Before the stills were installed at Welbeck, DropWorks had already been quietly coming together for years.
Over three years ago there was no distillery. No ageing barrels. No rum in glasses. Just a clear belief: better quality rum should be more accessible, and it was time to change how people see and experience British Rum.
DropWorks was founded in 2023 by bar owner and mixologist Lewis Hayes, after years spent working with rum and tasting thousands of expressions from around the world. What he saw was a category too often shaped by shortcuts, artificial flavourings, and a lack of transparency.
So he set out to do things differently.
From day one, DropWorks has been built on a simple idea: everyone deserves to experience “the good stuff”, not just the experts.
At our distillery on the Welbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, we craft every drop of rum from scratch. Using long fermentations, our wild Trinity yeast, and three bespoke copper stills, we focus on building genuine depth of flavour.
Since those early days, we’ve grown into one of the UK’s most exciting craft rum distilleries. We’ve filled our first barrels, launched our first bottles, and welcomed more than 3,000 visitors through our doors. Along the way, we’ve developed five core rums alongside our Distiller’s Drop range, earning multiple industry awards and almost 100 5-star Tripadvisor reviews.
Each release is designed not just to showcase what British rum can be, but to challenge what people expect it to be.
Today, DropWorks can be found in more than 400 venues across the UK, including leading bars such as Soma, Disrepute, Slowpour, and Blinker. We’re proud to be the house pour at The PIG Hotels, and securing multiple listings with Fortnum & Mason marked a major milestone in bringing our British craft rum to a wider audience.
Through collaborations like our HAUS parties with HAUS Bitters, we’ve continued to champion rum as a truly versatile spirit equally in cocktails, long drinks, or simply served over ice.
DropWorks has always been about more than just what’s in the bottle. Over the past three years, we’ve welcomed more than 200 investors into the journey raising nearly £500,000 to help shape the future of British rum. Alongside bartenders, partners, and visitors, they’ve helped us build something that goes beyond a distillery – a growing community appreciating better rum.
From an old stone shed on the Welbeck Estate to back bars, shelves, and homes across the UK, the journey so far has been just the beginning. We’re here to challenge perceptions, raise standards, and show just how good British rum can be.
And we’re only just getting started!