Queensland Rum Day was founded in 2023 to celebrate the sugarcane spirit, its distillers and producers across the sunshine state. And on its second edition this year on November the 2nd, a very special rum blend was produced to mark the occasion, bringing together two giants of rum distillation in state - Beenleigh and Bundaberg, with two comparatively young ones, Nil Desperandum and Kalki Moon. Now it is exceedingly rare for independent distilleries to come together to create a blend of their own. More often than not, blends are a product of single distilleries; distilleries owned by a single group; or simply blended by rum brokers themselves.

The Rum Consortium, as it was aptly named, is a blend of molasses-based rums from the four different distilleries, with ages between 4 to 12 years old, the oldest being a 12-year-old Bundaberg matured in ex-bourbon casks. I don’t have any further information on its other components, but having visited Nil Desperandum, one could hazard a guess that it would’ve aged in ex-bourbon casks that were seasoned either with sherry or port. The rums were then put together by Adam Chapman, head distiller of Nil Desperandum, resulting in 1,920 bottles at 40% abv, all of which have been sold out online, which speaks volumes of the tremendous interest in the rum.

The nose was a very curious thing, one that was filled with aromas I rarely find from other sugarcane spirits. Its freshness was evident, vibrant, exciting, bursting with tropical waves of freshly sliced pineapples drizzled with sweet honey. I wouldn’t claim to be familiar with the rums from Bundaberg or Kalki Moon, but the ripe, red apples that I so adore from Beenleigh were as clear as day. Yet underneath all that fruitiness lay a little spice one would find in a ginger beer, as well as the slightest hint of funk, peppercorn, and agave.

On the palate, the tropical fruitiness and funkiness is all-consuming, and it is probably where Nil Desperandum’s dunder juice really shone. It had a good dose of tropical funk, with slightly over-ripe bananas and mangoes, a little leather, iodine, and even that hint of “sweat” that I often find in those continentally-aged demerara rums. The finish was medium in length, which was a rather good surprise given its dilution down to 40%, and developed into this sweet, treacly rum, bringing with it notes of red fruits, golden sultanas, and finished with a little dryness and oak, that added a nice touch of complexity to it all.

The Rum Consortium then is not only a celebration of Queensland’s rum producers, but a masterclass by Adam in blending too. You just have to remember that the components of the blend were never meant for each other, all distilled individually and meant for their own. And it was by sheer chance that they came together with an idea as wild and fine as this, and a fitting showcase of the best of Queensland rum. I hope this isn’t a one-off, and will see more distillers from around the state coming together and crafting another amazing blend like this one.