Clarendon MMW 1994 Plantation Single Cask #1 / LMDW

Launched in 2003, Plantation Rum is a brand owned by the well-established cognac producer, Cognac Ferrand. Established in 1989, Maison Ferrand has used its extensive contacts in the spirits industry to source some exceptional casks of rum. The company also has privileged access to those in the warehouses of Clarendon and Long Pond in Jamaica, through its acquisition of the West India Rum Distillery (WIRD) and the shares in National Rums of Jamaica that came with it. Its ownership of the Bajan WIRD distillery has seen it increasingly involved in rum production as well as bottling in recent years. In June 2020 it was announced that Plantation Rum would be changing its name to support the global dialogue around racial equality, with the company accepting the hurtful connotations that the word “plantation” can evoke.

This is a limited edition small batch bottling of MMW mark rum from Clarendon in Jamaica.

Clarendon distillery is one of the Caribbean’s newer rum factories, built back in 1949. Back then, it was a small operation, running a single pot still produced by legendary Louisville, Kentucky coppersmiths, Vendome. Today it is joined by a second, larger pot still of Indian manufacture, a modern five-column still, both installed in 2009. Operating between January and October each year, the distillery produces around 12 million litres of alcohol each year. Clarendon is technically two distilling operations in one. National Rums of Jamaica has a 73% share, with the remaining 23% owned by their biggest customer, Diageo, who end up taking 90% of Clarendon’s total output for their Captain Morgan and Myers’s brands.

Tropically aged for 25 years in ex-Bourbon casks before being aged for an extra year in Ferrand casks. This was bottled for La Maison du Whisky of France.