Honey collaboration leaves distillery buzzing with excitement

Shakespeare Distillery has launched a special three-year Aged Honey Rum in a local collaboration with Arden Forest Honey, who produce artisan English honey from the ancient forest of Arden in Warwickshire.

Shakespeare Distillery takes pride in crafting its Jester White Rum from scratch by fermenting British milled molasses and distilling it into a smooth buttery spirit. In April 2021, the independent carbon-neutral spirit producer began carefully selecting and filling a series of ex-industry barrels with their rum. Each cask was chosen to give a range of fantastic flavours which will be released in a series of limited-edition aged rums. Aged Honey Rum is the second exciting Cask Aged Rum to be unveiled. It has been matured for three years in a Wild Turkey bourbon cask and blended with award-winning Warwickshire Wildflower Honey.

Arden Forest Honey is a family-run business, which was started in 2008, supplying high quality honey from hives across Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The Wildflower Honey is from the biodiverse Heart of England Forest and ancient Ragley estates, and it has been awarded its second star in the Guild of Fine Food awards.

Steve Browning, Owner of Arden Forest Honey, said: “Working alongside the awardwinning Shakespeare Distillery was a natural collaboration. It is great to see our honey used in another local product, allowing customers the opportunity to have a taste of the abundance of wildflowers grown in fields around the distillery and the local area.”

Simon Picken, Director at Shakespeare Distillery, said: “We’re delighted to launch our Aged Honey Rum, working in collaboration with a fellow artisan producer in Warwickshire. The rum we’ve created is wonderfully light and balanced with fruity notes and a smooth mouth feel. I can’t wait for our customers to taste this delicious limitededition rum, which will also make a great gift for Father’s Day next month.”

The Aged Honey Rum is available in three bottle options and retails at £40 for a 50cl bottle, £20 for a 20cl bottle and £7 for 5cl bottle. It can be purchased online, at the distillery shop or from the shop at No 1 High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. Jars of Arden Forest Honey are also available to purchase at the No 1 High Street shop for £6.

For more information about Shakespeare Distillery visit http://www.shakespearedistillery.com/