Red Mill Rum Gold Rum – August 2024
A famous 1930’s rum Brand resurrected and reimagined by no less than the great-grandson of the original distiller and EXCLUSIVE to the Tribe – The Red Mill Rum Gold Rum!
Now what do you get if you take a 6th generation spirit wholesaler AND great grandson of the producer of Sydney’s favourite rum brand of the 1930’s through to 1970’s – then team him up with a legend in high-end spirit sales in Australia, the former Australian brand ambassador for Moet-Hennessy? Well, you get Red Mill Rum is what you get!
This first batch of Red Mill Gold Rum is a marriage of 5 types of cask – White Bordeaux, Aussie Pinot Noir, Oloroso and Mistelle Sherry and Cognac. Married and slowly diluted to 42%abv in an inert vat, it was then rested in an ex-bourbon cask for a month before bottling.
David Fesq and Garth Foster are the two brains behind this relative newcomer to the Aussie rum scene. And they’re not content to do it the ‘usual way’’. Their vision is of a rum with a lighter, more floral flavour profile and they have certainly achieved this in spades!
Now, whilst they have re-used the ‘Red Mill Rum’ brand (and let’s face it – who wouldn’t if their family ‘owned it’ all those years ago) – they have never set out to recreate Red Mill exactly the same as it was. Theirs is a new, re-imagining of the family brand. Unlike the original – it’s not being contract-distilled by the local CSR sugar mill as it was ‘back in the day’. Nope – this is a hands-on brand resurrection – giving David and Garth the ability to produce rum exactly how they want to.
Their spirit is lighter and cleaner than a lot of our ‘artisanal’ rum makers due in part to their use of a column still which helps extract a more crisp spirit, less oily and more refined. They use a mix of Winemaker’s PDM (Chardonnay) and Fusion (Pinot Noir) yeasts. ~96 hours of fermentation giving a ~7.5% yield. This, combined with their exclusive use of ex-wine or grape spirit aging casks, produces a spirit with as unique a spectrum of aromas and flavours as I’ve ever tasted.
Our Tasting Notes:
Nose: Big grated apple notes dominate the nose at first but then subtle red wine tannin-ey notes begin to curl through. After a minute or two in the glass, soft jasmine notes make themselves known as well.
Palate: Clean and crisp on the palate as column stills do so well. An initial, surprising – but delicious- peanut-brickle burst of flavour backed up by lovely, fruity notes – pineapple, apple and pear – with biscuit spices and fresh pastry notes wafting confidently in the background.
Finish: Fades out with a delightful, almost ginger-nut biscuit feel. Definitely ground ginger there, but those spices fade out hand in hand with it.
This is a rum unlike any I’ve tried before. It’s definitely not your classic caramel and liquorice forward Aussie Style. It’s light on the palate, but by no means insipid. Fruity without being too sweet or funky. Bold flavours – but not overbearing. Floral, but not over the top. The wine cask maturation definitely has a noticeable hand in this. I’ve only tried it straight up so far – but I’m betting this will have a huge contribution to make to the cocktail scene with it’s rather unique flavour profile.
FROM RED MILL RUM
The GOLD rum is the embodiment of our vision for a new Red Mill – using the finest barrels from around the world to craft a style of Rum that is delicious, balanced, refined and elegant.
When you close your eyes and think of Rum, you probably have a few things that come to mind. Everyone does. For me, it’s the colour gold. Golden sand, golden sunsets, gold Rum.
In early February 2024, we selected a small batch of casks to make up the first Red Mill GOLD Rum – these were all barrels that have been aged for at least 24 months, had previously held some type of wine or grape spirit, and suited the goal of a delicious and elegant style. In this first batch, the casks were ex- Red Bordeaux, Australian Pinot Noir, Oloroso and Mistelle Sherries and Cognac,
We then decanted these barrels into a mixing vat to settle together. We slowly added filtered water each day to gently bring the cask strength alcohol (59%) down to the target (42%).
Then, over a month, we have left it to rest. Finally, we transferred the Rum back into old American oak casks for one final rest before bottling. All done by hand, using gravity.
IN THE BOTTLE – WHAT TO EXPECT
The first thing to know is it’s a blend a five different casks, which means it’s more about balance and complexity than a specific barrel trait or stamp. It’s also important to note all of the casks are “ex-grape” barrels, either wine, brandy or sherry. This contributes to the overall sense of harmony and “delicateness”.
It’s aromatic and floral, with strong primary flavours – fruit notes, especially dried stone fruits like mango and apricot, and spice, vanilla and fine cinnamon. The barrels themselves have contributed depth and complexity, supporting the flavours rather than dominating them.
It’s a medium bodied style, with a clear strength in drinkability and versatility. I always think it works just as well at the end of a long workday as it does the finish to a great meal.
It’s been bottled with no colouring, flavourings or additional sugar.
ABOUT RED MILL RUM
Red Mill was once Sydney’s most popular rum. It was first made in 1933 at the legendary CSR distillery on the harbour front in Pyrmont, then bottled by George Fesq to be sold as Fesq’s Red Mill Rum.
George Fesq was my great grandfather, and I decided to restart Red Mill, and restart making Rum, in 2020.
The difference now is we are making the rum ourselves, with a modern style based on a barrel collection that is like no other.
Our home is in the White Bay Steelworks, just a short hop across the harbour from the original distillery.
