St Lucia 2005 Plantation 11 Year Old Extreme No.1 / LMDW 60th Anniversary

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 an 11 year old rum from the John Dore pot still of St Lucia Distillers. This has spent nine years in a bourbon cask on St Lucia, and a further two ageing in Ferrand ex-Cognac wood in France. Part of the dosage-free Extreme range, this was bottled for the 60th anniversary of La Maison du Whisky.

St Lucia Distillers was formed in 1972 through the amalgamation of Barnard family owned Dennery distillery, with the operations of the Geest family at Roseau Bay. The deal saw the former site closed down, with operations consolidated at the latter. The Barnards bought their partners out of their share in 1993, before the operation was bought out by what would become CL Financial in 2005, the parent company of Angostura. A brief affair, CL Financial divested their rum portfolio following the 2008 financial crisis, and in 2009 St Luca Distillers were acquired by Martinique-based Spiribam, owners of the Rhum Clemént and Rhum J.M brands. The company has four stills; two John Dore pot stills installed in 1998 and 2005, a hybrid Vendome pot still (with eight plate column neck) brought in from Trinidad Distillers in 2003, and the original two-column McMillan coffey still from 1985. John Dore 1 and the Vendome still are the smaller of the group, and are used to produce pure cane juice rums in addition to the molasses based spirit distilled on all four.