SUCCESSFUL SPIRITS ENTREPRENEURS BUILD NEW HIGH-END RUM FACTORY ON GRENADA

Spirits entrepreneurs who successfully overturned the fortunes of Bruichladdich whisky on Islay are building a new rum factory on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

The USD25 million Renegade Rum facility – due to open on July 1 – aims to eventually produce one million litres of exclusive, terroir-derived rum every year.

Using local sugarcane juice, rather than molasses, Renegade owners Mark Reynier, John Adams and Sir John Mactaggart plan to create premium rum at the distillery, near Upper Conference, St Andrew’s Parish, 11 miles north-east of Grenada’s capital, St George’s.

The trio are well-known in the industry for acquiring and rebuilding the disused Bruichladdich Distillery in 2002, before selling it a decade later to Remy Cointreau for GBP58 million (USD77 million).

Renegade will not be bottling its spirits for other brands; the company will be selling all its Grenada products under its own name, Reynier told just-drinks.

Instead of using a “ubiquitous waste stream of sugar” as feedstock, the company plans to create the “world’s most profound rum”, based on “provenance, authenticity and full traceability back to the fields”, Reynier added.

The distillery’s construction is a public-private partnership with the Grenada government, with its Renegade Rum scheduled for retail sale by 2021 or 2022.