Monymusk Distillery, Clarendon (Vere)

Geschichte

The Monymusk Estate is one of the oldest plantations in Jamaica, and belongs to the very few that have survived the changing face of rum and sugar manufacture over the last 100 years. 1893 saw 148 distilleries on Jamaica, but only six existed by 1983.

The Monymusk distillery lies in the south of the island at St. Catherine's Town and rum has been made from local molasses since the 18th century, although it was not normally released under its own plantation label.

Monymusk Plantation Rums is distilled and blended by National Rums of Jamaica Limited, The name Monymusk comes from the sugar estate bearing the same name which produced rum and sugar before the abolition of slavery and continues to support the distillery with rich Jamaican molasses.

National Rums of Jamaica Limited wholly owns the Long Pond Distillers Limited which is world renowned for its rich pot sill rums, the Innswood location which is an aging and storage facility and seventy three per cent (73%) of Clarendon Distillers Limited.

Clarendon Distillers Limited (CDL) is located on six acres of land in Monymusk, Lionel Town, Clarendon. The distillery was initially owned by the Monymusk Sugar Factory which began its operations in 1901 and is among Jamaica’s oldest sugar and rum producing estates. Historical information from the Jamaica Sugar Industry suggests that in 1901, the estate was owned and operated by the Honourable Colonel C. J. Ward. In 1916, ownership of the facility was transferred to the Lindo Brothers and they maintained possession until 1928 when the estate was sold to Clarendon Plantation Limited. By 1929, there was another change of ownership; this time, the estate was acquired by the United Fruit Company.

The United Fruit Company maintained ownership until 1936 when the Jamaica Sugar Manufacturing Company and Clarendon Plantation Limited purchased it. By 1937, ownership was transferred to the West Indies Sugar Company and this company oversaw operations until 1976 when the ownership of the estate was transferred to the Government of Jamaica in the form of the Sugar Corporation of Jamaica

The Sugar Corporation of Jamaica divested its interest in rum in 1980 and the operation of the distillery came under the control of National Rums of Jamaica. The distillery remained a wholly owned subsidiary of National Rums of Jamaica up to 2006.

National Rums of Jamaica’s Innswood facility, located in Innswood St. Catherine began operations as a distillery in 1956.

It was owned by the Innswood Sugar Factory. The distillation aspect of the factory was transferred to National Rums of Jamaica in 1980. The facility specialized in Continuous Still/ Column Still rums. Distilling operations at this plant ceased in 1993.

Since 2000, the facility has been used as an aging and blending facility for the portion of the rum produced by the Clarendon Distillery and the Long Pond Distillery that is not exported. The facility is also used for the preparation of denatured rum that is sold for the production of rubbing alcohol, bay rum and cosmetics.

The Long Pond Distillery, situated in Clarke’s Town, Trelawny, emerged from a series of amalgamations and acquisitions that date back to the seventeenth century.

The Distillery was owned by the Long Pond Sugar Factory and the associated estate up to the time of its divestment in 1977.

Earliest recorded owners of the Long Pond Sugar Estate was Sir Simon Clarke, 9th in the line of the Baronet in the Clarke family from Cheshire, England. In 1921, Messrs Sheriff and Company, Scottish distillers, purchased the estate. By 1945, other estates such as Cambridge, Linton Park, Belmont, Lottery and Water Valley were brought under the Long Pond name. In 1949, the Kinloss Estate was also acquired and brought under the Long Pond name.

By 1953 the estate was owned by the Jamaican government and it was sold in this same year to Seagrams Limited of Montreal Canada which needed a steady supply of rum for the Captain Morgan brand rum. The Government of Jamaica bought the Trelawny Estates in 1977 and renamed it the National Sugar Company of Long Pond. In 1980, National Rums of Jamaica was incorporated to assume the distillery assets of the National Sugar Company.