Say hello to our new flavoured dark spirits

Not everyone enjoys brown liquor. Scotch, whiskey, bourbon and dark rums are all very much acquired tastes and can be quite polarising. But if you’d like to dip a toe into the world of dark spirits, fear not – we have some easier-drinking options to whet your whistle. From funky-flavoured whiskies to twists on the classics, there’s a little something for anyone and everyone (who’s willing, that is).

But first, what is a dark spirit, and why does it look like that? Well, all spirits start out clear. It’s the maturing process and type of cask that changes the colour. For example, a whisky with a reddish-mahogany hue has probably been aged in European oak (most often sherry-seasoned casks). The cask imparts colour to the spirit over time. Funky, huh? As for what spirits we class as dark? It’s pretty much as simple as looking at the colour of the liquid – think whisky, rum, bourbon and some liqueurs.

Now that we know a bit about dark liquor, let’s have a squiz at five of our new flavoured dark spirits below.