Sidmouth's Port Royal Rum wins Silver at the Taste of the West awards

The makers of Sidmouth Port Royal Rum are celebrating this week after winning a Silver medal at the Taste of the West Awards.

The rum, made by Sidmouth Distillery based at The Dairy Shop, is infused with a blend of locally harvested seaweeds giving it a unique smokey/peaty flavour.

It is named after the Eastern side of the town and the bottle features a picture of infamous local smuggler Jack Rattenbury.

Sidmouth Distillery's John Hammond said: "I'm just really please to get another award. Rum is the next big thing after gin.

"We cracked the recipe just before Christmas. It's a really nice dark rum with a taste siilar to whisky. We have serve it as a Dark And Stormy with ginger beer and a slice of lime."

Sidmouth Distillery's rum faced stiff competition from some of the South West best distillers and came out with a Silver medal in the first round of judging. Products entered into phases 2 and 3 are currently being judged and the results will be available towards the end of July.

The rum is not the first alcoholic creation from John Hammond to win awards, his Sidmouth Gin has also proved to be a hit with critics.

On that note, preparations are currently under way in Church Street to unveil a new navy strength gin, called HMS Sidmouth.

The gin will celebrate the town's wartime effort, which raised more than £160,000 as part of Warship Week. Two plaques were presented, one fixed to the bridge of HMS Sidmouth and the other presented to the town.

Launched on March 15, 1941, HMS Sidmouth saw action as part of the D-Day operations.

It will include 10 botanicals, including local mint, lavender and bay, infused with deep rich notes and citrus tones.

To find out more visit the Sidmouth Gin website.