The Highest Scoring Rums From January 2017

Opened by Bev and Ian Glen, Stone Pine Distillery was conceived with the dream of being the first micro-distillery in the Bathurst area. With a background in the alcohol trade, their dream is slowly being realized. The Dead Man's Drop rum is named after the Ribbon Gang, an Australian gang made of some 80 escaped convicts from the Bathurst area in 1830. Ten members of the gang were captured after a prolonged shoot-out, and hung on the 3rd of November, 1830. Available only in Australia.

Trouvadore is named for a slave ship that wrecked off the coast of Turks & Caicos that led to the establishment of the first colony on that chain of islands. The rum is sourced from Angostura and blended and bottled at a facility on Turks & Caicos for the island inhabits and local tourist trade. Only 2000 bottles of this rum were created. It has since been rebranded and is part of the Bambarra portfolio of products.

Nestled in Queensland, Tamborine Mountain Distillery first began in 1993, when married couple Michael and Alla Ward decided to start experimenting with distilling. Opening their doors to the public in July 1998 with Alla as their distiller, they produce a variety of spirits and liqueurs. First produced 5 years ago, their Gold Rum is made from local molasses and sugar cane from Beenleigh. Aged for 4 years in an American oak barrels. Note: Available only in Australia in 500ml sized bottles.

As the name indicates, the rum is copper pot-distilled, using a still known as "The Old Copper”, the only one of its kind in Australia. As Beenleigh says, it was modified a long time ago by “an old German Guy”. After the distillation, it is aged in ex-brandy vats, before being finished in charred American oak barrels for a minimum aging of two years in total. It is crafted with local ingredients. Sold in 1L-sized bottles with availability in western US (at 40% ABV) and in 700ml-sized bottles (at 38% ABV) in Australia.

The aged variant of Mt Uncles Platinum Sugar Cane Spirit, Iridium is aged for 4 years in hogshead American oak barrels 2000-feet above sea level. The sugar cane comes from the Arriga Sugar Mill behind the distillery while the rum is distilled in the 1500-L copper pot-still named “Helga”. Crafted by distiller and owner Mark Watkins, the Iridium Gold Rum saw a release in 2012. Note: Availability limited to Australia.

Aged in oak barrels that will go on to hold Hoochery's Raymond B Whisky, this rum is pot-distilled and made with local Ord River Valley wet-season rainwater. As of the closure of the Kununurra Sugar Mill in 2009, Spike had to look elsewhere for his needs. Importing a cane crusher from Columbia, Hoochery Distillery now grows over 3 hectares of sugarcane on their farm, hand-cut and crushed to make all of their rum products. This tasting was completed with a bottle of Vat 36, bottled on 09/16/2015. Note: This is currently only available in Australia

Established in 2008, this rum was the flagship rum of the Stone Pine Distillery. A now limited edition bottling from Cask 1, the rum is aged in first-fill Serbian oak barriques and is made with local Australian molasses. Each bottle of the rum is individually numbered, with only 294 produced. This tasting was completed using bottle number 245 from Cask 1 (and named Founders Rum). Note: Availability is extremely limited and found only in Australia.

Hailing from the Kimberly region of Western Australia, Canefire Rum starts with sugar cane grown from the Ord River Valley in Kununurra. From there, it is harvested into an unrefined sugar, brewed with high quality yeasts, and refined again to remove the unwanted phenols, methanol and fusel oils. Canefire rumsare all Australian-developed, grown, owned, made and bottled in Western Australia. Availability limited to Australia.

Using their Superior Light Rum as a base, Green Island produces their Spiced Gold expression. The spice blend that they use is not disclosed. This molasses-based Mauritian rum is available for sale in the UK and other European markets.

Barrell Rum Batch 001 is a Jamaican pot still rum which is barrel aged for seven years. It is finished in Barrell Craft Spirits own single-use bourbon casks and bottled at cask strength in Kentucky.