Inner Circle Rum Pty Ltd

History

Company was established in 1884.

Inner Circle Rum was first produced by the CSR Company last century for the pleasure of that company’s employees and very special clients only – hence the name. From its first distillation, the objective was to make the best rum possible.

1855 - The Colonial Sugar Refinery (CSR) is founded and quickly establishes refineries in Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands.

1873 - The Harwood Distillery is established on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales, Australia and signals the beginning of domestic rum production on a commercial basis.

1890 - CSR establishes a distillery in Nausori, Fiji utilising the very high quality of Fijian sugar cane attributable to the traditional harvesting techniques which are still in practice today.

1901 - CSR opens a distillery in Pyrmont, an inner city suburb on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour. This distillery used pot stills to distill rum from both Fijian and Australian raw materials which produced a unique, distinctive and very high quality product. The current Inner Circle product reflects this early work.

1950 - Inner Circle wins it’s inaugural gold medal at the Sydney Agricultural Show, the first of many local and International awards. The CSR Board of Directors were obviously very proud of their rum and for many years it was kept for the exclusive use of the inner circle of CSR Management. The annual ceremony of presenting a bottle as a gift to it’s more highly regarded clients created a unique following and would ultimately force this exceptional product into the marketplace.

circa 1970 - Inner Circle Rum was released into the Australian market and immediately created a cult like following. Those who found the Brand, ‘only spoke of it in whispers but sung it’s praises loudly!’ It was originally available in three strengths, Underproof, Overproof and 33% Overproof. The label was instantly recognisable by it’s coloured circle and became identified as red, green or black dot.

1986 - CSR sells their rum distillery interests and Inner Circle is removed from the market – a great Aussie icon disappears.

2000 - Stuart Gilbert, an Australian Olympic Yachtsman still lamenting the loss of his favourite rum, sought out and became acquainted with Malcolm Campbell who had been responsible for the distillation and quality control of Inner Circle from 1972 to 1986 when he supervised the very last bottling. To Stuart’s delight, Malcolm still had the original recipe in his care and indeed still had in his refrigerator a sample of the original yeast. Inspired by this revelation, Stuart acquired the rights to the Brand name and now wants to offer his product to the rum lovers of the world!

2004 - Inner Circle Rum purchases the Beenleigh Rum Distillery which, after some re-engineering, will start to produce the highest quality pot still rums.

2005 - The Company has purchased Offices in the old CSR Cooperage building at Pyrmont. The Head Office will soon be located where the story began over 100 years ago.