Privateer

Privateer is led by Andrew Cabot, who drew on family history (a namesake ancestor was a merchant and privateer in the 18th century) to revive the craft rum tradition in New England. Industry sources and interviews report the business starting in the early 2010s (various sources indicate 2010–2011). Over the years Privateer has developed core lines (New England White, New England Reserve, Navy Yard, Queen’s Share) and a series of single-cask and special releases called Distiller’s Drawer.

Transparency and purity: selected ingredients, longer and cooler fermentations compared with industrial norms, no use of sweeteners or flavorings, unfiltered bottling. They promote the concept of “True American Rum” and apply the 'Bottled in Bond' label and criteria to some releases.

Ipswich, Massachusetts (New England, United States)

Long, relatively cool fermentations; use of single-origin molasses for some expressions; two-stage distillation (initial run in a pot still followed by column distillation with adjustable plates); double pot-still for some expressions. Controlled proofing with very soft water and maturation in stainless steel or barrels depending on the expression. No sweetening, no filtration; some bottles are released at cask strength or as single cask.

Double distillation: first pass in a pot still, then redistillation in a column with adjustable plates; plate configuration is varied to achieve lighter or richer profiles depending on the expression.

Aging in barrels in the maritime New England environment; they use both stainless-steel maturation for white expressions and oak aging (including new American oak or used barrels depending on the release) for aged expressions; they also release single casks and cask-strength bottlings.