The world’s been upended for far too long, but one thing remains undeniable – our spirit to claim and own who we are and how the planet perceives us. This is where Dead Man’s Fingers (DMF), a premium rum, created in a famous seafood joint in Cornwall, UK, is changing the way we distinguish and savour rum. In its quest to have us resist the usual, DMF’s arsenal embraces a further taste-bud-teasing, first-to-market range of original ready-to-drink choices, each one ready to rock the status quo.

Bold and brave

Besides delivering a premium quality liquor, with a higher alcohol percentage on the spirit aperitifs scale than its competitors, what’s immediate about all things Dead Man’s Fingers is its distinctive and original packaging, along with its coated and beautifully embossed bespoke bottles. Nothing about it is obvious, beyond the blend.

DMF welcomes the passionate and adventurous, the vocal and opinionated who juggle life but always know when to stop and take a sip of something that rewards their uninhibited commitment to kicking convention to the curb.

Spoilt for choice

Arriving in the market with no less than three varietals, Dead Man’s Fingers’ current offering is set to grow beyond its original Spiced, Dark and Coconut varietal’s introduction. Think Coffee and exotic Pineapple, come October, and the path to celebrating your true, unapologetic self just got a whole lot shorter.

A player, non-conformist and creative, this captivating Cornwall maverick is rich in taste and personality.

A taster of Spiced delivers with its eye-teasing warm amber. As to its popularity, that’s confirmed when this spirited crowd-pleaser meets your proboscis, gifting notes of vanilla, orange, raisin, and demerara sugar, all before your taste buds get a look in. The nectar meeting and immediately rewarding your palate with hints of Saffron cake, Pedro Ximinez ice cream, caramel and vanilla with cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange notes.

Next in the mix is Dark, one that South Africans will most certainly gravitate towards, given its healthy local market share.

“Spiced is the flagship in the UK,” Johan Oosthuizen, Managing Director of Halewood Artisanal Spirits South Africa confirms. “In South Africa’s rum category, dark rum is a significant portion of the market, and we therefore responded and included it. Then we acknowledged that the so-called “flavoured rums” (spirit aperitifs) are emerging and creating excitement in the rum category, in the same way as flavoured gins did for its class.”

Blending in is tropical Coconut, clear to the eye, coconut, mango, clove, and runny caramel on the nose, whilst on the tongue, a taste torrent ensues, delivering coconut-ice and a touch of lime peel. “Coconut is very versatile for cocktail mixing and equally familiar,” Oosthuizen endorses.  

Custom-made

Add pre-mixed cans, offering an instant throw down shy of a bar, and suddenly there’s an encore. Think ready-to-drink, crack-and-consume options to the range of flavours – Cuba Libre (rum & cola), Rattlesnake (rum and raspberry) and Dead Mule (rum & ginger).

These three bespoke flavour and taste combinations are a South African exclusive, offering a perfectly blended and well-balanced thirst quencher, all within a loud and proud, ready-to-drink can that conspicuously sets it apart.

Adding fuel to the fire

Come October, there will be even more to swallow. 

Coffee – who doesn’t love celebrating the synaptic boost coffee delivers? This was just such an exceptionally rich and rewarding taste profile that Dead Man’s Fingers couldn’t say no! Both Coffee and Pineapple lend themselves to another style of drinking – shooters – thus opening the brand’s serving versatility. “During the lockdown and the ban on alcohol, consumers reverted to homebrews like pineapple beer, and that, in turn, reinvigorated the desire for pineapple flavoured alcoholic drinks,” Oosthuizen concludes.

Dead Man’s Fingers exemplifies and amplifies but does not shout. Going against the grain, its intent is pure – to promote and celebrate individuality, however you choose to define it. Finally, a brand that responds and rewards in time with you, who knew!?

That understood, now the real work begins. The contents considered, the packaging unique, now all that’s left to do is to make it your own!

In celebration of their South African arrival, Dead Man’s Fingers is giving away a DMF Harley-Davidson worth R200 000! To enter, all rum aficionados need to do is purchase a bottle, or two six-packs of ready to drink DMF, in-store and upload your till slip to www.halewoodrewards.co.za.