Getting the rum-around

Back in 2007, when Turkey Shore Distilleries president Mathew Perry first started thinking about launching a rum brand, it was a relatively novel idea. "The idea was, there's ‘local' everything, but not much in the way of local spirits," says the Ipswich-based distiller. His choice of spirit was a given, considering the North Shore's rich history in the rum trade. (Perry is a self-described history nerd and was, at the time, a history teacher.) So he shared his idea with his childhood friend Evan Parker (now the distillery's manager), and Turkey Shore was born. Its name references the road where Perry and Parker grew up - and where an Ipswich rum distillery operated from 1770 to 1836. Large ships would unload in the area that is now the backyard to Perry's childhood home. "There are the remnants of an old wharf there still," he says. "[They would] roll the barrels of molasses right up the street."

Over the past year, of course, the market for locally made rums has seen a mini-boom, with the launch of the nearby Privateer Rum, also in Ipswich, and Bully Boy Distillers in Boston. "That's the great irony of it all," Perry says. "We were all channeling the same thought."

Turkey Shore's distillers hope their two styles of rum, Old Ipswich White Cap rum and aged Tavern Style rum, will stand out thanks to their ingredients and hands-on production style. In their attempt to revive old New England-style rum (while improving upon it - some of that stuff was evidently downright undrinkable), they've substituted a more delicate table-grade molasses in place of lower-end blackstrap. And they use a traditional copper pot still that is less automated, allowing for more nuanced flavor control than what larger producers would use. For the aged rum, the use of new oak barrels (as opposed to used bourbon barrels) makes for a spirit that's sort of a hybrid of rum and whiskey.

The resulting rums have been available on the North Shore for a while, and now they're popping up at Boston-area bars like Foundry on Elm (255 Elm Street, Somerville, 617.628.9999) and the recently opened Backbar (9 Sanborn Court, Somerville, 617.718.0249). But then, so are other local rums. "There is a competitive nature between all of us, because we hit the market at the same time and are vying for the same accounts," Perry says. But he praises the other local distillers he's gotten to know and says the local spirits arena is a good place to be. "I sort of look at craft beer as my guide," he says, explaining that there's plenty of room for innovation, even in a competitive market. Or, to put it in terms the old Ipswich ship captains might have appreciated, a rising tide lifts all boats.