Queensland’s small-batch Capricorn Spiced Rum, produced by Saleyards Distillery, just got named the best in the world, so maybe it’s about time you dropped the Bacardi and took notice.
When we think about rum, and specifically about craft rum, there’s much more to the spirit than just a great flavour. We’re looking for passion, a sense of place, of a process that’s defined by dedication, inspired by a thirst for quality, and that runs in the face of the dominant spirit brands. Craft spirits offer drinkers a chance to be part of a journey that’s less about massive marketing campaigns and more about a few people who just want to make a great product in the place they love.
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You could pretty much write the above on the label of Capricorn Spiced Rum, a small-batch spirit from Central Queensland and produced at the Saleyards Distillery (they also do a pair of innovative gins and a rum liqueur) that has just reached the very pinnacles of the industry, winning the Best Spiced Rum in the World Rum Awards 2020 while muscling out the big brands of the Caribbean. Not bad for a distillery that only started production in 2016.
Made from molasses produced by the sugar mills of Central Queensland, in Australia’s balmy northeast, that’s given a long fermentation to bring out some intriguing flavours, the distillate is double distilled in copper pot stills before being lovingly aged for five months in European and American oak barrels by head distiller Warren Brewer. This maturing process is quickened by the tropical climate of Queensland, creating a spirit that has no added sugar, colourings or artificial flavours and that’s dark, brooding, complex and hearty – just like you.
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A selection of traditional spices, added during the maturation process, has been tweaked with touches of Australiana to give Capricorn Spiced Rum a distinctive Downunder flavour profile that includes candied fruit, a nice balance of spice, and a vibrancy that lends itself perfectly to a host of inventive summer rum cocktails.
Saleyards suggests a combination of rum, ginger syrup, apple juice and lemon juice, but as this little Rockhampton distillery has proven, all you’re limited by is imagination.
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