3 August 2026

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