Rivers Rum Distillery

St. Patrick’s parish,
Grenada
Grenada

Type: Wine Tasting
Cost: EC$5 - US$2 per person.

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Located close to Lake Antoine in St. Patrick’s parish is the Rivers Rum Distillery. Watching the rum-making process here could kill or cure an alcoholic. Dating back to 1785, this is the oldest rum distillery still working in the Caribbean. Their one and only product is a white rum that can compete with the most potent rums of the West Indies. The Rivers Rum process of distilling is totally different from Clarke’s Court, which is 150 years more advanced. Just seeing the buildings takes you back two centuries. This is no reproduction – it’s the real thing. Sugar cane is fed into a three-roller press by hand. The press is turned by a huge water wheel. You can see the juice dripping from the press, and the crushed cane is sent through a second time. The juice flows down toward the boiling house, where it is cooked in large bath-size coppers (pots). Cane residue is used as fuel for the fire simmering below them. The juice looks less and less appealing as it is moved from copper to copper in giant-size ladles. Lime is added to assist fermentation and to help get rid of impurities. Bats fly inside the boiling house and no doubt are the prime providers of those impurities. Then again, that could be the magic ingredient, for all we know! After several hours, the liquid is drained to fermentation tanks where yeast is added. The journey from cane to rum takes 12 days. Twelve tons of sugar cane are used every day, producing 1,000 gallons of juice, which in turn makes 90 gallons of rum. That might seem a small number, but bear in mind that it is around 150 proof. A little goes a long way. The aroma alone can knock your socks off. None of the rum is made for export; it all serves the local market. Some say it can still be You are encouraged to try it yourself at the end of the tour. Don’t mind the workers watching your expressions as you gasp for breath. Only the fearless will walk away with a bottle in hand. Open 8 am-5 pm, Monday to Friday, and 10 am-4 pm on Saturday. Admission fee is EC$5, or US$2 per person. Please remember to tip your guide. smelled on the breath the day after it is drunk.