Shady Lady Rum
Rum with Dunder, Banana, Cinnamon Leaf & Saffron
750mL
42% ABV
Into the Bottle
The Shady Lady Inn had been shuttered nearly a decade when we first landed in Greenport. Still, she held court—anchored at the intersection where the roads from the harbor, Orient Point, the village, and all points west converge. Her white clapboard siding and red gabled roof, weathered but watchful. A Victorian Gothic Revival with sharp angles, iron details, and gingerbread trim—standing with an almost mythic presence.
We came to Greenport to build a distillery, to focus. But we couldn’t help the pull of the old Shady Lady.
Inside, the inn was drenched in velvet and mystery and neglect: jewel-toned fabrics, a saloon-style piano bar, a dining room set for service, and an unsettling number of cherubs guarding the upper floors. We stripped it back—the process reminded me of The Secret Garden, pulling all the overgrown weeds and unveiling something beautiful underneath, in our case, hand-carved beds and gilded mirrors. We’d been so distracted by the plastic bunches of grapes and draped velvet it took us weeks to discover all her treasures. In time, she was rechristened The Lin Beach House—Lin, the French word for linen. A soft reset.
But I’ve missed the Shady Lady. Her allure. Her edges. Her secrets. This rum was the opportunity to bring her back—and let her roam.
Built on a base of white rum inspired by Jamaican dunder techniques—where aged stillage adds depth and fermentative chaos—we folded in wild Thai bananas, a treasure from our friends at Rare Tea Cellar. To that, we added private-reserve saffron from Afghanistan—heady, golden, sun-kissed. And in the quiet of its long rest, we layered in cinnamon leaves from Tanzania.
Traditionally a byproduct of the cinnamon harvest, these delicate leaves from Cinnamomum verum are sweet, aromatic, and gently spiced—used by Burlap & Barrel as an interesting alternative to bay laurel, or brewed into a deeply fragrant tea. Their inclusion was instinctive, like the rum had asked for it.
So, the Shady Lady became something new. A Traveler Rum. Rooted in Greenport, yes—but shaped by a global collection of ingredients and relationships.
She is wild, warm, and wandering. A bottle of character, movement, and memory.
We came to Greenport to build a distillery, to focus. But we couldn’t help the pull of the old Shady Lady.
Inside, the inn was drenched in velvet and mystery and neglect: jewel-toned fabrics, a saloon-style piano bar, a dining room set for service, and an unsettling number of cherubs guarding the upper floors. We stripped it back—the process reminded me of The Secret Garden, pulling all the overgrown weeds and unveiling something beautiful underneath, in our case, hand-carved beds and gilded mirrors. We’d been so distracted by the plastic bunches of grapes and draped velvet it took us weeks to discover all her treasures. In time, she was rechristened The Lin Beach House—Lin, the French word for linen. A soft reset.
But I’ve missed the Shady Lady. Her allure. Her edges. Her secrets. This rum was the opportunity to bring her back—and let her roam.
Built on a base of white rum inspired by Jamaican dunder techniques—where aged stillage adds depth and fermentative chaos—we folded in wild Thai bananas, a treasure from our friends at Rare Tea Cellar. To that, we added private-reserve saffron from Afghanistan—heady, golden, sun-kissed. And in the quiet of its long rest, we layered in cinnamon leaves from Tanzania.
Traditionally a byproduct of the cinnamon harvest, these delicate leaves from Cinnamomum verum are sweet, aromatic, and gently spiced—used by Burlap & Barrel as an interesting alternative to bay laurel, or brewed into a deeply fragrant tea. Their inclusion was instinctive, like the rum had asked for it.
So, the Shady Lady became something new. A Traveler Rum. Rooted in Greenport, yes—but shaped by a global collection of ingredients and relationships.
She is wild, warm, and wandering. A bottle of character, movement, and memory.