Co-founders Reed Walker and Jordan Cotton became friends while working as strategists for NASA and the aerospace industry. They discovered a shared passion for rum and decided to leave their desk jobs to turn the hobby into a business.
Cotton & Reed’s mission is to help restore rum to the pantheon of great American spirits. A once-booming domestic rum industry never came back after prohibition. Meanwhile heavily sweetened, artificially flavored rums swept the market and changed many Americans’ perception of what rum can and can’t be. We’re joining the fight to boost American rum’s profile with a restrained approach to added sweetness, an eye for unusual flavor combinations, and a drive to layer in flavor complexity at every step in the process.
Look for Cotton & Reed’s products at bars, restaurants, and liquor stores across DC, Maryland, Delaware, and Massachusetts.
Under the direction of veteran barman Lukas B. Smith, Cotton & Reed is now serving award-winning cocktails at the distillery tasting room next to Union Market.