Beenleigh Artisan Rum more than just a rum, more even just a spirit – it is a tribute to bold Australian enterprise and the stuff that legends are made of.
Welcome to the Australia’s oldest registered distillery and the people and the rum that made it what it is today You’ll find tall stories, colourful characters, and a heritage as rich and distinctive as Beenleigh Rum itself.
In 1865 a duo from England by the names of John Davy and Francis Gooding purchased 300 acres of land fronting the Albert River. They named the clearing after their old Devonshire farm, which was called Beenleigh.
Originally, they had intended to grow cotton on this land, but as fate would have it, a more lucrative alternative presented itself- sugar cane.
As legend would have it, around the same time, a man called James Stewart, known as ‘The Bosun’ was operating a floating sugar mill, aboard the S.S. Walrus, along the Albert and Logan Rivers. He soon found a productive use for the excess molasses he produced- making Rum on the sly.
One day in 1884 the SS Walrus washed ashore on our banks. No-one was aboard- except The Bosun’s Copper Pot still. Beenleigh Artisan Distillery was born
At the end of Distillery Road there’s an old red building that is, in parts, the original Beenleigh Distillery from 1884. It’s home to ‘The Old Copper’.
The Old Copper is a very special Copper Pot Still that has a signature shape and style known as a Vat Still. It is the only one of its kind in Australia. Other similar international examples of this equipment include the Port Mourant Still- famous for classic Demerara style Rum. Another significant link between Beenleigh Distillery and Demerara is that our previous Distillers once worked with similar stills along the Demerara River, Guyana in the early 1900s.
We are true artisan distillers. Only four people work in The Big Red Shed, including our Master Distiller, who has been here for forty years. Our Distillers manage all parts of the Rum-making process, from fermentation, to nursing the still throughout the day, to cask-aging our exceptional Rum. Fine Australian Rum must legally mature for a minimum of two years to be sold as “Rum”- so we gently let our Beenleigh spirit age amongst our historic surroundings. You just can’t rush artisan Rum!
To craft a range of Award-Winning world-class rums, we start by using only the finest ingredients: pure Queensland rainwater, premium molasses and our own proprietary yeast. The secret ingredient is the passion and dedication of our team of artisan distillers.
Our high-quality local molasses is mixed with our exclusive proprietary yeast and pure Queensland rainwater from our water supply dam. The yeast works its magic across several days and we create a ‘wash’ of 8% alcohol content to then supply to our Distillation stage.
After fermenting, we transfer and boil the wash through our ‘continuous column’. Then comes the special part. We capture the ‘heart’ of the spirit and transfer it to our 15,000 Litre Copper Pot Still, and heat it to 80°C. Our artisan distillers keep a close watch, checking it carefully every hour for 12 hours, until it’s ready and tastes just right for the next stage in the crafting process.
Following distillation, our Beenleigh new-make cane spirit has already developed its unique, complex character. But it’s the final stage that makes all the difference. We take the cane spirit collected from the Stills and fill our historic wooden maturation vats that once held delicious Australian brandy. We leave the Spirit there for up to 2 years, to now be called and sold as Rum. In some cases, we age for 5, 10, even 15 years. Enough time for it to extract some of the mellow characteristics of the oak.
Our maturation process also consists of consists of using American Oak, ex-Bourbon casks, which contribute classic toffee, caramel, butterscotch flavour profiles to our maturing Rum stocks, perhaps for a decade or more.
This is what gives every bottle of finely crafted Beenleigh Rum its rich, luscious flavour and velvety-smooth finish.
We regard our Rum portfolio as a Single Blended Rum classification, utilising our Column and Pot distillation processes at the Beenleigh Artisan Distillery.
Shake
Dry shake to dissolve the maple syrup
Serve- Highball
Garnish – Apple slice and a few of Beenleigh Rum soaked raisins
Shake and strain
Serve – Brandy Balloon
Garnish – Sprinkle of nutmeg
Stir in mixing glass
Strain over block ice
Serve – Double Rocks
Shake and Strain
Serve – Highball
Muddle Mint and Ginger
Pour over ice and top with crushed ice
Serve – Highball
Garnish – Caramelised Pineapple
Shake and strain
Serve – Coupette
Garnish Lime wheel
Pour over crushed ice
Top with ginger beer
Serve – Mug, or a Copper Mug
Garnish – Mint Sprig
Shake and Double Strain
Serve – Champagne Coupette
Garnish – Mint Sprig
Build over ice
Top with soda water
Serve – Highball Glass
Garnish – Pineapple leaf and a sprinkle of cinnamon
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Wine Glass
Method
Dry shake then shake with ice.
