Australian Rum

I recently moved to Australia and have found that there is an incredible amount of rum producers here. I would think most people from North America would recognize at least Bundaberg but like myself, perhaps the list both starts and ends with Bundy. I do recall seeing bottles of Valinch & Mallet from Australia for some ungodly amount but that’s about it prior to my move. 

So here I am now after doing some digging, with a list of 20+ rum producers across Australia and I’m thinking to myself how is this even possible? How has there been so little introduction into the North American market? For a country that has Rum so ingrained in their history, I am shocked that there isn’t more Australian rum available where I came from in Canada. There are a few reasons why this may be the case but first let’s look at some unique Aussie rum details. 

To start, Australia can actually grow sugarcane. The main reasons why I didn’t divulge into “rum” from Canada was 1. Canada does not produce sugar cane and 2. The rum would not benefit from tropical aging like it does in the Caribbean. Nothing like aging your rum in the deep freeze over winter… But yes, the Australian north is able to produce its own sugar cane and age naturally in the heat of the tropics. Even better; there is a rum law from 1901 that states in order to call something rum, it must be aged for a minimum of 2 years. Ok, so we have the cane, we have the heat for aging and we have a law, now we’re talkin’!

So I have to say, not all Australian rum is aged tropically, of course the winters in southern Australia get quite cold indeed but apparently that fluctuation in temperature generates another unique characteristic in the aging process. So we have sugar cane grown on some of the oldest land on the planet and then aged in a unique-to-geographic-location way. I think that’s a recipe for something unique, and I do love an adventure. 

As I do more research into the topic of Aussie Rum, I’m more and more fascinated by the variety and intensity of production here. Husk rum is the first Australian producer to make rum from fresh cane juice and though they can’t call it Agricole, they’ve dubbed it ‘Australian Cultivated Rum’ or ACR. Soltera Rum is a dream realized by the sole operator once she realized she could just go for it. Red Mill Rum has history dating back to 1933 and has only just been revived by the great grandson of the original owner. So far most of the producers are all stating no added sugar, colouring or preservatives as well which is great to see.

For me, this is a great time to be here in Australia. It seems like the Rum Revolution has been happening here for a while. The thought crossed my mind that Aussie Rum may be a little like the country itself: kept hidden as much as possible except instead of using “all the poisonous animals” to ward off possible travellers, they show the world Bundaberg and say this is Aussie Rum. 

So far, it has not disappointed with Husk Spiced Rum being my first dip in the Australian Rum pool (after Bundaberg) and damn is it tasty. I am looking forward to trying many more and touring some distilleries. I’m looking for other’s thoughts on the matter and what they have experienced with regard to Aussie Rum.