St. Nicholas Abbey has shunned mass production and complex mechanical systems in favour of the traditional distillation process that made Barbadian rum famous over 350 years ago.
Above > Freshly cut cane is hand-fed into the steam mill where it is crushed just once to extract the sweetest juice possible. Right > In addition to the multi-award winning St. Nicholas Abbey Rum, which is available only at the plantation, visitors can also purchase brown sugar, molasses, and St. Nicholas Abbey’s Sugar Cane Syrup, a unique artisan syrup produced from sugar cane grown in the fields surrounding this magnificent old plantation.
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ADVENTURE & DISCOVERY
The Great House itself is a work of art, and the antiques include beautiful items from the 18th and 19th centuries – unique pieces like the bed of the Empress Josephine and iconic Sailors’ Valentines. These elegant shell ornaments were created in Barbados in the nineteenth century and exquisite new versions can be purchased in the shop. There is so much to see, from the famous coral dripstones for purifying water from the roof to the outdoor family privy with four seats; the sugar bond that now houses the museum, the bar and rum tasting parlour, and the cinema for viewing the 1935 film about plantation life and making sugar syrup at Nicholas! Across the yard is the distillery, the syrup plant and the old steam mill circa 1890, which grinds cane from December to June. Larry’s vision was to produce premium single cask rum on site, on a boutique scale, using the plantation’s own freshly ground cane and the traditional pot still method, in the new distillery installed in 2009. It starts with the cane juice, processed on site into syrup and distilled, rather than using molasses, the base for most rums. The syrup plant produces 20,000 litres of syrup each year. This produces a distinctive, light and flavourful rum, aged in bourbon oak casks. The rum is bottled in elegantly designed bottles, etched with an image of St. Nicholas and sealed with a mahogany cork, reminiscent of some of the original mahogany groves still in existence on the plantation. It’s a unique, totally sustainable Nicholas plantation package which continues to earn rave reviews. Speaking of sustainability, St. Nicholas Abbey is now fully energy efficient, having installed a full array of solar panels on the factory roof in 2015. Furthermore, every combustible item – paper, boxes, palm fronds and wood from the forest – all go to produce brickettes to fuel the syrup plant! This New Generation of St. Nicholas Abbey 5 year old rum coincides with a new generation of Warrens! Larry and Anna’s son Simon and wife Camilla are proud parents of twin boys, Arthur and Henry, just over a year old.