Appleton Estate

Appleton Estate is a rum producer in the Nassau Valley of Jamaica, on a property distilling since at least 1749, making it Jamaica's oldest continuously operating distillery. It has been in the hands of the Lindo family since 1916, under the same corporate umbrella as Wray & Nephew, and since 1997 the rum has been shaped by Joy Spence, the first woman to become a master blender anywhere in the spirits industry.

Everything happens on site, from fermenting and distilling molasses sourced from nearby cane farms to ageing barrels that sit above a limestone bed feeding the estate's water supply. Jamaica's tropical climate speeds up maturation considerably compared with cooler regions, so a few years in a Jamaican warehouse can do the work of a much longer ageing period elsewhere. The result is a rich, full flavoured style of rum, built for sipping neat as much as for anchoring a proper cocktail.