Our Story
Our History:
In the late 1800’s, a buccaneer named Richard Callwood bought the Arundel Estate in Cane Garden Bay for his son, Richard Jr. The estate included what has become known as the Arundel Distillery. This is the 4th generation of Callwood's operating the distillery. Rum has been a product of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) since the 1600s. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the heyday of rum production, 106 distilleries existed in the BVI, 26 of them on Tortola. Today, the Callwood Rum Distillery is the only one still operational. The rum is made in oak casks and copper pots at the Arundel Distillery in Tortola, BVI, it is then bottled and labeled ready to be distributed. Previously, the Arundel Rum, was only distributed across the Caribbean islands.
You can visit and tour the distillery Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Distillery is only open on Sundays if a cruise ship is into port. Voted as one of the Most Visited Places in British Virgin Islands, plan your visit to Cane Garden Bay, in this beautiful old historical building just steps across the road from the beach. Here, in an old stone building in Tortola, is one of the most precious corners of the history of rum in the Caribbean, a fundament of BVI’s cultural heritage.
What you'll see:
When you enter the Distillery, you will notice the barrels and the walls filled with hand-bottled Arundel rum. The Callwood Distillery only produces about 25 gallons of rum a day, using the pure cane juice from the sugarcane growing right behind the distillery.
Directly behind this 400 year old aged building you can find the sugar cane plantation with the charcoal powered “boiler.” Where you will smell the sweet aroma of rum being made. The boiler is smoldering, the smell of sugarcane alchemy pungent in the air.