Rum is the new gin if the sales amassed by the spirit in 2017 are anything to go by, as it is set to pass the £1bn mark for the first time. 

Sales grew by 5% in the nine months to the end of September, while over the past five years sales have increased by 18% in volume and 38% in value. 

Rum is growing twice as fast within impulse, with volume sales up by 10.2%. 

Flavoured and spiced rum has driven much of the market growth, rising by 14% in the year to the end of September, while brands on offer trebled to more than 150 over a 10-year period. 

WSTA chief executive Miles Beale said: “Rum has packed a punch in terms of sales this year, benefiting from the nation’s thirst for craft cocktails.”

Rav Garcha of Nisa Local, Shrewsbury, said most of the growth has been down to spiced rums or premium dark rums. 

“We stock around 10. There are mainstream brands you have to have like Bacardi and Captain Morgan and the others are all premium priced. I think demand for cocktails is helping this grow,” he said.