Jamaica's Appleton Estate stands as one of the most emblematic rum producers of the Caribbean island - arguably the rum world at large - and yet at the same time remains unique in defying an incredibly distinctive style of rum that Jamaica has become closely associated with. It's both Jamaica's oldest continuously active rum-maker, and also perhaps its most prominent outlier - so let's dive right in!

Before Jamaica's long history under the British, the Caribbean island was in fact ruled over by the Spaniards. Yet the island somehow never quite took on quite so much importance to the Spanish, who instead simply plied the island to supply its tobacco needs. This would all change when the British, under the leadership of an Admiral Penn, conquered the island in 1655 and much as they would with the various Caribbean islands they had occupied, would emphasise the growing of sugarcane to produce sugar. It was under the British that what is today the capital city of Kingston was established, initially as Port Royal, which would soon flourish greatly. At the height of the sugar trade, Jamaica would be home to some 110 rum producers, associated with some 800 sugarcane estates - as is deeply intertwined with the story of rum, where sugar was made from sugarcane, rum would soon follow, with molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining, often used to produce rums (at least under the influence of the British). Yet, much like its Caribbean neighbours, as the sugar trade wound down into the 1900's, many of these rum making operations too would shutter, leaving us with just 6 rum producers in Jamaica today - the oldest of which being Appleton Estate.

But before we get into Appleton Estate, it's worth quickly mentioning how important rum is to Jamaica and Jamaican culture. Whilst it's not uncommon for rum producers (or any producers for that matter) to simply direct most of its products for export, Jamaicans in fact have a deep love and appreciation for their country's own rums - the most popular of which is the J Wray & Nephew Overproof White, a strong, distinctive and incredibly flavour forward unaged rum; also a staple in bars around the world. Every year, half a million cases of J Wray & Nephew Overproof is sold in Jamaica itself, which is astounding when you consider that the island is but home to a population of a million that is of drinking age. It's often joked that the rum is there for every milestone of a Jamaican's life, from baptism to funeral; the island even holds the record for having the most rum bars per square mile of anywhere else in the world!

Much of this is thanks to the historical commercial viability of rums as the sugar trade disappeared. Whilst sugarcanes in were no longer valuable for the sugar it yielded, Jamaican rums became incredibly popular with the Germans. And thus in a twist of fate, it is to some not insignificant extent that the Germans can be credited for the Jamaican high ester style that the Caribbean country is now often associated with - that Jamaican funk, sometimes termed hogo (which comes from the French word haut gout to mean strong flavour or acquired taste) that is often characterised by tones of bananas, pineapples, tyre rubber, green olives and game meats. This Jamaican funk was achieved typically through the use of muck and dunder, which in essence makes use of recycled vinasse (the leftover cane and other fermented material from a previous round of distillation) that kicks fermentation into overdrive - think of it as a sort of mother dough or yeast starter. The German government would nevertheless impose a big tax on foreign imported rums, which eventually led to German importers ingenuously figuring that they could get around the system by having Jamaican rum makers produce an unusually concentrated - and therefore high ester (the chemical often heuristically associated with "flavour") - rum that would then be raised back to standard concentration by only topping it up with neutral alcohol once its been brought into Germany. This was thus called Rumverschnitt. In turn the Jamaican government too would impose an ester count cap on exported rums, limiting it at 1,600 gr/hlAA, which still stands today. Nevertheless the heyday of German trade provided a seriously important lifeline to Jamaica, and in turn allowed for much of the infrastructural investments that took place then.

So getting back to Appleton Estate, in the aftermath of the Brit's successful campaign for Jamaica, a Captain by the name of Francis Dickinson, and his family would thus be rewarded for their aid in the endeavour, which would come at least in part in the form of a land grant to the estate on which Appleton Estate today sits upon. Dickinson was said to have given it the name in homage to his hometown in the UK. Little did Dickinson know that this was in fact a very special site - it is but one of only three cockpit karst formations in the world (with the other two being China and Montenegro). Seated in the Nassau Valley of St. Elizabeth, Appleton Estate's land was in fact once where the Black River flooded and receded, thereby forming a poljes, or a flat valley, that is incredibly fertile and characterised by limestone rich soils. The valley itself is also 400 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains 2,000 feet above sea level as well, which creates a unique micro-climate and perhaps the only rum-maker that enjoys a distinct terroir, a concept that is rarely mentioned in rum-making and would instead be more familiar to wineries. Till this day, Appleton Estate still relies on naturally limestone filtered waters collected in the azure blue reservoirs that is used for its rum-making.

The Black River.

And so 1749 would be the first recorded date of rum distillation that took place on the Appleton Estate - this is thus the date emblazoned on Appleton Estate rum bottles! Yet by 1845, the Dickinson family would put the estate up for sale, where it would thus make its way through the hands of several prominent Jamaican families, from the Hill's to the Nathan's and then the Farquharson's - each family did however help to expand the estate's rum-making activities. As alluded to earlier, at the same time, one J Wray & Nephew was becoming wildly popular, having first been established by one John Wray as simply a rum blending operation that was mainly done to serve the customers of Wray's customers at his Shakespeare tavern. In perhaps the biggest move in Jamaican rum history, J Wray & Nephew would thus acquire Appleton Estate in 1916, marking the unification of two of the country's major rum brands (this was orchestrated by the Lindo brothers who had sought to consolidate rum-making in Jamaica and thus acquired both brands, along with another distillery, New Yarmouth in the Clarendon Parish where the Wray & Nephew Overproof White is now made)! 

