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. Cairns Rum Company, Queensland  – new!
18. Canberra Distillery, ACT   
19. Canefields Distillery, Queensland
20. Castle Glen Australia
21. Central Coast Distilling Co, New South Wales
22. Capricorn Distilling Gin, Queensland
23. Defiance Distillery, New South Wales
24. Devils Thumb Distillery, Far North Queensland
25. Dunbavan Distilling Co, Queensland   
26. Eureka Distillery, New South Wales – new! 
27. Far North Queensland Rum Company, Queensland
28. Fremantle Spirits Company, Western Australia
29. FNQ Spirits, Queensland
30. FNQ Rum Co, Queensland
31. Glengowrie Distillery, New South Wales
32. Golden Lion Distillery, New South Wales
33. Great Northern Distillery, Western Australia
34. Holey Dollar, Sydney New South Wales
35. Hoochery Rum, The Kimberley, Western Australia
36. Hunters Rum Distilling, Kinglake – new!
37. Husk Distillery, New South Wales
38. Island Coast Spirits, Tasmania
39. Illegal Tender Rum co. Western Australia
40. Inner Circle Rum, Queensland
41. Joadja Distillery, New South Wales
42. Jimmy Rum, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
43. Kalki Moon, Bundaberg, Queensland
44. Killik Distillery, Victoria
45. Karu Distillery, Grosevale NSW
46. Killlik Distillery, Melbourne, Victoria
47. Kimberley Rum Company, Western Australia (also known as Canefire Distillery)
48. Lark Distillery, Hobart, Tasmania
49. Loch Brewery and Distillery, Victoria
50. Lord Byron Distillery, Byron Bay, New South Wales
51. Mad Monkey Distillery, Adelaide, South Australia
52. Madira Spirits, Sydney, New South Wales
53. Magpie Distilling, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
54. Maria River Distillery, Mid North Coast, New South Wales
55. Milton Rum Distillery, Brisbane Queensland
56. Mount Uncle Distillery, North Queensland
57. Mulligan’s Rum, South Australia
58. Natural Distilling Company, Gippsland, Victoria
59. New Norfolk Distillery, New Norfolk Tasmania
60. Nil Desperandum, Queensland
61. Newcastle Distillery, New South Wales
62. Nubilum Distillery, Victoria
63. Paradise Rum, Queensland
64. Peninsula Distilling, Queensland  – new!
65. Pluto Spirits Company, South Australia – new!
66. Poncho Fox Distillery, Canberra
67. Rebellion Rum Co. Gold Coast
68. Red Mill Rum, New South Wales
69. Riverbourne Distillery Captains Flat, New South Wales
70. Robbers Dog Distillery, Mt Pleasant,  South Australia
71. Sarina Sugar Shed, Sarina, Queensland
72. Spitfire Distillery, Queensland
73. Stone Pine,  Bathurst, New South Wales
74. Saleyards Distillery, Capricorn Spiced Rum, Allenstown, Queensland
75. Six Tricks Distillery, Gold Coast, Queensland
76. Soltera Rum, New South Wales
77. Solander Rum Company, New South Wales
78. South Sea Rum, Western Australia
79. Suffoir Winery, Brewery and Distillery, New South Wales – new! 
80. Swenson’s Rum Distillery, Queensland
81. Tin Shed Distillery, South Australia
82. The Aisling Distillery, Riverina
83. The Siding Gerringong, New South Wales
84. The Canberra Distillery, ACT
85. The Spirit Collective, Queensland
86. Tom Likker, Queensland
87. West Winds Distillers, Western Australia – new!
88. Western Queensland Spirit, Queensland – new! 
89. Waterview, Bundaberg, Queensland
90. WISH Distillery, Queensland
91. Wild River Mountain Distillery, Queensland
92. Winding Road Distillery, New South Wales
93. WISH Distillery, North Queensland
94. 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.