What is farm to bottle rum?

We’re glad you asked! Husk Rum is a farm to bottle product that is made and bottled entirely on our 150acre property in Tumbulgum, Northern NSW.

Situated on the historic Caldera Coast which boasts rich volcanic soils, pristine waterways and lush rainforests, it’s also a brilliant place to grow sugar cane. In fact, the fertile flood plains of Northern NSW are the most southern cane growing region in Australia.

We are farmers and distillers.

Most rum is made from molasses. Husk is the first Australian rum made from fresh cane juice. We call this unique style Australian Cultivated Rum. What makes Husk Rum so significant is its ties to the land. Our provenance determines the flavour of our cane juice which reflects itself in the final product.

To make Husk Rum we harvest our small crop of select cane varieties and transport them to our sugar mill; the first privately owned mill in Australia, that we designed and built specifically to make rum. Here it is crushed and transferred to the fermentation tanks for inoculation.

Fresh cane juice cannot be stored like molasses. In fact, once cane is crushed and the juice is extracted, it’s a race against the clock and our distillers need to act fast as the indigenous yeast and bacteria start to consume the sugar in the juice from the moment the cane is cut.

For optimal results, the process must be done within hours to ensure indigenous yeast strains don’t become dominant. The competition between our chosen inoculated yeast and the indigenous yeast results in the complex flavours of Australian Cultivated Rum.

Next, the distillers need to find the sweet spot between art and science. It’s a fine line but the rewards are worth it! The fresh fermented cane juice produces a fruity and herbaceous wash for distillation. We distill all our spirits in our 6000L Forsyth still, the first of it’s kind to venture into the Antipodes.

From there, Husk Rum is barrelled and left to mature in our barrel house. We wait ever so patiently for our rum to age away, which actually happens quite efficiently given we are exposed to a sub-tropical location climate with large temperature variations, which accelerates the speed of flavour development.

It then gets bottled and is ready for drinking! Husk Rum is the most pure expression of our terroir.

Our provenance - The Caldera Coast.