The Red Mill vision is for a range of authentic, refined, delicious rums. Rums that are as fine and complex as any other spirit, yet with that unabashed joy that only rum can contain.
Aged in unique barrels, hand-picked from regions around the world for their rich, delicious flavours, the barrel hall is already filling. Time is now doing its work.
Red Mill was born in 1933 and is being reimagined again in 2022.
There’s no rush. Time is doing its work. The first barrels of Red Mill were filled in 2021. Barrels carefully selected from regions throughout the world, as well as some of my favourite Australian wineries.
All going to plan, the initial batch will be released in 2022, with the first aged rum following later.
Follow us as we rebuild the distillery, refine the processes and plans, craft the look and feel and grow a barrel hall of unique and exceptional rums.
Red Mill Rum is something entirely new – but the label has deep historical roots. Established in 1933 by George “Bunny” Fesq, the original Red Mill Rum was once an Australian best-seller. Now, Bunny’s great-grandson David is carrying on this legacy of innovation by bringing the Red Mill name back to life.
From tales of Rum’s past, to the original story of Red Mill, and following this new and exciting journey, there’s tales that need to be told.
CELEBRATE the journey
By the time George “Bunny” Fesq developed Red Mill Rum in 1933, he was already the third generation to run his family wine & spirit merchant business. With an ear to the needs of the time, it was no surprise that the post depression years required affordable, reliable, good value drinks. He thought rum would be a good addition to the agency brands he already sold to bars and taverns across Sydney.
With the CSR distillery in Pyrmont charged with distilling the rum, he set about creating a brand. His initial idea of calling it Red Inn Rum was vetoed without discussion by the label printer, who took the liberty of creating a label with a Moulin Rouge motif and the name Red Mill. They must have agreed it was a far superior idea.
Bunny was an early and passionate believer in the automobile. He used his Model T Ford to visit outback NSW throughout the 30s, visiting pubs and communities to sell his wares. Long after Red Mill Rum was bottled in a standard round shape, he kept bottling a portion in a flatter, oval bottle – as it would fitter better in saddlebags.
It was again in a time of need that Red Mill Rum grew further. Following WWII, Bill Fesq used Red Mill Rum to ride out all the disruptions in the wine industry from Europe. It become the biggest selling overproof rum during this period, peeking in the 1960s. Those with the memory remember the “It’s Your Shout!” advertisements on Sydney trains and busses.
In 1979, Bill and his son, Mark, sold their business to William Grant & Sons whisky family, including the branding and contracts for Red Mill. The label faded away, as things do, during the early 1980s.
This humble, local Sydney rum started as a simple idea in a time of need. It grew into a staple of bars throughout New South Wales. I am Bunny Fesq’s great-grandson, and it’s joy to be building again on this legacy.
– David
Why Red Mill Rum? Why Now?
“I’ve always loved rum. I was lucky enough to spend some years in and around the Caribbean in my twenties. My wife and I were travelling and working in bars and restaurants, first in Asia, then through the Atlantic down to the Caribbean. It was an exciting and eye-opening time in life.
In Bermuda I discovered Goslings, the 200+ year old Rum distillery that makes the dark, rich rum that is the foundation of a Dark ’n Stormy cocktail.
In the Cayman Islands, where we could visit Havana on the weekends, I fell in love with the golden, refreshing Spanish style rums. As much part of day-to-day life as any other drink on the islands. Long days in the water with warm nights drinking rum.
I’d known a little of my own family’s history with rum. The Red Mill Rum label was created by my great-grandfather after the Depression. He wanted something honest and humble that could supply thirsty people in hotels and pubs at the time. It grew in the post-war years, then finally sold and mostly forgotten.
I’ve worked with wine & spirits my entire adult life, and that love of rum has never dissipated. It seemed like the time was right to bring this all together with a new generation of Red Mill. Something new, but entirely built on the past.
I’ve been filling barrels with fresh, fine new rum. Barrels I’ve picked from around the world to create something modern and rewarding. Barrels that will mellow with time.”
– David.
Unlike say, wine or beer, dark spirits start their life relatively light on flavour. Off the still, most spirits look vaguely similar, with maybe only light traces of the base material of the ferment coming through. It’s when these new-make spirits start to commingle in a barrel, drawing out flavours, bonding with other compounds, that we see the magic of distilling x barrels x time.
For Red Mill, I always thought the chance to do something truely unique was at hand. What if we made beautiful rum with a barrel program not unlike a fine boutique whiskey? Instead of only looking for old bourbon barrels, one side of the traditional marriage in rum, what about sourcing Sauternes, Port, Cognac, Sherry and beyond? What about working with some of the world’s greatest wine estates to use their barrels when they’re done?
Time will tell if this is a good idea – but the early signs look positive. In 2021 we filled 100-year-old Cognac barrels, aged Sherry pipes, young Bordeaux barrels, to name a few, as well as puncheons that once elevaged one of Australia’s finest Pinots.
The magic of oak, and the fingerprint it brings rum, is where so much of the joy comes from in this idea. Hopefully we can share some early release bottlings of these first barrels.
– David