Rum carries baggage. Pirates, tropical imagery, vintage nostalgia — the category has been drowning in clichés while waiting for a breakout brand to elevate it the way Patrón transformed tequila or Hendrick’s revolutionised gin. Step in Esther, a premium Colombian rum brand designed to rewrite the rules of how rum looks, feels and connects with culture – created and crafted by creative agency Nihilo.

Read It In The Brand Identity ↗

If you already make beautiful bottles destined for the bar cart hall of fame, who’s to say that you can’t launch your own brand? Of course, brand building is one thing, but launching your own spirit is a much larger endeavor.

Design studio Nihilo recently launched its own rum, Esther, from the ground up. Lucky for them, they already had some experience in the founding game.

Read It In The Dieline ↗

COLUMBUS, OH (FEBRUARY 2026) — Rum is back. Founded by Margaret Kerr-Jarrett and Emunah Winer, the creative team behind the breakout Tequila brand Casa Malka, Esther is a new, single origin premium Colombian rum brand that rejects the dated sugary mixers and pirate clichés of the category. While rum appears on nearly every cocktail menu in the country, it has long lacked the cultural relevance of tequila or gin. Esther is architected to change that as the category’s first true call brand that drinkers ask for by name.

Read it on CPG Wire ↗