Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Marlin Spike began with a question: why should a rum have to choose between depth and drinkability?
Breaking with convention
The rum shelf offered two kinds of bottle. Aged rums with real depth, which stayed in the sipping glass. And light or spiced rums that mixed easily, but leaned on sugar and flavouring to do it.
We wanted a rum with the drinkability of a white spirit and the depth of a dark one. Working with experienced blenders, it took three years to get there. The result launched in 2018 as the High Seas Blend, today’s Caribbean Ocean, first in the United Kingdom, the Benelux, France and Germany.
That same year it won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and at The Spirits Business Rum & Cachaça Masters.
Caribbean Ocean
Launched in 2018 as the High Seas Blend
Gold, 2018San Francisco World Spirits Competition
Gold, 2018The Spirits Business Rum & Cachaça Masters
Why rum
Esters are the volatile compounds that carry a spirit’s aroma and flavour. Rum can hold far more of them than other aged spirits, up to around seven times as many as whisky.
| Spirit | Esters (mg/l of pure alcohol) |
|---|---|
| Whisky | 50 to 150 |
| Cognac | 150 to 300 |
| Rum | 200 to more than 1,000 |
Most rums cover that character with sugar, spice and flavouring. We blend to let it speak: aged rums from up to ten countries, combined with the help of molecular flavour analysis, with nothing added.
Five oceans
Between 2023 and 2025 the range grew from one blend to five, each named after an ocean. They run from the light, Spanish-style Philippine Ocean to the deep and contemplative Pacific Ocean, and all five share one flavour backbone.
Our honorary chairman
“I see in Marlin Spike the next frontier in rum: a true blue ocean product that is beautifully balanced. If we take whisky as a point of reference, our Pacific blend is the single malt of rums.”
A former board member of IDV, one of the companies that became Diageo, James Espey developed Baileys and created Malibu. At Chivas he launched Chivas Regal 18, Royal Stag in India and Royal Salute in China. Our Pacific Ocean is a tribute to him.
A posse ad esse
From possibility to reality. It is printed on every label, next to the line around our emblem: nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Our pledge to the ocean
Written into our bylaws: every year Marlin Spike gives the equivalent of 3% of its EBITDA to ocean conservation, supporting non-profits that work towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water.
What the ocean is up against
- Overfishing. More than a third of global fish stocks are overfished.
- Plastic. About 17 million tonnes reached the ocean in 2021, a figure set to double or triple by 2040.
- Acidification. The ocean is about 30% more acidic than before the industrial age.
- Warming. Rising sea levels and temperatures are changing marine ecosystems.
- Dead zones. Run-off from land feeds algal blooms that starve coastal water of oxygen.
Where you will find us
Cinema
For ten days of the Cannes Film Festival we ran the main bar in front of the Ritz-Carlton on the Croisette and served more than 20,000 cocktails.
Sailing
We sponsor the Snipe class at its European Finals and host our own regatta, the Marlin Spike Cup, streamed live around the world.
Craft
At our events every drink is made by our own network of freelance bartenders, chosen for their skill and their way with a crowd.