Jamaican Rum

Jamaica makes rum that tastes like nowhere else, and the reason is deliberate: long fermentations using wild yeast and dunder, the residue from a previous distillation, followed by pot-still distillation, produce esters at concentrations far above the international norm and a flavour the trade calls funk, all overripe banana and varnish. Hampden in Trelawny takes this furthest and sells much of its output to blenders worldwide who use a small amount to flavour much larger volumes. Appleton in the Nassau Valley of St Elizabeth is the best known name and the most set up for visitors, with a tour through cane field, mill and ageing house in a spectacular limestone valley.

What you actually see

• Pot stills - the copper stills that produce the heavy Jamaican style.
• Dunder and long fermentation - what creates the ester profile.
• The Nassau Valley - the limestone valley Appleton sits in.
• Hampden - the high-ester distillery in Trelawny, also open to visitors.

When to go

Year-round. Tours run on weekdays and Saturdays and generally need booking. The cane harvest and crop season, roughly January to June, is when the mills are actually running. Combine Appleton with Y S Falls, which is close by.

Honest expectations

Distillery tours are polished brand experiences with limited access to actual production, and the tasting at the end is small. Appleton is a long drive from the north coast resorts. Overproof white rum, widely sold and drunk here, is around 63 per cent and catches visitors out badly. Duty-free prices are often no better than the supermarket.

Nearby

Y S Falls is twenty minutes; Black River is 40 minutes south.