Rum made in and inspired by Louisiana is what Bayou Rum specialises in. The brand was started in 2011 in the heart of sugarcane country by three childhood friends who had a revelation that America’s original spirit had become forgotten. Rum was the original spirit of choice enjoyed by the Founding Fathers before the American Revolution, enjoyed by the likes of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.
Before the Boston Tea Party (1773) there was the Portsmouth Molasses Party (1771), and in a letter to William Tudor Sr. from 11 August 1818, Adams said: “I know not why we should blush to confess that molasses was an essential ingredient in American independence. Many great events have proceeded from much smaller causes.”
Sugar cane, the ingredient central to rum, has been cultivated in Louisiana in the 1700s, and the Bayou rum distillery also has the rich Creole culture and cuisine to inspire its creations. The distillery opened in 2013 in Lacassine and uses locally grown fresh Louisiana sugarcane in its signature recipe, which is converted into molasses by the oldest family-owned and operated sugar mill in the United States. Every batch is distilled in copper pot stills and maturation takes place in 200-litre bourbon and sherry casks.