Dr. James Espey, OBE, endorses MarlinSpike: A rum blend that truly celebrates the potential versatility only rum can have. Finally, there is now also an exciting alternative to gin & tonic!
The MSB-Spirits Board is proud to announce that Dr. James Espey, OBE, has agreed to join the company as angel investor, mentor and board advisor. We commercialize worldwide the unique Blue Ocean brand proposition MarlinSpike, blended aged rum, a consumer centric product innovation which breaks with industry norms and conventions.
“I truly believe, like the recent renaissance of gin, rum is the next spirit to make great strides. I am delighted, therefore, to be a shareholder and perhaps more importantly, an active supporter and promoter of MarlinSpike. The brand really has a unique blend of superb Caribbean rums and outstanding packaging. I always believe you need a great intrinsic product (the true hero) but presented extrinsically as extremely attractive: I love the shape of the bottle, the brand’s ethos and the fact that the brand proposition is clearly out of the ordinary,” says Dr. Espey.
“We are honoured to have Dr. Espey join the company at this time of launch of MarlinSpike. He brings a wealth of industry experience and his management counsel will be invaluable. Furthermore, he brings tremendous passion, belief and an absolute ‘can-do’ attitude.” says Alexander Darwazeh, founder and CEO of MSB-Spirits.
Born in Livingstone, Zambia in 1943 and educated in Cape Town, South Africa, before being transferred to London in 1977. Spent over 50 years in business, starting in the grocery trade before moving into the liquor industry. Subsequently, he became a Consultant, Mentor and a Non-Executive Director of a variety of blue-chip companies.
A large part of his career has been working internationally, building and creating brands and also identifying and employing people who have gone onto make their ‘marque’.
Together with his partner he launched Le Piat D'Or, Malibu, The Classic Malts, Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Chivas Regal 18 amongst others. In 1988, he was involved in the creation of The Keepers of the Quaich, Scotland’s leading Whisky Society, which honours those who make a contribution to this great industry.
In June 2013, he was awarded an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for Services to the Whisky Industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In 2015 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Marketing Society of Great Britain for services to Marketing and Brand Building globally.
For additional information, please visit www.jamesespey.com
Pioneering new Horizons: The ultimate spirit to discover entirely new taste sensations.
MarlinSpike's atypical 888 HighSeas blend offers the unique combination of refreshing drinkability and the right flavour complexity; allowing consumers to experience an entirely new taste dimension, even when simply savoured over ice. The blend also lifts existing rum cocktails, allows for the creation of entirely new mixed drinks and unexpected pairing opportunities.
MSB-Spirits is a Belgian start-up initially created by Alexander S. Darwazeh, a former senior executive of AB-InBev, and several co- founders including Judith van Gestel, expert in client key accounting and production.
“We were very lucky to enlist some of the best product experts in the industry, to create what seemed impossible to achieve at first.” says Alex.
For further information, please visit www.marlinspike.com
