Filling a void, KLYR hits spirits market with clean silver rum

A silver rum is making a splash throughout the region with a clean formula that offers connoisseurs a spirit with no sugar or carbohydrates.

KLYR, manufactured at Holy Water Distillery in Lewisberry, is the brainchild of three high school friends who were looking to get into the spirits business.

Keith Krem, COO of KLYR, a friend of founders Amish Patel, Adam Lehrhaupt and Neil Kahrim, said the team wanted to create a spirit and found there was a void in the market for silver rum.

“There is a vodka surge, and the whisky wave is excellent,” Krem said. “Gin is on the uphill with Aviation and Ryan Reynolds too. Rum seemed to be the only one left with room for innovation.”

Krem said silver rum was chosen because no one has challenged Bacardi since its inception in 1862.

“Unlike Bacardi, KLYR is meant to be enjoyed neat,” he said.

The team enlisted Master Distiller Lexi Close to create the recipe for a rum that could be enjoyed neat or in a cocktail.

Close, whose parents started Holy Water Distillery to make their line of Crostwater spirits in 2018, started working with them after college.

“I wanted to learn the business and help them,” the 26-year-old said. “I fell in love with (distilling). It solves problems or creates new ones.”

Close said she learned the ropes from her parent’s distiller and took over the post when the distiller left.

“It was trial by fire,” she said.

When the KLYR team was looking for a distiller, they enlisted Close’s help.

“She got it,” Krem said of the team’s vision. “This accelerated her distilling journey.”

“We wanted a sippable rum made with quality ingredients,” Close said. “We found a recipe that is consistent and easy to drink. It is meant to be drunk alone.”

Close said the rum is distilled 12 times and filtered 18 times to create a product that has zero grams of sugar, zero grams of carbohydrates and its lower in calories than more sugary rums.

“It still has a sweetness with a lot of versatility,” she said.

The first bottle of KLYR was sold on July 1, 2021, and the partners bought the distillery at the end of March 2022. While they still make the Crostwater line, the focus is on KLYR and a line of canned cocktails made with the rum.

Close said she started with a small batch of rum for the distillery’s tasting room. Once perfected, she moved on to larger batches.

She and her team were able to fine-tune the perfect ratio of sugar, water and yeast using a proprietary distillation and filtration process, she said.

“We make more in a month now than we made in a year when we started,” she said, adding a batch makes about 770 bottles.

The company has grown from being served in the tasting room and sold in a few state liquor stores to being sold in New Jersey, Florida, Delaware and New York.

Krem said KLYR can be found in 30 Pennsylvania Fine Wine and Spirits stores. It is sold in about 300 restaurants and bars across the state and can be delivered to homes through the company website.

KLYR rum and KLYR canned cocktails are currently sold at Decades in Lancaster and Coca-Cola Park and the Morning Call Club at PPL Center in Allentown, Krem

said. The products are also sold at Camelback Resort in the Poconos and Champs Sports Grill in State College.

“We have five to 10% of the total market share,” Krem said of the company’s growth. “Our goal is to be a Bacardi swap out.”

The company sold around 80,000 bottles of KLYR in February, up from just 10,000 in February 2023. Krem said plans are continue growing in the Mid-Atlantic region setting itself up to grow nationally.

This year, Krem said the company’s goal is to realize a four times month over month growth.

“We feel we are coming to the table with a better product, one that is cleaner and healthier,” Krem said.

“We have eight flavors of clean drinks that are easy to take on the go,” he said. “They have no artificial sweeteners.”

The canned cocktails with names like Blast, Crush, Mash and Punch, have natural fruit flavorings blended with KLYR that have 6.5% alcohol by volume and 190 calories, Close said.

The company also has a line of water beverages that are lighter with 4.5% ABV and 99 calories.

Close said she is currently working on refining the canned cocktails to see what works.

Krem said canned cocktails are the largest growth point in the industry and the line is geared toward those looking for a canned beverage like a seltzer without the bubbles.

The company promotes its products at events and on social media.

“We get people to try it,” he said. “We get liquid on lips, cans in hands and take people on a journey that shows rum is drinkable.”