Old Fashioned. These drinks can be built around one of our DropWorks rums, so the liquid is truly the shining star in the drink, rather than it being masked by other ingredients.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the rum horizon?
I think we’ll see more focus on transparency and production as people ask how the rum was made, not just where the label says it’s from.

Within that, I see properly made, from‑scratch “new world” rums, including British‑distilled rums and more experimental cask finishes (like our Bordeaux and chestnut casks) becoming a much bigger part of the conversation.

What’s the one rum you couldn’t live without?
I genuinely still have a soft spot for the rums that pulled me into the category such as Zacapa 23 in its early days, good bottlings from Guyana, Foursquare, Guadeloupe and the indie bottlers.

But if I have to pick one that represents where I am now, it has to be one of my own Drops; they’re the culmination of everything I’ve learnt over the last twenty‑odd years, distilled into the glass, you can’t get a much better feeling than that.

Many thanks to Lewis Hayes. Who will be our next Rum Insider? Click back soon to find out!