Suffolk distillery's spiced rum (that's not a spiced rum) named best in the world

Why it matters: Alkemy Spiced Gold, produced by the Bradfield-based distillery founded by brothers Rob and Will Tapster, has achieved the highest score for a spiced rum in the competition's nine-year history.

The details: Now in its ninth year, the London Spirits Competition judges entries across three weighted criteria – quality, value and packaging – with quality given double weight in the final score calculation.

• Alkemy Spiced Gold scored 94 for quality, 93 for packaging and 92 for value.
• Entries are first blind-tasted by a panel of trade professionals, including spirits buyers, bar managers and mixologists, before price and packaging are factored in.
• The competition drew entries from more than 30 countries, with a particularly strong Caribbean presence in the rum category.

Judges described the spirit as "a complex rum with a woody, vanilla nose, balanced sweetness, cinnamon spice, tannic structure, and a long, refined finish."

The twist: Under European regulations, to be called rum, a spirit must be made from sugar cane, be over 37.5% ABV, and not be flavoured or have more than 20g of sugar per litre added.

Alkemy is made from sugar beet molasses sourced from East Anglian farms, meaning it cannot legally be classified as a rum and is not labelled as one.

What they're saying: Co-founder Will Tapster said: "I think it's a good indication that people are taking spiced rum more seriously. Historically, spiced rums have performed a lot worse than other rums in these awards, but that's changed now. People are starting to see that amongst the traditionally overly sweet spiced rums, there are others that are as complex and enjoyable as any spirit."

Co-founder Rob Tapster added: "We have to admit that we were quite surprised, not because we don't have faith in the spirit, but because we have had mixed responses to our spirit in these competitions. So far, we either score very well or get disqualified for not being a 'true rum'. We see both as valid responses, but we would be lying if we said that we weren't very pleased with this outcome."

He continued: "The categorisation debate will continue, I'm sure, but when it comes to blind tasting, it's nice to see that even the most discerning of industry professionals enjoy it as much as they do. Results like this show how close we are to the rum category, but it does represent an interesting idea…maybe the best spiced rum isn't a spiced rum at all."

The bottom line: Alkemy is available in farm shops, bars and restaurants across Suffolk, as well as on the Alkemy website and via Amazon.

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