Your Ultimate Guide To Barbados

The West Indies Rum Distillery Ltd.

Located at Brighton, Black Rock in the southern parish of St. Michael on the island of Barbados is the West Indies Rum Distillery. This rum distillery was established way back in 1893 by two brothers from Germany named Stades. Their plan was to produce rum which was to be shipped back to Germany. In 1903 some Barbadian interests acquired the distillery and to this day it has remained in Barbadian hands. The Goddard Enterprises Ltd. has maintained this facility as one of the most efficiently run rum distilleries on the island of Barbados.

Today the West Indies Rum Distillery employs several methods to distill their brands, from the modern four column continuous still to the main still with the two old pot stills even now producing the fine spirits this distillery has become famous for. The use of these varying methods allows for slight variations in the quality of these rums. The West Indies Rum Distillery produces all of the alcohol for all of the bottlers in Barbados (except for Mount Gay) and for some foreign entities.

The main brands bottled at this facility however, are the well known Barbadian Cockspur Fine Rum along with Malibu, Gilbey's and Popov. These fine spirits are available throughout most of the world including the United Kingdom, most of the Continental Europe, the United States of America and of course right here in Barbados.  

This large facility here in Barbados can produce up to nine million litres of pure alcohol every year and has the storage capacity for about one and a half million litres as bulk storage in their stainless steel tanks and the twenty thousand barrels made of American white oak, each with a capacity of two hundred litres.

The West Indies Rum Distillery bottles about one hundred and fifty thousand cases of spirits every year; quite an accomplishment for such a small rum producing nation. Guided tours of this facility can be organized and they would not be complete without the much anticipated tasting of the many strong spirits to be had at this plant. In fact guest to this rum distillery are treated to a tantalizing play on their taste buds when they get to compare the various rums, those distilled using the modern column still and those produced using the older pot stills. This allows patrons to assess the subtle differences of the various rum blends.

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