The Duppy Share, Caribbean Rum Review

Gus Franklyn-Bute

Updated October, 2020

Duppy Talk

The Duppy Share was launched in 2014 in the middle of a British summer, a day that felt like most days in the Caribbean. Londoner and rum adventurer George Frost and start-up entrepreneur Jessica Swinfen, formerly of Innocent Drinks, are the brains behind this premium Caribbean rum.

Duppy Share taps into the UK’s strong Caribbean heritage accelerated by the landing of Empire Windrush in 1948. It’s a bold move for two Brits to launch a new Caribbean rum. Bolder still to emerge from the shadows, like a real duppy, to face off against the colossal producers like Pernod Ricard, Bacardi and Diageo who dominate the global spirit market. The big players value uniformity and flexibility in production and value chain. This predicates a strategy of mass market branding and marketing that often make little or no direct attribution to the true origins of Caribbean rums, despite its long history and fine heritage. The continuity, survival and future of Caribbean rums and its industry in the global market perhaps resides with smaller producers and connoisseurs who value the premium that gives genuine accreditation to the mastery and heritage of Caribbean rum producers.

Rum hasn’t undergone the same level of premiumisation as other spirits, and so there is huge growth potential for the category. The Duppy Share will seize this golden opportunity by bringing a contemporary and great tasting product to market that bottles the real spirit of the Caribbean, says Frost. 

Duppy Share – The Rum

The Duppy Share boasts a balance and unique blend of two premium rums from Worthy Park Estate in Jamaica and the prestigious Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. Worthy Park’s rum production goes as far back as 1740 and even further back as a sugar plantation. Foursquare master distiller, Richard Seal, is the fourth-generation at the helm. 

The rum blends two very contrasting island personalities. A fiery Jamaican with a distinctive punch and a smooth Barbadian with notes of caramel and oak and a warm buttery finish. Duppy Share hits up front with a big, bold, 3-year old, pot still Jamaican rum, packed full of tropical fruit flavours, then calms you with the a smooth 5-year old Barbadian aged in old bourbon barrels that lends the rum its golden hue. 

Duppy Taste

ACU|BIEN taste test with rum connoisseurs and non-traditional rum drinkers, serving a punch and a neat serving of Duppy Share was revealing. Everyone loved both servings, although the overwhelming preference was for the neat rum. Such is the quality of Duppy Share it drinks immaculately as a sipping rum. Rum drinkers will appreciate its versatility as an all year-round spirit that may be served warm during chilly winter evenings.

The Duppy Share is a mixologist dream. Ideal for luxurious Caribbean swizzle cocktails. Its premium quality suggests it should not be over blended to conserve its character. This rum works superbly in a considered measure of agave nectar, fresh lime and a dash of Angostura bitters and served of ice (crushed or cubed).

Duppy Brand

The Duppy Share is bottled in London and takes its name from the dark spirit of Caribbean folklore known as a duppy. It is said that in the dead of night, when the distillers’ backs are turned, they journey between islands, stealing a share of the rum left ageing in old oak barrels. As spirit masters duppies take only the best. The Caribbean’s equivalent to whisky’s Angel Share, this is The Duppy Share.

The premium quality and price tag lives up to the brand story and is beautifully presented as both sophisticated and jovial. Duppy Share conjures the spirit of independence and appeals to discerning lifestyle consumers. Since its launch in 2014 to do what has already been done successfully for vodka and gin, this new Caribbean rum contender continues to defy and is making its name as a premium rum that is also fun and presents a a new take on modern Caribbean lifestyle.

The Duppy Share is widely available in the UK in stockists, bars, restaurant and online.

Twitter: @theduppyshare
Instagram: @theduppyshare