Callwood Rum Distillery

The British Virgin Islands have a rich history of rum distilling, as evidenced by the drink menus and shelves of bottles you’ll find nearly everywhere you go across the archipelago. In the industry’s heyday of the 18th and early 19th centuries, the BVI was home to 106 distilleries, a quarter of which were on the island of Tortola. 

Today, only one rum distillery remains on Tortola: Callwood Rum Distillery. The Callwood story goes back to the 1800s, when a buccaneer named Richard Callwood bought the land for his son, Richard, Jr. Back then, the land was called the Arundel Estate, and so they founded the Arundel Distillery. Today, after four generations of knowledge and a name change, it remains in the Callwood family. 

Set into the scenic Cane Garden Bay, Callwood Distillery still operates out of the same stone building it did when it opened over a hundred years ago. They even still use their original boiler, which turns pure sugar cane juice into molasses that is fermented into rum.