Jimmy Rum Distillery

Overview

Dromana's industrial estate is one step closer to becoming more of a drinking destination than anything else, as it has added yet another small-batch booze outlet to its ever-growing collection. Jimmy Rum has opened the doors to its huge distilling operations and tasting bar.

Launching to the public about 18 months after the first bottle of Jimmy Rum was distilled, the digs are roomy and impressive, set across 500 square metres. It's the latest labour of love from founder and head distiller James McPhearson, who jumped into making craft rum after a decades-long career as a marine engineer.

As the only distillery in Victoria dedicated to rum, it's currently whipping up four different types of booze: the Barbados, the Silver, the Oaked and the super strength Navy. They're being crafted in a 4.5-tonne, 1500-litre copper still named Matilda, though still have a way to go before they can technically be called rum — Australian classifications require the base spirit to be aged in wooden barrels for at least two years before it's allowed to be technically called as such.

With its coastal home, Jimmy Rum is out to spread some serious rum knowledge and shift a few perceptions in the process. This is a spirit worth taking as seriously as the local gins and whiskies Australia's currently obsessed with and McPhearson is more than happy to show you why.

You can take an educational tour of the distillery, let the experts guide you through a tasting and nab some take-home rum from the cellar door. At the bar, just metres from the still where they were made, you can sample the full range of Jimmy Rum spirits while nibbling on toasties or charcuterie. Staff will take you through the different ways to taste rum — like sipping neat, with a few drops of water or over hand-cut ice — and you can try out your newfound appreciation on the two distiller's specials available. There's also a tidy range of rum-fuelled classic cocktails, like the Espresso Rumtini and a riff on the old fashioned, while on Saturdays the place comes alive with food trucks and a lineup of live tunes.

Jimmy Rum joins a host of drink-slinging neighbours within the Dromana industrial estate, including gluten-free brewery Twøbays, gin distillery Bass and Flinders, and Jetty Road Brewery. That totals four reasons to get in the car and road trip to Dromana this weekend (with a designated driver, of course).

The bar is open Thursday–Sunday, but you can stop by the cellar door to buy some rum every day from 9am–5pm.

Images: C. McConville.