Garnish
Flamed Nutmeg
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Coupe
Method
Using smoking chips smoke glass, leave over chips while making cocktail
Muddle pineapple, add all ingredients dry
Shake!
Add ice and shake cocktail, double strain in smoked glass!
Garnish
Orange buttered garnish!
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Crystal cut coupe
Method
All ingredients stirred over ice and double strained into glass. Squeeze orange cheek over strained cocktail to release oils on surface of cocktail. Add orange twist to rim of glass.
Garnish
Orange twist, orange oil squeezed from peel over drink, floating star anise.
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Small Handle (pot size)
Method
Stud one wheel of lemon with cloves
Place in glass
Pour 45ml Beenleigh Honey Rum
Pour 15ml Ginger Syrup
Add Hot water to taste, aprox 60ml
Stir and serve with Cinnamon Stick
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Crystal cut double rocks glass
Method
Stir down in a mixing glass and strain into ice filled glass, lemon spritz then discard.
Garnish
Garnish with a Lemon Zest Twist.
Creator
Ingredients
Glass
Double Rocks/Old Fashioned, Crystal Cut look is good for this drink
Method
Dry shake all ingredients to emulsify the egg white and honey. Add ice, then wet shake.
Garnish
Drizzle of the honey and dehydrated raspberry to top off.
Trophy, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013
Gold Medal, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013
Gold Medal, Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards 2014
Bronze Medal, San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition 2014
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Trophy
Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Gold Medal
Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Gold Medal
Beverage Tasting Institute – Spirit Category (Chicago) 2015
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2016
Bronze Medal, San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Bronze medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017 Silver Medal
WSWA Wine and Spirits Tasting Awards 2017 Silver Medal
International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017 Gold Medal
New York International Spirits Competiton 2017
Silver Medal, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013
Silver Medal, San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition 2014
Silver Medal, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014
Bronze medal, RASV Aust Distilled Spirits Awards 2015
Bronze medal RASV Aust Distilled Spirits Awards 2015
Bronze medal, Royal Melbourne Show 2015 Double Gold, Melbourne International Spirit Competition 2015
Silver Medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2016
Silver Medal, San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Silver Medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017 Best In Show, WSWA Wine and Spirits Tasting Awards 2017
Double Gold, WSWA Wine and Spirits Tasting Awards 2017
Silver Outstanding Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017
Silver Medal, New York International Spirits Competiton 2017.
Bronze Medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017
Silver Medal, New York International Spirits Competition 2017.
Silver Medal, San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Bronze medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017
Silver Medal, New York International Spirits Competiton 2017
Silver Medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2016
Silver Medal, San Fransisco World Spirits Competiton 2016
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2016
Silver Medal, San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017
Silver Medal, New York International Spirits Competiton 2017.
Silver Medal, San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition 2014
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014
Silver Medal, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015
Bronze Medal, Melbourne International Spirit Competition 2015
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015
Silver Medal, San Fransisco World Spirits Competiton 2016
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2016
Gold Medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017
Best Flavoured Rum – Australia, World Spirits Award 2017.
Trophy, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013
Gold Medal, Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2013
Gold Medal, Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards 2014
Bronze Medal, San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition 2014
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Trophy
Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Gold Medal
Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014 Gold Medal
Beverage Tasting Institute – Spirit Category (Chicago) 2015 Bronze Medal
International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015
Bronze Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2016
Bronze Medal, San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2017
Bronze medal, Australian Distilled Awards 2017
Silver Medal WSWA Wine and Spirits Tasting Awards 2017
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017
Gold Medal, New York International Spirits Competiton 2017
Silver Medal, Beverage Tasting Institute – Spirit Category (Chicago) 2015
Bronze Medal, San Fransisco World Spirits Competiton 2016
Silver Medal, International Wine & Spirit Competition 2016
Best in category – Gold Rum – Australia, World Spirits Award 2017