Appleton White

The Appleton Estate was allegedly part of land awarded to Frances Dickinson in 1655 for his work during the English conquest of Jamaica. The estate remained with the Dickinson family until 1845. A succession of rums was produced on the estate, all of them were of the pot still variety and they promptly gained a good reputation.

Appleton Estate was acquired by Wray and Nephew during the early 20th century. The distillery stands as Jamaica’s oldest and the crop is garnered by machine as well as by machete. The estate is rather large, covering 11,000 acres. The distillery also employs the first female master blender in the spirits industry, Joy Spence. Furthermore, the age statements follow the same rules as do those on single malt whiskies; the age stated must be that of the youngest spirit in the blend. All of the rum is aged in American oak barrels which proffer the vanilla notes present in the finished product.

Appleton Jamaican White Rum has recently arrived in Alberta. The spirit is a molasses based rum produced from field to glass in Jamaica at the Appleton Estate from a combination of pot-distilled and column-distilled rums which are blended and aged for up to 2 years in oak casks. The finished rum is further mellowed by carbon filtration which removes both colour and impurities. The spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume and is primarily aimed at the bar trade as a cocktail spirit.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Spirity, fresh. Vanilla, dark brown sugar.

Palate: Quite dry, spicy. Buttery, vanilla. Oak.

Finish: Crisp and light.