Appleton Estate's Master Blender Joy Spence.

The next pivotal moment in Appleton Estate history came when Joy Spence, who is today Appleton Estate's Master Blender, had joined in 1981 as the distillery's Chief Chemist, where 16 years later she would become the first woman to be appointed a Master Blender in the spirits industry in 1997 - Spence remains at the helm of Appleton Estate. Under Spence, Appleton Estate would grow significantly, and by 2012, the estate (along with J Wray & Nephew and New Yarmouth) would be acquired by Campari.

Diving deeper into Appleton Estate's rum-making, all of its sugarcane needs is fulfilled by estate grown sugarcane in the Nassau Valley, totalling a staggering 4,000 hectares of sugarcane - this is a big source of pride for the distillery, as they are one of the few rum producers who can claim full cane to glass. Once the cane is harvested and processed to molasses, a special yeast strain that has been used since the start of Appleton is applied (the distillery actually re-generates the strain every three months to ensure its purity) along with the limestone filtered water, where it is then allowed to ferment for 36-48 hours before it is then distilled separately in both pot and column stills (the former giving its rums body and richness, whilst the latter is said to give Appleton Estate's signature orange peel top note). Appleton Estate's marques are not publicly disclosed, although it is widely understood to go by APEL (Appleton Extra Light; Column Still Distillation), APCC (Appleton Common Clean; Pot Still Distillation) and then APSP / APSJ (which remains unknown what their full names are, although they are understood to be pot still distillation as well with a higher ester count than the APCC marque). The distillates from each still is then barrelled and aged separately (using Number One American White Oak Bourbon Barrels), only being blended before being bottled and released - as such Appleton Estate has historically predominantly produced single blended pot and column still rums for bottling. For older distillates, such as the Velier Appleton Estate Hearts Collection which focuses on single vintage pot still rums (which made a big splash considering that Appleton Estate does not put out solely pot still rums), barrels of the same vintage are periodically (every 3 years or so) emptied into a vat and then refilled back into fewer barrels so as to "top up" the barrels to compensate for the volume that has been evaporated. 

Yet, what is inarguably most pertinent to talk about here is that unlike the high ester "funky" style that Jamaican rums have come to be identified with, Appleton Estate does not pursue that style, and thus does not use dunder or muck to kick fermentation into overdrive - in this sense, Appleton Estate produces rum in a style that's more emblematic of the British-styled rums, and therefore is also itself an outlier in Jamaica even though it is currently its oldest active rum producer. This dunder (or vinasse) is instead used by Appleton Estate to fertilise and irrigate its sugarcane fields (after it's been aerated in special holding ponds).

And so with all that said, today we're going to taste the high watermark that is the Appleton Estate 21 Year Old! The 21 Year Old sits at the top end of Appleton Estate's five-bottle strong core range. It's worth noting that Appleton Estate adheres to the international spirits ageing labelling standards, which means that every drop of rum in this 21 Year Old labelled bottle has to be at least 21 years old, if not older. Whilst this is often taken for granted, it can't always be said to be the case for all rum makers, and is a subtle yet important reason why Appleton Estate remains resolute in its great reputation amongst the rum community.

PS. This was part of a very instructive Appleton Estate rum tasting that was so kindly organised by Singapore's The Rum Cartel, the island country's go to private members' rum club! Big thanks to Monsieur Fred for the invite! We got the wonderful chance to try this 21 Year Old Appleton Estate along with the 2002 and 2003 vintages of the Velier Appleton Hearts Collection - if you're a big rum fan, definitely check out The Rum Cartel where you'll regularly be in for a treat for some great rums - often world premieres of some of the most exciting releases too - and masterclasses with legendary distillers and bottlers themselves!

Rum Review: Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Jamaica Rum, 43% ABV

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Clean, honeyed and fruity. Opens with a base of caramel, joined by clear red fruits and berries. It’s got a sense of lightness, with subtle florals weaving through the mild Jamaican hogo (funk) that is present, but tilts more toward floral than overripe fruit. Light cola hard candy and vanilla, while fruitiness develop towards soft ripe banana with a faint savoury, lightly truffly nuance. There’s a trace of mint, liquorice and a light peppery prickle.

Taste: Precise and compact in its delivery, with a medium-bodied texture and a bit more spice than the nose. Caramel leads again, accented by orange peels and a measured bitterness from espresso. It gets a bit warm from the pepper, anise and chai tea-like spice, along with some not-unpleasant solventy complexities of aviation fuel. Some light herbaceous tones and hawthorn follow, layered with honey and toasted hazelnut depths.

Finish: Medium-short and clean, with light spice, cacao, caramel, molasses, and a faint savoury note reminiscent of sweet soy sauce.

My Thoughts

This is an incredibly accessible and well-balanced expression of otherwise very funky Jamaican rum, with just enough hogo to signal its origin. It shows a fair bit of expressiveness and depth for a core release, with a compact structure and well-defined dimensions.

@CharsiuCharlie