Review: Outer Banks Distillery Kill Devil Rum

In North Carolina, you can find just about any kind of geography or environment you want — and a delicious alcoholic beverage perfectly paired to each. From the whiskey-washed mountains of Asheville to the craft breweries of the Raleigh triangle, there’s something for everyone… and there might not be a better fit than a rum distillery on the outer banks. Today we’re looking at some spirits from the very first distillery in that region, the aptly named Outer Banks Distillery, and their Kill Devil Rum.

History

The Outer Banks, a slender stretch of sand and history off the North Carolina coast, is home to many fantastic stories and historical events. Blackbeard, the famous pirate, spent a significant period of time here and even died in battle near Ocracoke Island in 1718. Shipwrecks too numerous to count dot the sands around these shores, giving the place its nickname “The Graveyard of the Atlantic”. The Wright Brothers had their first successful flight of a powered aircraft here in 1903. It was a hotbed of bootlegging during prohibition. And these days, it is an ideal vacation location with pristine white beaches, blue waters, and cool breezes.

Founded in 2015 by local brewers Adam Ball, Kelly Bray, Matt Newsome, and Scott Smith, the Outer Banks Distillery was intended to pay homage to that seafaring and pioneering tradition of the land — they wanted to focus on creating a hybrid approach of traditional methods with modern innovation to create spirits that were deliciously interesting. Together, the team found a brick building in Manteo on Roanoke Island (site of the famous Roanoke Colony, the first English settlement on the continent), fixed it up, and started making spirits.

Product

• Learn More: What Is Rum?

The name on Outer Banks Distillery’s line of rums isn’t just evocative, but it’s rightfully historical as well. Rum originated in the Caribbean, made from fermented local sugar cane and in the 1650’s was described as a drink so potent that it could “kill the devil” and was often simply referred to as “kill-devil”. The town of Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks is believed to have been named after this ancient term for rum, and Outer Banks Distillery embraces that history for their version of the spirit.

Rum is a spirit made from sugarcane — and since North Carolina isn’t exactly known for having a compatible climate for this crop, they use molasses shipped in from Louisiana to start their process.

Molasses is the leftover syrupy substance that’s typically discarded after the sugar production process is complete — raw sugarcane is pressed to express the sugary juice, which is then boiled in successive pans to remove moisture and concentrate the sugar into the powder that we see on store shelves. Each successive boiling produces continuously poorer quality sugar until finally it simply will no longer boil, and the mixture of impurities and leftover muck is molasses. The good news for distilleries is that molasses is dirt cheap and full of interesting flavors, which makes it perfect for producing rum.

The molasses is mixed with water and yeast and allowed to ferment, creating a mildly alcoholic liquid as the yeast eats the sugar and releases alcohol and other elements in return. Outer Banks Distilling uses a longer than normal fermentation process, which allows for more time for the yeast to interact with the molasses, resulting in more complex flavors that develop after a few days.

Once properly fermented, the liquid is distilled in Outer Banks Distilling’s hybrid pot and column still, which results in the raw white rum that is used for all their various versions of the spirit.

For their silver rum, the spirit is proofed down with local water and bottled for sale without any other additives or flavoring.

Packaging

In terms of the shape of the bottle, there’s nothing all that special going on. We’re looking at a straight walled, cylindrical body that rounds at the shoulder to a medium length neck, with a bulge in the neck for better control when pouring. The bottle is capped off with a wood stopper.

The nice touch is that the distillery logo is embossed into the glass itself, which takes a little time and effort from the manufacturer (and costs a little bit more as a result). It might seem like a small point, but this gives an indication that the distillery is really thinking about their products and how they want them to look and feel, and not just grabbing the cheapest, commercially available bottle off the shelf.

The label wraps all the way around, and the cut on the bottom is clean but the top of the label is ragged and gives the appearance of a ripped or weathered piece of paper. In colored ink on that wrapper is an illustration of a shipwreck complete with barrels floating away — an apt illustration for a distillery located in the heart of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic”. Each version of their rum has a different color for the illustration and the ink used for the brand information, and in this case the illustration is a royal blue color and the ink for the lettering is a metallic silver.

Neat

Just like a good white or silver rum, this comes out of the bottle crystal clear. Coming off the glass I get some aromas of marshmallow and light hints of vanilla, giving it a creme brulee kind of vibe. In the back there’s some slight funk going on, specifically fruity tropical bananas and mangoes along with just a teeny tiny dab of the kind of hogo funk you’d see in a Jamaican rum that adds some depth and complexity to the profile.

I’m a little sad that the flavor profile doesn’t quite live up to the hype of the aroma. Primarily what I’m getting is marshmallow and a hint of vanilla, with some slightly bitter raw alcohol mixed in. On the finish, I do see some of that funky tropical fruit and some hogo-like components making an appearance… but it’s much more of an afterthought than a coherent flavor profile.

It’s still better than a good number of mass produced rums, but I really wish those flavors were more cohesive.

On Ice

Taken neat, the flavors were a bit disjointed — but it all seems to come together on the rocks. (The opposite of a shipwreck on the outer banks.)

All of the flavors are present right from the get-go here, with the marshmallow, vanilla, light tropical fruit, and even some of that funky character from the molasses and the longer fermentation process. The raw alcohol has been significantly toned down to the point where it’s just adding a bit of texture instead of a proper flavor in the profile, and the results are surprisingly delicious.

I really think that there’s enough character and flavor in this white rum to make it a good sipping rum on the rocks — which isn’t something that I can say frequently about an unaged spirit.

Cocktail (Daquiri)

For a white rum, a Dark & Stormy (our usual test cocktail) likely isn’t the best test. So I’m mixing things up and seeing how well this works in a Daquiri instead (3 parts rum, 1 part lime juice, 2 barspoons sugar). And it’s actually pretty good — or at least, as good as a white rum Daquiri could get.

What’s working well here is that the tropical fruit and that slight bit of funk is coming through in the cocktail, adding nuance and a depth of flavors that you might not otherwise see. The marshmallow is also adding a nice balance to the bright and tangy lime juice, but I think the barspoon of sugar is likely doing most of the heavy lifting there.

My complaint isn’t with the performance of the spirit but instead likely the cocktail itself. I’m a person who favors big bold flavors and this is a cocktail for a lighter more delicate palate. I’ve unfortunately lost more taste buds than Gordon Ramsay at a hot chili eating competition, so the nuances might be a little lost on me.

Overall Rating

Unaged spirits are notoriously difficult to make interesting. Most of the hard work comes from the source materials and fermentation process — things that mother nature supplies and the distiller doesn’t really have a lot of say over. But in this case, I think the Outer Banks Distillery did a great job stacking the deck in their favor to make something sweet, slightly fruity, and with a complexity that I can appreciate and makes for really nice mixed drinks.

The closest comparison I think I can draw is with the End of Days Distillery, another local North Carolina distillery making a really nice white rum in this same price range. It’s a close battle between these two, but I think the addition of a little funky character thanks to that extra long fermentation process gives this bottle the edge and earns it an extra half star.

All reviews are evaluated within the context of their specific spirit classification as specified above. Click here to check out similar spirits we have reviewed.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Sweet marshmallow and vanilla flavors combined with some tropical fruits and a little bit of funk. Best enjoyed on the rocks or in a cocktail.