Trinidad & Tobago are the southernmost of the Caribbean islands, just nine miles off the coast of Venezuela. They were discovered by Columbus in 1498 on his third voyage and settled by Spain for the next two hundred years. They were only the second island taken by the Britiish by force, Jamaica being the other, albeit with little opposition. Trinidad came under British rule in 1797 when British Admiral Henry Harvey took control of the island, five years later it formally became a British colony when Spain ceded control as part of the the Treaty of Amiens. Trinidad and Tobago were administratively combined as one colony in 1889 as a British cost cutting measure. The decision was driven by the economic collapse of Tobago’s sugar industry which struggled due to the island's small size, hilly terrain, and international competition. Unable to financially support itself, Tobago was amalgamated with the much larger and wealthier Trinidad. For some time, Tobago had a few distilleries that produced rum, but today has none. The islands maintained this unified status as a joint British colony until they gained independence in 1962 and later became a republic in 1976.

The history of rum production in Trinidad dates back to its colonial sugarcane plantations established as early as 1665 in Tobago and 1787 in Trinidad. Historically, every sugar plantation had a small distillery that converted molasses into rum. At the time it became a British colony, the sugar industry was well established on the islands with one hundred fifty nine plantations producing muscovado sugar. Today, although not a big rum producer volume wise, its rum industry is known for three household names: Caroni ,which closed in 2002; Fernandes, makers of Fernandes VAT 19 rum which was acquired by Angostura in 1973, and Angostura.

Rum Distillers of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. (Caroni)

The Caroni sugar factory was established in 1887, however, the Caroni distillery was notbuilt on its grounds until 1918 by the Trinidad Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd, a prominent maritime and trading enterprise established in 1895 from the merger of the two shipping and trading companies owned by Gregor Turnbull, Turnbull Ross & Co. in San Fernando and Turnbull Stewart & Co. in Port of Spain and the New York shipping firm and transportation agency George Christall & Co. In 1920, the Trinidad Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd whose holdings included the Queens Park Hotel and the Caroni sugar factory and distillery, was acquired by Furness Withy & Company Ltd. of London. In 1924 Caroni Sugar Estate (Trinidad) Ltd. was formed and Furness Withy & Co. Ltd. sold its interest to the partners of Glasgow based shipping and trading partnership Prentice, Service & Henderson who already operated the Trinidad Estates Co. Ltd. owner of Brechin Castle estate.

In 1936, British conglomerate Tate & Lyle purchased the sugar and rum operations of Caroni and managed them until 1970 when the government of Trinidad & Tobago acquired a 51% interest in the Tate & Lyle’s local operation. In 1975, the government bought the 49% interest owned by Tate & Lyle and renamed the massive agricultural and refining enterprise Caroni (1975) Ltd. The rum production and distillation arm of the conglomerate was operated under the corporate name Rum Distillers of Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. (RDTT). At the time of the government acquisition in 1975, distilling operations never resumed and the distilling equipment was dismantled and sold. The large number of casks being aged at the time were liquidated piecemeal with Angostura and the Main Rum Company buying some and the final inventory left bought by Luca Gargano of La Maison & Velier in four distinct acquisitions between 2004 and 2011. According to Velier’s website referring to the Caroni inventory purchased, “…More than 80 bottlings were released and are now among the rarest and most collectible rums in the world…“

Caroni rums have been categorized at times as heavy rums, however, throughout the years they used different stills that produced light rums as well. The stills they used were; (1) a cast iron still commissioned in 1918, (2) a wooden Coffey still added in 1936, (3) a single column still from the Esperanza Estate added in 1957, (4) a Blair two-column still and a pot still added in 1964 to replace the 1918 cast iron still and the 1936 wooden Coffey still and, (5) a four column still made by German company Gebr Herrmann added in 1980.

Fernandes Distillers Ltd.

The roots of the Fernandes family rum history in Trinidad span several decades and dates back to the 19th Century. Around 1880, Manoel Fernandes, an immigrant from Madeira, Portugal came to the Trinidad where the Portuguese-Creole community was already well established in the business of blending rum and operating bars. In 1890 he established Fernandes & Co., a blending house on Henry Street, Port of Spain where the Fernandes Black Label Rum would eventually be introduced around 1920, one of the longest continuously produced brands of Caribbean Rums. The company would continue under both his son Jose Gregario Fernandes and grandson Joseph Bento “Jo” Fernandes (1903- ). It is worthwhile mentioning that in 1955 Joseph Bento Fernandes under the umbrella of the Fernandes Group of Companies, acquired the Tobago Country Club and the Queen’s Park Hotel from Furness Withy & Co. Ltd. The hotel was where the famous Queen’s Park Swizzle and the Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail were invented.

