Worthy Park
A family sugar estate in the hills of central Jamaica, making rum since at least 1741. It grows its own cane, makes its own molasses and distils only in a copper pot still.
Read the story ↓- Founded
- 1670
- Region
- Lluidas Vale, Jamaica
- Owner
- The Clarke family
- Style
- Jamaican pot-still rum
- Signature
- Single estate, cane to bottle
- In our shop
- 3 in stock · 9 listed
01 · Worthy Park
The story
Worthy Park lies in Lluidas Vale, a green valley about 1,200 feet (365 m) up in the parish of St Catherine. The estate dates from 1670, when the land was granted to an English officer, Lieutenant Francis Price, fifteen years after England took Jamaica from Spain. Cane has been grown here since 1720, and the first record of rum comes from 1741.
In three and a half centuries the estate has had only a handful of owners. Frederick Clarke bought it in 1918, and his family still runs it: his great-grandson Gordon Clarke leads it today.
In the 1960s, like many Jamaican estates, Worthy Park stopped making rum and sold its molasses to other distillers. In 2004 Gordon Clarke persuaded the family to return. Rather than restore the old, worn-out distillery, they built a new one from 2005, around a single copper pot still made by Forsyths in Scotland.
The first new rum, the white Rum-Bar Overproof, came out in 2007. Aged rums followed, and Worthy Park also became a favourite of independent bottlers, which is how many rum lovers first tasted it.
02 · Worthy Park
How it’s made
Worthy Park is one of very few rum makers in the world that grows its own cane and runs its own sugar factory, so the whole process stays on the estate.
Cane & molasses
Cane from the estate’s own fields is crushed in its own sugar factory; the molasses goes straight to the distillery.
100% pot still
There is no column still on the estate. Every drop is distilled in a double-retort copper pot still, the classic Jamaican way.
Casks & ageing
The rums age in oak in the Jamaican heat, much faster than in a Scottish warehouse. Some get a second cask, such as port or Madeira.
One estate
Cane, sugar, molasses, distilling, ageing and bottling all happen on one estate, still owned by one family.
03 · Worthy Park
House style
Jamaican pot-still flavour, with the funk kept in balance.
Ripe fruit
Banana, pineapple and other ripe tropical fruit.
Pot-still depth
A full, oily texture from the copper pot still.
Balance
Funky enough for rum lovers, round enough for a first Jamaican rum.
04 · Worthy Park
Key moments
- 1670The estate is founded in Lluidas Vale.
- 1741The first written record of rum making.
- 1918Frederick Clarke buys the estate.
- 1960sRum making stops; the molasses is sold to others.
- 2005Work starts on a new pot-still distillery.
- 2007The first new rum: Rum-Bar Overproof.
05 · Worthy Park
The range at whisky.ad
Every Worthy Park bottle we list, with a line on each. Click a name to see the bottle.
White & overproof
- Rum-Bar SilverUnaged pot-still rum, for daiquiris and highballs.
- Rum-Bar Overproof (63%)Sold out for nowThe estate’s first new rum (2007): white and powerful.
Aged
- Single Estate ReservePot-still rums aged six to ten years: the house signature.
- Worthy Park 109 (1 L)Bottled at 109 proof: the estate style at full strength.
- Rum-Bar GoldSold out for nowLightly aged: the Rum-Bar style with a touch of oak.
- Worthy Park SelectSold out for nowAn easy-drinking blend of the estate’s rums.
Cask finishes & older
- 10 Year Old, port finishSold out for nowTen years old, finished in port casks.
- 10 Year Old, Madeira finishSold out for nowTen years old, finished in Madeira casks.
- Single Estate 12 Year Old (56%)Sold out for nowTwelve years old, bottled at 56%.
In our shop: 3 in stock · 9 listedFind them in the shop →
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