The Bundaberg Rum Distillery Self Guided Tour and Tasting

When someone mentions the town of Bundaberg to me, the first thing that pops into my, and I suspect quite a few other peoples head is rum. As a result, obviously the first thing we did on visiting the town was to go find and visit the distillery.

The distillery sits not too far from the Bundaberg town centre, smack bang next to the factory that produces the molasses used in the rum making process. Now, while I’m sure the factory turns out some truly world class molasses, it’s certainly not the nicest thing to look at. In fact the drive up to the distillery entrance was looking a bit ominous at times as we kept following signs that looked like they were pointing at a the dirty old factory sheds. Fortunately it all became clear as we arrived.

On arrival you have a two tour options available to you. First is the full guided tour of the distillery and second is a self guided tour of the museum that takes you through some of the history of the place. Both end up in the Bond store where you can taste their range of rum and liqueurs.

We decided to go with the self guided tour, primarily because we’ve been around distilleries before and know how the process works but also because the self guided tour was a bit cheaper and because the guided tour required you to wear covered shoes, which we didn’t have with us at the time.

The trip around the museum was very interesting and goes through the history of the company as well as explaining how the distillation process works. Unfortunately, it culminates in a theatre that plays a loop of marketing propaganda saying how good Bundy Rum which is right next to a big poster explaining why a rum company from Queensland has a polar bear for a mascot.

So, why does a rum maker from Queensland have a polar bear for a mascot? Well it turns out that it was just another marketing ploy designed to sell Bundaberg rum to people in the cooler southern states. I must say I was disappointed with this. I was expecting a really interesting and funny story or something like that and ended up finding out that it was just an advertising gimmick that stuck. Honestly, I think I’d have been happier not to know.

Anyway, after that comes the good bit. You head out of the museum and onto the bar. They have three different things for you to try, Bundaberg Red, Bundaberg Reserve and their Royal Liqueur. Now, I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of rum; ordinarily I just wouldn’t drink it. But on this occasion I have to say that it went down quite well.

Of the two rums on offer I have to say that I preferred the Bundaberg Red, the Reserve was more a rum for rum drinkers where as the Red, filtered through Red Gum charcoal which incidentally is where it gets its name is more aimed at those of us that would normally prefer a good bourbon.

This said, of the three drinks on offer the hero of the show was definitely the Royal liqueur. The mix of rum, coffee and chocolate flavours is really something to behold. I really can’t speak highly enough about it. Sadly, it’s only available from the distillery direct so unless you happen to live nearby it may be a bit hard to find.

Address: Whittred St,Bundaberg East, QLD, 4670
Phone: (07) 4131 2999
Web: www.bundabergrum.com.au

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