A tour of John Watling’s Distillery at the beautifully restored and historic Buena Vista Estate is a must see for rum lovers and history buffs alike. Set on more than two acres of lush tropical gardens, and named after “a pious pirate who sailed the Bahamian seas”, John Watling’s features complimentary tours of the estate and the distillery, and offers tastings of a variety of handcrafted premium rums.

The Tour

The complimentary tours of John Watling’s Distillery start with a tour of the historic Buena Vista Estate, which includes antiques and exhibits dating back more than 300 years. The tour then continues to the storehouse where you can see how John Watling’s rums are bottled the old-fashioned way by local hands, as well as over 1,000 white oak barrels “that fill the air with the ‘Angel’s Share’, which is the portion lost to evaporation during the many years the rum rests in the barrel.”

The Rum

Over 175 years of rum-making experience went into creating John Watling’s rum, as five founding members are sixth-generation members of a rum-producing family. Using local materials and employing traditional English rum-making techniques, John Watling’s small batches of hand-crafted Pale, Amber and Buena Vista rums are all fermented onsite and distilled from freshly pressed sugar cane molasses. Both the tour and tastings are free.