Malcolm's Rum Adventures

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I recently spent a couple of lazy weeks, wandering Nevis. St Kitts and her smaller sibling Nevis, don’t usually come to mind, when exploring for rum. It’s been almost two decades since the closure and dismantling, of the Rothschild distillery, in St. Kitts. Since that time, there really hasn’t been any commercially produced spirits produced locally, in St. Kitts and Nevis. The decision was made, to end their sugar industry, in 2005 and the rum production ceased also.

Twenty five years ago, we bought a plot of land in St. Kitts and had a home built, that became our family’s second home. Sadly, we parted with that home, but we kept some great memories. Our kids spent a lot of wonderful time, experiencing St. Kitts and Nevis and it’s rich history and culture. My two adult sons, were eager to take a Caribbean trip, along with dad and revisit some of their favorite beaches. 

After anticipating our return, to the twin island federation, we were truly ready. We had no plans and no real agenda, other than, taking a quick look at L&L Rumshop, in Charlestown, Nevis. We easily found it, on Upper Prince William Street, in a part of town, that appears mostly unchanged, for the past couple of hundred years or more. The birthplace of Alexander Hamilton is just a short walk, from L&L Rumshop. I think, that Mr. Hamilton would still recognize his home town today.

We met Mark Theron, at his duty free rum shop, where we were amazed by his selection of spirits. Mark was on the phone and I wasn’t sure how well our visit was to be received. He appeared to be having some challenges, with his building contractor. He was in the process of building a space at home, to securely house his rum collection. He seemed to get things resolved and the mood lightened. I must admit, that he had quite a few offerings, that I am unfamiliar with. Mark offers around 200 rums, with plans to add 165 more. It’s one of the finest and most varied selections of rum, that I’ve stumbled across, in over 40 years of Caribbean travel.

I saw that he had a few cases of Clifton Estate, spiced rum, on display. We purchased a bottle and later that evening, found that it makes a really fine enhancement, to our rum punch. Mark told us, that he blends and bottles it, himself. He uses the name Clifton Estate, as its the name of the area where Mark and his family live, in Nevis. It is also the area, where his wife’s family, have their roots. Mark had been struggling a bit with the back and forth phone calls, while at the same time, trying to be a good host. The lady who usually assists him in the shop, had fallen from her stool the day before and her doctor suggested that she take a couple of weeks off, to recover.

Mark then asked us, if we would like to see his blending and bottling facility, across town. He closed up shop and locked the doors. We followed him across Charlestown in our car, through a roundabout and down the main road, that leads to the port. We ended up at several gated buildings, where Mark blends and bottles his spiced rum and liqueurs. He was both friendly and informative, while spending a couple of hours of his time, giving us the royal tour. The bulk rum, that he bases his Clifton Estate spiced rum on, is sourced from nearby Antigua Distillery Limited. He produces a few other alcoholic beverages, that include some neutral grain spirits, that is sourced from Idaho. He has several large containers of spirits and several barrels of rum that have been resting for 8 years. He intends to bottle those, after a couple of more years of aging.

Mark showed us through his new, arched metal building, it appeared to be quite hurricane proof. His plan, is to add a new copper, alembic pot still later this year. This would give him the final piece of the puzzle. The metal building has superb ventilation and allows him plenty of space, to distill and store his barrels of pot still rum. Part of Mark’s plan, is to offer his high quality distillation services, to some other people locally, that may currently, be using questionable methods. This would raise the quality of the spirits that are available and may offer some more, small brands to St. Kitts and Nevis. This would become the first new commercial distillery, in the federation in over 20 years.  With over 500 rums in his personal collection, he has many flavor profiles to consider, while creating his own, unique Nevis spirit. I wish him the best of luck and I hope that I can sample some Nevis rum, on my next visit.

Malcolm