People's Choice Spirits Awards: Portsmouth Distillery at Fort Cumberland up for award for its 1812 rum

The distillery has been recognised by the People's Choice Spirits Awards which has shortlisted the business in its 'Rum: Local Heroes: UK Based Production category'. The awards started back in 2020 and the aim is to showcase some of the best businesses in the industry.

The 1812' 3 year old rum has already been recognised by The Great British Food Awards 2022 where it bagged the 'best rum' award.

Ditch Oatley, one of the owners of the distillery, said: "It is one of those awards in the industry that is done properly - some of them you have to spend quite a lot of money and you never really know the value of them but with the People's Choice awards, it is done by blind tasting.

"It means a lot to us because they are very specific on how they do their shortlisting and the fact that we have been shortlisted is amazing - we are just so passionate about what we do.

"We would be delighted to win the category because it is an important one."

The three-year aged rum is the first one in England and the product has been aged in a Bourbon cask. It is an extremely popular choice amongst the distillery's customers and it is also being labelled by Berry Brothers & Rudd, which is one of the oldest spirit and wine merchants in the country.

Ditch added: "We would be delighted because all of these awards and accolades are important because it means that people believe in what we do.

"We have a real passion about what we do and about making rum from scratch, properly, and aging it in the barrel."

The team will also be bringing out a brand new five-year aged rum this year and they are extremely excited about the future of their new product.

The results of the awards will be announced at the end of this month in Manchester. For more information about the awards, click here.

For more information about Portsmouth Distillery, click here.