Rum has a very long history in the white experience of Australia, going back to the very start of the colony in 1788.

For that we can thank the Royal Navy whose ships brought the first convicts, soldiers and administrators here.

The Navy rum ration is well known, and it wasn’t long before they were brewing their own here- the first legal distillery opening in Sydney in 1824, however illegal distilling most likely dates from around 1804 and one of the reasons for the crackdown by Gov. Bligh was to get rid of the illicit stills.

For an in-depth academic look at drinking consumption, importing of spirits and other details of the new colony please see this research paper (opens a PDF – scroll forward to about page 20 onwards).

Please see more info about rum below and here’s an article on why I think it’s an exciting aspect in the Australian spirits scene.

 

 

 

Distillery List

1. 100 Souls Distillery, New South Wales
2. Adelaide Hills Distillery, South Australia
3. Aisling Distillery, New South Wales
4. Archie Rose, New South Wales
5. Artisans Secret Distillery, Queensland 
6. Beenleigh Artistan Distillery, Brisbane, Queensland
7. Baker Williams Distillery, New South Wales
8. Birds of Isle, New South Wales
9. Blackmans Bay Distillery, Tasmania
10. Black Gate Distillery, Mendooran, New South Wales
11. Blue Still, Young, New South Wales
12. Boatrocker Brewer, Melbourne Victoria
13. Brix Distillers, Sydney New South Wales
14. Bundaberg Distilling Company Queensland
15. Bunker Hill Distillery, New South Wales
16. Burdekin Rum, Queensland
17. Canberra Distillery, ACT   
18. Canefields Distillery, Queensland
19. Castle Glen Australia
20. Central Coast Distilling Co, New South Wales
21. Capricorn Distilling Gin, Queensland
22. Defiance Distillery, New South Wales
23. Devils Thumb Distillery, Far North Queensland
24. Dunbavan Distilling Co, Queensland   
25. Eureka Distillery, New South Wales – new! 
26. Far North Queensland Rum Company, Queensland
27. Fremantle Spirits Company, Western Australia
28. FNQ Spirits, Queensland
29. FNQ Rum Co, Queensland
30. Glengowrie Distillery, New South Wales
31. Golden Lion Distillery, New South Wales
32. Great Northern Distillery, Western Australia
33. Holey Dollar, Sydney New South Wales
34. Hoochery Rum, The Kimberley, Western Australia
35. Husk Distillery, New South Wales
36. Island Coast Spirits, Tasmania
37. Illegal Tender Rum co. Western Australia
38. Inner Circle Rum, Queensland
39. Joadja Distillery, New South Wales
40. Jimmy Rum, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
41. Kalki Moon, Bundaberg, Queensland
42. Killik Distillery, Victoria
43. Karu Distillery, Grosevale NSW
44. Killlik Distillery, Melbourne, Victoria
45. Kimberley Rum Company, Western Australia (also known as Canefire Distillery)
46. Lark Distillery, Hobart, Tasmania
47. Loch Brewery and Distillery, Victoria
48. Lord Byron Distillery, Byron Bay, New South Wales
49. Mad Monkey Distillery, Adelaide, South Australia
50. Madira Spirits, Sydney, New South Wales
51. Magpie Distilling, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
52. Maria River Distillery, Mid North Coast, New South Wales
53. Milton Rum Distillery, Brisbane Queensland
54. Mount Uncle Distillery, North Queensland
55. Mulligan’s Rum, South Australia
56. Natural Distilling Company, Gippsland, Victoria
57. New Norfolk Distillery, New Norfolk Tasmania
58. Nil Desperandum, Queensland
59. Newcastle Distillery, New South Wales
60. Nubilum Distillery, Victoria
61. Paradise Rum, Queensland
62. Peninsula Distilling, Queensland  – new!
63. Poncho Fox Distillery, Canberra
64. Rebellion Rum Co. Gold Coast
65. Red Mill Rum, New South Wales
66. Riverbourne Distillery Captains Flat, New South Wales
67. Robbers Dog Distillery, Mt Pleasant,  South Australia
68. Sarina Sugar Shed, Sarina, Queensland
69. Spitfire Distillery, Queensland
70. Stone Pine,  Bathurst, New South Wales
71. Saleyards Distillery, Capricorn Spiced Rum, Allenstown, Queensland
72. Six Tricks Distillery, Gold Coast, Queensland
73. Soltera Rum, New South Wales
74. Solander Rum Company, New South Wales
75. South Sea Rum, Western Australia
76. Suffoir Winery, Brewery and Distillery, New South Wales – new! 
77. Swenson’s Rum Distillery, Queensland
78. Tin Shed Distillery, South Australia
79. The Aisling Distillery, Riverina
80. The Siding Gerringong, New South Wales
81. The Canberra Distillery, ACT
82. The Spirit Collective, Queensland
83. Tom Likker, Queensland
84. West Winds Distillers, Western Australia – new!
85. Western Queensland Spirit, Queensland – new! 
86. Waterview, Bundaberg, Queensland
87. WISH Distillery, Queensland
88. Wild River Mountain Distillery, Queensland
89. Winding Road Distillery, New South Wales
90. WISH Distillery, North Queensland
91. Yack Creek Distillery, Yackandandah, New South Wales

 

More Rum in Australia According to Wikipedia:

“The value of rum was based upon the lack of coinage among the population of the colony, and due to the drink’s ability to allow its consumer to temporarily forget about the lack of creature comforts available in the new colony. The value of rum was such that convict settlers could be induced to work the lands owned by officers of the New South Wales Corps. Due to rum’s popularity among the settlers, the colony gained a reputation for drunkenness, though their alcohol consumption was less than levels commonly consumed in England at the time.^[27]

Australia was so far away from England that the convict colony, established in 1788, faced severe food shortages, compounded by poor conditions for growing crops and the shortage of livestock. Eventually it was realized that it might be cheaper for India, instead of England, to supply the settlement of Sydney. By 1817, two out of every three ships which left Sydney, went to Java or India, and cargoes from Bengal fed and equipped the colony. Casks of Bengal Rum (which was reputed to be stronger than Jamaican Rum, and not so sweet) were brought back in the depths of nearly every ship from India although taken to shore clandestinely, to the dismay of the governors. Englishmen living in India grew wealthy through sending ships to Sydney “laden half with rice and half with bad spirits.”

The sale of the Rum caused our very first constitutional crisis when the troops of the garrison (whose officers were making a nice earner trafficking imported rum (which was used a currency in the early colony) overthrew the Governor in 1808, who was none other than William Bligh of the Mutiny of the Bounty fame. The troops were also known as the Rum Corps. You can read the full story here.

But we’ve come a long was since then, and Australia produces several fine and varied Rums, with most coming from Queensland which has long produced world class sugar cane.

Generally speaking the style is quite distinctive and nothing like the Rums you may have had from the Caribbean. Many of the Rum producers have history that goes back over 100 years. For the most part you’ll find they produce dark Rums, but Beenleigh make a very fine white version.

In recent years, there is a range of premium and limited edition releases from companies like Bundaberg to appeal to a more discerning drinker.

For an overview of the main styles of rum, check out my article here.

Note, availability of stock will vary from each distillery and some of these listed are in development at time of publishing.