James McPherson opens JimmyRum distillery on Mornington Peninsula

Rum has always been synonymous with the high seas. Now, meet the yachtsman and former marine engineer crafting the spirit on the Mornington Peninsula.

Rum ration: James McPherson runs JimmyRum, the only distillery in Victoria which makes only rum. Pictures: Dannika Bonser

RUM has always been synonymous with pirates, buccaneers and the high seas.

So it’s perhaps no coincidence that James McPherson — who spent 20 years on the ocean as a marine engineer and continues to race yachts — has opened the only Victorian distillery dedicated to making just rum, on the Mornington Peninsula at Dromana.

But, James says, the drink has come a long way from its salty past and is fast earning the same kind of respect afforded whisky or gin.

“When the British navy captured Jamaica, they began giving sailors a daily ration of rum and the association has stuck,” James says, with books such as Treasure Island adding to the maritime link.

“While a lot of rum is marketed with pirates and sea creatures, I want to be respectful to the rum and the process it goes through, to let it speak for itself.

“To me it’s a yachties’ drink. I’m happiest when I’m on the deck sipping a beautiful, incredibly complex rum, spending five minutes working out its flavour profile.”

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The 46-year-old launched JimmyRum in 2017, and the following year started to produce rum from his 1500-litre Italian copper still (called “Matilda”). In mid-2019 the doors opened to the public.

James McPherson, Dromana, runs JimmyRum, the only distillery in Victoria which makes only rum.

Rather than buying sugar cane direct from farmer, he sources molasses — a waste product — from northern NSW’s Manildra Group.

About 1100kg of molasses goes into each weekly ferment, with an eight-day process producing about 500 bottles a week. He hopes to be at maximum production of 200,000 bottles within a year.

Australia, like many other countries, has regulations to protect the quality of rum.

“It can only be labelled rum once it has spent at least two years ageing in an oak barrel — until then we have to call it cane spirit,” says James. “There’s debate in craft distilling whether we abolish that, but I’m on the fence because it means the market can’t be flooded.”

He imported 145 ex-bourbon oak barrels from the US in a 40-foot shipping container for the purposes of this ageing process. JimmyRum’s oldest spirit is still sitting in oak (about 13 months), with four other cane spirits including navy (57 per cent alcohol), Silver (which has hints of vanilla, butterscotch and caramel), and Oaked, aged for a shorter time in charred American oak barrels.

James McPherson, Dromana, runs JimmyRum, the only distillery in Victoria which makes only rum.

James — who is head distiller and works alongside a French distiller — hopes to make a French agricole and South American cachaça in 2020, as well as spiced rums using local botanicals.

He offers masterclasses and tours through the distillery, next to his cocktail bar.

“Australians tend to think of rum as one drink. But it’s an entire range. I’ve been in a bar where there were 500 rums to choose from.”

James speaks from first-hand experience.

He admits for many years he was a Bundy drinker himself, before he discovered a global rum offering as a marine engineer. Before starting JimmyRum he even conducted his own three-month research tour of 70 distilleries around Australia and the world, including the Caribbean, (“every rum-lover’s dream trip”).

James McPherson, Dromana, runs JimmyRum, the only distillery in Victoria which makes only rum.

James studied marine engineering at the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania before working on ships including one that carried sugar to Singapore and gas to Japan. He also worked on tug boats in Port Headland and even spent time as a chief engineer with Border Force “chasing drug runners, illegal fishermen and even refugees”.

“As the civilian crew we were always safe. My job was making sure the ship ran, from hydraulics to refrigeration, even sewage.”

In his spare time, for 35 years James has raced yachts, even taking part in the Sydney to Hobart.

He says rum goes with the ocean territory and it was while based out of Singapore that he discovered rum didn’t need to be sugary, but could be dry, crisp, smooth and as sophisticated as any cognac.

So when he took a redundancy in 2015, it was the perfect chance to start chasing the dream.