National Rums of Jamaica

Clarendon/Monymusk The Monymusk Estate (Monymusk) was a sugar plantation and sugarcane mill located in Lionel Town, Clarendon Parish at the southern end of Jamaica. rum has been produced at Monymusk since between 1794 and 1807, and sugar has been produced at the sugar factory since 1901. In 1884, Monymusk was purchased by Appleton Estate owner Colonel Charles James Ward. Ownership was transferred to the Lindo Brothers in 1916, who created the Applemony brand of rum, a portmanteau of Appleton and Monymusk. Like Hampden Estate, Long Pond Estate also began operations in 1753 Due to environmental concerns regarding the inability to dispose of the dunder left over after distillation, Long Pond was shut down in 2012. which spread to the warehouse and the fermentation plant, destroying of rum and the fermentation tanks. In 1980, the distillery was sold to National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ). The distillery stopped producing rum , and on December 31, 1996, the NRJ officially announced the end of its rum distilling operations, In January of 2021, Martha Miller became the CEO of NRJ, becoming the first female CEO in the history of the Jamaican rum industry. The battles over Jamaican GI Following the latest amendments to the Jamaican rum GI, issued by JIPO in 2024, NRJ filed a complaint with the Jamaican Fair Trading Commission, alleging anti-competitive practices, and has filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court, arguing that the power to amend the GI Act is exclusive to the Registrar of Industrial Property, and so the changes made by Shantal English, a hearing officer at JIPO, are illegal. Unlike some distilleries, such as Appleton Estate and Worthy Park, the distilleries under NRJ heavily depend on exporting rum to be blended and aged outside of the country, and NRJ asserts that this GI exists to stifle the competition of J. Wray & Nephew, the biggest player in Jamaican rum. == Production ==

Clarendon Most of the molasses used by Clarendon is imported, with only 30% originating in Jamaica. The molasses for the column still is fermented in four steel tanks that are cooled by a giant heat exchanger. were transferred to Long Pond. For heavy rum, muck and lime salts are also added (in a process originally patented by Jamaican chemist H. H. Cousins in 1906), and fermentation happens for 2-3 weeks in open tanks with wild yeast, while for lighter rums, fermentation is only 36-48 hours long and active dry yeast is used. Long Pond distillery has been known for its high-ester, pungent, "funky" rums, up to the legal limit of 1,600 g/hLAA. It exclusively distils using five double-retort pot stills (3 original John Dore and 2 Blair from Clarendon), four with capacities of and one with a capacity, which limits their production volume to only of alcohol annually. The distillate exits the pot stills at 86-87% ABV, and all pot stills are capable of producing both high and low ester marks. The distillery has an old twin-column Blair still, however it suffered a catastrophic failure around 2009 and lays in disrepair. The plant manager at Long Pond is Kevin Barnett. Innswood Rum at Innswood was produced on continuous column stills. There used to be a pot still used to make Gordon's Gin, but it is dismantled and in disrepair. Today, the only rum operations are blending and aging, as well as a cooperage and offices to support the warehouse. National Rums of Jamaica NRJ has a house brand, Monymusk, which is a blend of rums from both Clarendon and Long Pond. The rums are barreled for aging at around 70% ABV. The master blender for Monymusk is Derrick Dunn. == Products ==

Clarendon 90-95% of rum produced at Clarendon is sold to Diageo, to make Captain Morgan, and Sazerac, to make Myers's Rum, The remaining portion sold to third parties, or blended to make Monymusk, NRJ's house brand of rum. Long Pond Long Pond's rums are almost entirely sold as bulk rum to third parties or to make the Monymusk blend for NRJ, but they recently released their first house-brand 15 year aged ITP rum. National Rums of Jamaica • Monymusk Plantation Special Gold Rum - 40% ABV - A blend of rums aged in charred ex-bourbon barrels. • Monymusk Plantation Classic Gold Rum - 40% ABV - A blend of rums aged for 5 years in charred ex-bourbon barrels. • Monymusk Special Reserve - 40% ABV - A blend of rums aged for 10 years in charred ex-bourbon barrels. • Monymusk Plantation Whispering Breeze - 40% ABV - A coconut-flavored rum liqueur. == References ==