Spijkenissers develop their own rum

Spijkenisse - On Friday 13 November, a new rum will be released: Baron Rum. A rum created by three Spijkenisse residents, together with a well-known distillery in Schiedam.

Danny Coppenrath's grandfather, Will Coppenrath, now 85, used to work as a rower in the port of Rotterdam. At that time, he was given a rum by a captain, which he liked so much that he wanted to know where it came from. However, the ship had already left. However, Wil did not let go of the rum and when he was sitting in his grandson's barber's chair 2.5 years ago, he told him that he had found a rum in Spain, where he lives half the year, that was very similar to that rum.

A rum of our own
Grandfather and grandson tasted the rum while also playing a game of cards, which Danny has in the shop to get to know people better. One of the cards had the question, what do you want to achieve in the next five years. Wil answered that he would like to give the rum a new look. 'If that is your dream, we have to find out if it is possible', was Danny's response. He sent a number of emails to distilleries and soon received a response from Heman & Jansen. He was allowed to come by to tell his story. The idea caught on and the distillery wanted to help make Wil's dream come true. Danny then decided to involve friends and family in the process and together with Robbert de Vos and Dennis de Man he pulled the cart. This is how a blended aged rum was created that is composed of three types of rum: an unaged rum, a three-year-old rum and a five-year-old rum from the Dominican Republic, Guyana and Barbados. Exclusive spices were added to obtain the right flavour. 'Grandpa actually decided everything', says Danny. 'Every time we put something together, we let him taste it.' That's how they developed a beautiful and luxurious rum together. The name was also decided by Will: Baron. 'My grandfather's grandfather was a baron and we often tell him that he looks like a baron, because he is always dressed neatly, complete with hat.'

'Baron was created to inspire others', the men say. 'A baron is a person who is on his way to success, who has goals and likes to pursue them. He shares his successes with others in order to then create new barons. We also show this in our unique bottle. The lines on the bottle symbolize the roads to success. The roads show that there are different roads to success to ultimately reach the top. At the bottom there is a light that illuminates the way up in the dark, in order to convey the message even more clearly.'

From Friday, the rum will be available at many liquor stores in the region.