There’s Never Been a Better Time to Try Georgia-Made Rums

America was still an abstract concept when the 13th colony, Georgia, was established in 1732 to honor King George II of England. Originally envisioned as a debtor’s colony, a ship carrying founder James Oglethorpe and 114 men, women, and children landed near modern-day Savannah. 

Oglethorpe was staunchly against alcohol consumption, but colonists and neighboring Indigenous tribes did not share his views. They were fond of rum, to put it mildly. One book estimates that individual colonists drank nearly 4 gallons annually in the years that preceded the Revolutionary War.

By 1735, “strong liquor” like rum was banned, the first act of alcohol prohibition in the not-yet-formed nation. The ban was overturned a few years later, but in the next century, it would take hold, county by county. The state’s ban on alcohol lasted from 1907 to 1935, but legislation would make it difficult to create rum and other spirits for many years to come.

Field-to-bottle sugarcane

Legal challenges and agricultural changes reduced the distillation of rum or any other spirit within Georgia to almost nil for half a century. Sugarcane, a major crop in the coastal and southern parts of the state throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, saw a steep decline in production. Today, its production is well behind that of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. 

In 1999, Richland Rum was established in the namesake small town located in southwest Georgia. As founder Erik Vonk drove outside of Albany, he saw a man on the side of the road cooking sugarcane juice in a large kettle. The juice is still sold within the state as a natural sweetener.

“That brought it all together, and I thought, ‘Yes, here’s an opportunity. I want to grow sugarcane and make rum,’” says Vonk.

Inspired by his grandfather’s love of rum, Vonk purchased a sugarcane field, one that now drives distilling operations in both Richland and Brunswick, Georgia, not far from the original colony site. Vonk worked with a sugarcane agronomist to select a variety originally grown in Indonesia. 

“[I] got a lot of help there in cultivation practices, but also in choosing the right varieties for the climate in southern Georgia,” says Vonk. 

Initial test batches proved underwhelming to Vonk, who also had to deal with state and federal hurdles to obtain the right to begin production. Vonk traveled to Martinique and Guadeloupe to study the longstanding rum traditions of the Caribbean. 

Vonk’s single-estate distillery has now been in operation for more than 25 years. It has racked up multiple awards for unaged and aged expressions, and even created a bottling in collaboration with the late President Jimmy Carter. 

A rum revival

Richland isn’t the only distillery that’s helped revive Georgia’s rum culture. In Atlanta, Independent Distilling was established in 2014, while The Lost Druid, a brewery and distillery, opened its doors in 2019. 

Independent makes a copper pot-distilled white rum, as well as a barrel-aged bottling made with table-grade molasses with long fermentation and light distillation. At The Lost Druid, the lineup includes Kush Island, a sugarcane rum, and Spiced Rumburana, aged for six months and finished in Brazilian Amburana wood that imparts a baking-spice flavor.

Oak House began operations in 2020 in Athens. It’s the first legal distillery in the city since the 1860s. The distillery has two rums made with molasses and cane juice: the Oak House gold and silver. The silver rum adapted a recipe from the 1600s, and the famed pirate Black Bart’s flag inspired the logo.  

Thomasville’s 1861 Distillery, located two hours south of Richland near the Florida border, is named for the first train that came to town. 

“We’ve always been drawn to spirits with deep historical roots and strong regional ties, and rum has both,” says Jill Higgins, the distillery’s co-owner and marketing director. “It’s a spirit with a rich history, especially in coastal areas.” 

The distillery is located near one of the world’s purest limestone aquifers. And it sources sugarcane syrup from a local man they call “Mr. Ronny.” 

“[He] lives in Ochlocknee and he makes the sugarcane syrup there in his backyard,” says Higgins. It’s this syrup that goes into the Caribbean-style white rum, spiced rum, and its barrel-aged offering, which matures in charred American oak barrels. 

“Using sugarcane syrup instead of molasses allows us to create a smoother, more refined rum with a true expression of the sugarcane itself,” says Higgins. “Unlike molasses, which is a byproduct of sugar refining, sugarcane syrup retains more of the natural sweetness and character of the cane, resulting in a cleaner, more complex flavor in the final spirit.”

Whether you enjoy it in a grog, as the colonial forefathers did, or to simply sip it on ice, there’s never been a better time to try Georgia-made rums.