William Grant has relaunched its Sailor Jerry rum brand with a new look and new taste.

The Caribbean spiced rum product was launched at 40%abv in the UK in 2004 with more sugar and lime than the 46%abv US version.

The product is now a closer relation to the US liquid, with no added sugar, more cinnamon notes and the packaging has been stripped back. It includes tattoo illustrations by Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins and there are six different back-label illustrations that are revealed as the bottle empties. The product remains at 40% in the UK.

Global brand manager Rob Curteis said: “Some bartenders found they couldn’t use Sailor jerry as a base for cocktails because it was too sweet.

“The rum is generally consumed with ginger beer or cola, both of which are very sweet, anyway. We wanted a more complex, rounded flavour.”

The company worked with bartenders to perfect the flavour as well as conducting consumer research.

Sailor Jerry’s top markets include the US, UK and Canada and the company are about to launch in Sweden, where the Sailor Jerry clothes brand is already established. A launch in Germany is also on the cards.

The company does not plan to retain the ‘old-style’ Sailor Jerry and all new markets will receive the new version of the product.

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