Cruzan Rum Factory
Location: 17°42’15.85″N 64°49’31.56″W
P38, 39, 43a
The Cruzan Rum Factory is located off of Airport Road West, between Centerline Road and Melvin Evans Highway. According to their website, the estate was founded in 1760 with a sugar windmill which was once the welcome center until the current center was built. Cruzan rum production started in 1934 using “pot” distillation”, later replaced with continuous column or “Coffey” distillation.
All of these images were taken on a tour that I had been waiting for since Covid. All tours were shut down. Then, when the distillery was to open again, ameliorating issues that had accumulated over the shutdown took some time.
I’ve separated them into two groups. Above are items that have not really changed since the last time I toured the facility in 2002. Below are somewhat different because the rums are no longer bottled on St. Croix but shipped stateside in large stainless vats. However, the aging process still occurs here. Below, you can see the fermentation, the steaming of whiskey barrels to remove all remnant whiskey flavor, the storage of the barrels where it is aged, and the process of uncorking to transfer the rum for transportation. This includes both the older manual transfer process and the new, more automated process.
