Australian Cultivated Rum: Definition & Rules

Australian Cultivated Rum (ACR) is a trademark registered by Husk to define where and how this new style of rum can be made. It’s a guarantee of quality, integrity and authenticity.

ACR rums;

1. must be produced exclusively from freshly crushed cane juice in a recognised Australian Cane Growing Region along the north-east Australian coastal plain and hinterland between Mossman, QLD and Grafton, NSW.

2. are seasonal and can only be produced from freshly crushed cane juice between July and November in a recognised Australian Cane Growing Region.

3. have no added sugar or flavour added to the final product.

Freshly Crushed Cane Juice

Australian Cultivated Rum production is seasonal, following the yearly sugarcane harvest. As opposed to molasses, (a by-product of the sugar industry, widely used to make rum) cane juice used to make ACR can’t be stored or transported far from its source without losing its integrity and flavour characteristics. 

Indigenous micro-organisms make cane juice an unstable substrate for fermentation as bacteria and native yeast cells that grow naturally on the cane stalk and in the soil, start to multiply as soon as the stalk is cut. This imparts unique flavours to the rum however if not carefully controlled can also result in unpredictable and unsavoury flavour development. That is the reason why, the quality and freshness of the juice is of upmost importance in the ACR production process. 

Finally, fresh cane juice can only be extracted cold (i.e. milling without heating) to preserve its integrity, flavour characteristics and the microorganisms living in it. It can only be filtered or clarified by mechanical operations at room temperature with no heating, lime or clarifying agent addition.

Recognised Australian Cane Growing Region

The Australian sugarcane growing regions are located along 2,100 km of coastline between Mossman in far north Queensland and Grafton in northern New South Wales. Those regions have been selected and developed since the 1860s, making Australia one of the world’s most important sugar producing countries. 

Sugarcane grown in those regions is known for its quality which is the results of over 100 years of research and growing methods developed by farmers. The success of these cane regions fostered innovation like the invention the world’s first mechanical cane harvester. 

We also recognise that a sugarcane industry was established in Western Australia in the Ord River Area in the mid-1990s but ceased operations in 2007.