James McPherson, (AKA Jimmy), is the founder and director of JimmyRum, where he plays the role of Chief Ideas Man. Although his steps into rum production are relatively recent, his passion for this drink has been forged over the years as a merchant sailor and nautical enthusiast. His love for rum has not only accompanied him in his adult life but has also been the driving force that led him to revolutionize the industry with a fresh and bold vision. Through JimmyRum, he seeks to challenge perceptions and offer authentic experiences for rum lovers.
TRL: Can you briefly introduce yourself and your role in the rum industry?
The idea for JimmyRum began nearly 10 years ago, as my time at sea was ending. Our first production began about 6 years ago, and we’ve been producing beautiful handcrafted rums and cane spirits ever since, receiving several awards on both the local and international spirits scene. JimmyRum lives by three words – Rum, Respect, and Rambunctiousness.
We have the challenge of three mandates:
TRL: What was the biggest challenge you faced in launching your rum brand, and how did you overcome it?
No1. problem, Australia’s perception of what rum is. Overcoming this perception is our greatest challenge but also our greatest reward, as we are amazing people with the diverse styles and quality of premium craft rum.
How are we overcoming this? Events, excitement, and sheer belligerence. We have a large venue at the distillery to showcase what rum can be and what can be done with it; we have a large offsite event schedule and exciting activations to get people to move past their ideas of rum and to come in and try what we do. We also run bar training and team building to get bartenders to be excited to help us get customers trying and loving rum.
TRL: How do you see the rum market developing in the next 5-10 years, and what trends do you think will shape the future of the industry?
In the short term – Growing and growing fast, trends come and go and we’ve seen many spirits grow over the last 10-15yrs, rum hasn’t had its moment in the sun for this current cycle and with the rapid rise of craft spirits internationally we feel we are going to see amazing diversity, quality, and passion for rum.
In the longer term–If we can get the awareness of rum’s diversity, versatility, and quality right for short-term growth, something we are working very hard on here in Australia, then we believe we can see a sustained and permanent increase in market share of the spirits category. Not just a boom, until the bubble burst for this cycle.
TRL: Can you share a personal experience or moment that significantly influenced your brand’s direction?
The biggest experience would be when I truly discovered what rum can be. I always knew about rums around the world, but in reality, I was only scratching the surface! At that moment I was sitting in The Manhattan bar in Singapore. I was managing ship dry dockings and late one night while debriefing, I said to the bartender, “Is there such a thing as a “Dry” (non-sweet) rum? Or I’m going to have to move to whisky, and that’s not my thing” he said “sure” and walk me through the world of unsweetened ultra-premium sipping rums. My world was blown, and I knew from that moment that rum perception in Australia had to be changed.
While this was the start of the craft rum idea, it also planned our brand direction…I was in love with premium sipping rum and there was nothing like it on the Australian market. Plenty of spiced and value products, but not easily obtained gorgeous sipping rums. Bringing a rum brand to the market that was sophisticated but never pretentious was our goal.
TRL: How do you balance tradition with innovation in your approach to rum-making or marketing?
I am a traditionalist at heart but also love the fact that was can use technology to help us maintain those traditions more efficiently. Because we are here to show the versatility of rum, we do many styles of rum and showcase their diversity. Everything from the heavy back set dunder-based double pot still style to the ultra-light column still styles. It is fantastic to put two or three styles in a box as an educational pack. I.e. products made with the same molasses, same equipment, same environment, and same distiller, but a different execution of production brings on a unique style. The education factor is fantastic.
TRL: What are some recent initiatives or products you’ve launched that have been impactful?
Well, a version of our Oaked (an American-style “new oak” rum) bottled at an ultra-high proof of 74.8% made a bit of noise, it’s the strongest we have ever released and has some amazing depth and complexity amongst the warmth. We are also beginning a barrel finish program for our RumRum, starting with Peated whisky, Madeira, Oloroso, and Banana brandy finishes.
Slightly left of our premium sipping rums is our “pre-mixes for adults”. While no one designs pre-mix for kids (or shouldn’t), These RTDs have all been designed with low sweetness as a priority and designed to de-bunk the theory that a pre-mix must be valued alcohol and crazy sweet. Why can’t we have premium alcohol with quality flavors and the ease and convenience of a can? These RTDs do a few things to help the brand locally – A cheaper and less risky entry into the JimmyRum brand helps to disrupt what customers think rum is, a greater brand presence on off-premise shelves (50+% of rum in Australia is sold via RTD) and something for Jimmy to take sailing!
TRL: How do you educate consumers about your rum, and what’s the most important lesson they should take away?
RUM IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK! Is our biggest catch cry and we convey this through many channels.
Anything with excitement to draw consumers in to be educated.
TRL: How do you manage quality and consistency as your brand grows and enters new markets?
This is where my previous 20 years as a marine engineer comes out, while we’ll never be 100% “distill by numbers” we:
TRL: Can you share a collaboration or partnership that helped elevate your brand to additional levels?
Presently, we are running a 3-way partnership for some local events and wholesale sales. Working with a local craft brandy and a local craft whisky forming “The Dark Spirits of the Mornington Peninsula”. This is not only a better economic option in a down market to do wholesale but also allows us to sell our – “Community support”, “Collaborative nature” and our beautiful region of the “Mornington Peninsula”.
We’ve done several collaborations with craft breweries. They use our barrels for an Imperial stout, and we take the barrels back for a barrel of ale-finished rum. Great brand opportunity in a market that doesn’t always warm to spirits…and an amazing rum after!
In the world of spirits, we are collaborating with a Rhum-style distillery in northern New South Wales this year, a blended Molasses/Cane Juice ferment, then distilled separately in the two distilleries to bring out a 100% pot still and a hybrid still version of the same ferment. We are also looking for a few international craft rum distilleries to collaborate with.
TRL: What is your long-term vision for your rum brand, and how do you see your role in the rum’s evolution industry?
JimmyRum is here to show the diversity and premiumization of Australian rum, both locally and internationally. Our goal is to get to large craft or small commercial volume with our production but still retain the quality and excitement around the brand.
As we grow and our Italian Barison Engineering continuous distillation still comes online, we’ll be able to play a lot more in the “house pour” and volume export space, generating greater awareness for our brand and giving venues a more cost-effective option to step up to a more complex and quality rum compare to the existing value our options.
TRL: What’s one piece of educational advice you would give rum lovers to better understand the spirit?
Take your time with the rum and enjoy the journey of the spirit evolving in the glass. Think of it as the difference between a powerboat and a yacht. The power boat is about the destination, the yacht is about the conversations and the experience of getting to the destination.
For the more novice spirit drinker, it’s teaching them the technique to breathe out after sipping the spirit, to ease the heat, and feel less of the ethanol, and more of the flavours we all love.
TRL: How can people learn more about you? Website? Social media page?
You can find out about us at
See us at the Global Victoria pavilion at:
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