From harbor hangout to rum institution
The Rum & Crab Shack was founded in 2012 in St Ives, Cornwall, by four friends who decided late one night to bring their two favorite things under one roof: rum and crab. The spur-of-the-moment idea turned into a restaurant right on the harbor, which quickly became known for its unusually large selection of rum. Three years later, in 2015, co-founder Neythan Hayes introduced the first in-house rum and christened it Dead Man's Fingers. The Spiced Rum celebrated its premiere at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall before developing from a bar exotic into an internationally traded brand.
In 2018, the British spirits group Halewood acquired the Dead Man's Fingers brand. The rum has been produced in the Bristol and Bath Rum Distillery ever since, but the place of origin in St Ives remained the spiritual home of the brand – to this day, rum fans from all over the world travel to the harbor where it all began.
Cornish soul instead of old rum rules
The name Dead Man's Fingers has nothing to do with pirate romance, but with the kitchen right next door: this is the English term for the finger-shaped, inedible gills of the crab – an insider joke that became a trademark. Instead of orienting themselves toward pirate clichés and Caribbean kitsch, the team deliberately wanted to break with old rum conventions and give the brand an unconventional, "rock and roll" instead of "palms and parrots" personality.
The basis always remains real rum: selected Caribbean rum aged for two to three years is used, refined with natural spices and natural sweetness instead of artificial flavorings – the seasoning is intended to underline the rum, not cover it up.
Over 100 rums and the house brand Dead Man's Fingers
The Shack's shelf now holds over 100 rums from all over the world, from classics to exotics. In 2020, a second in-house product was added with the Stargazy Rum Liqueur. The Dead Man's Fingers collection itself has long since grown beyond the spicy original rum and today includes numerous fruit and flavor variants – from pineapple and cherry to coffee and coconut.
In the Coconut variant, which is also in our range, aromas of ripe mango, raisin, and soft caramel sweetness meet a hint of lime, rounded off by vanilla and a pinch of clove. It is served neat over ice, with cola as an uncomplicated long drink, or as a tropical variant in a mojito – a tribute to exactly the playful, rule-breaking attitude with which it all began at the harbor of St Ives.