In the 1920s Manoel's grandson, Joseph Bento (“Jo”) Fernandes, formally extended the company's legacy by building out a dedicated blending, bottling, and rum-producing operation. In 1933 the operation grew into a true distillery when the company acquired the shuttered Forres Park Sugar Estate, utilizing its wooden still to begin direct production of labels like Fernandes 1919 and Vat 19. Fernandes later built a new distillery on the outskirts of Port of Spain and by the early 1970s, Fernandes Distillers Ltd. controlled a massive 85% of the local Trinidadian rum market. In 1973, sensing it was a good time to sell, Fernandez sold Fernandez Distillers Ltd. in a two part transaction to Angostura Holdings Ltd. and Bacardí Corp. Angostura took over Fernandes’ distillery operations its brands and a vast stocks of aging rum, while Bacardi gained tariff free access to the European market due to the preferential tax treatment granted by the Lomé Convention to rum made in CARICOM countries of which Puerto Rico, where Bacardí is based is not a part of.

The acquired Fernandes operations became Fernandes Distillers (1973) Ltd, operating as a subsidiary of Trinidad Distillers Ltd. While the Fernandes French Savalle stills were eventually dismantled, Angostura continued producing and selling the Fernandes labels: Fernandes VAT 19, Fernandes Black Label and Forres Park Puncheon Rum. For the purpose of the Fernandez Distillers Ltd transaction, Bacardi established Rumpro Company Ltd as a holding company and took a 40% stake in Fernandes Distillers (1973) Ltd through Rumpro. Bacardi’s investment in Rumpro lasted until the 1997 when it sold its stake to the Trinidad based conglomerate CL Financial.

Trinidad Distillers ltd.

The name Angostura is most notably tied to the famous rum based infusion known as Angostura Bitters, but today The House of Angostura is also the sole remaining operational rum distillery in Trinidad & Tobago and one of the largest distilleries in the Caribbean. Angostura Bitters was first produced in 1824 by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert as a medicinal tincture in Santo Tomé de la Nueva Guayana de Angostura in Venezuela, known as Ciudad Bolivar since 1846. In 1875 Dr. Siegert’s son established in Trinidad and started production there. Today The House of Angostura uses 1824 as the year it was founded.

For years J. G. B. Siegert & Sons/Angostura Bitters Ltd purchased the rum needed in the production of its bitters from local distilleries. The quantities of rum needed were such that they decided to age and bottle some of it under their own label, Siegert’s Bouquet, brought to market in 1878. In 1947 rum production came to the forefront of Angostura Bitters Ltd when they established Trinidad Distillers Ltd in Laventille. Trinidad Distillers Ltd is the production subsidiary of Angostura Holdings established to produce bulk rum and premium global rum brands like Angostura 1919, Angostura 1824 and Angostura Legacy, an ultra-premium rum released to celebrate the nation's 50th Independence anniversary.

As stated above, when Joseph Bento Fernandes sold Fernandes Distillers Ltd in 1973, Angostura Ltd. acquired Fernandez distillery operations, their brands and a vast stocks of aging rum. Bacardí Corp., under Rumpro Company Ltd, purchased a 40% stake in Fernandes Distillers (1973) Ltd, the newly established subsidiary of Trinidad Distillers Ltd owner of the acquired Fernandes operation. This set-up lasted until 1997 when Bacardí Corp sold its stake in Rumpro to CL Financial Ltd, a privately held Trinidad based conglomerate, to reduce corporate debt. During that time CL Financial Ltd also made other acquisitions in the distilled spirit industry including Appleton in Jamaica and St Lucia Distillers. In short, CL Financial Ltd. extended itself too much and during the 2008 world financial crisis the Trinidad & Tobago government had to loan the company billions of dollars to prevent a wider economic collapse. At the time of the government’s bailout, CL Financial Ltd (in Liquidation) was the sole shareholder of CL World Brands Ltd who in turn was the sole shareholder of Rumpro Company Ltd by virtue of the Bacardí Corp sale of its share in Rumpro in 1997. Since the CL Financial Ltd bailout, the company has divested all of its distilled spirit holdings with the exception of Angostura. The government of Trinidad & Tobago considers Angostura a national treasure, so it has not allowed it to be sold to a foreign owner like Appleton or St. Lucia Distillers were.

The last sugar factory to operate in Trinidad and Tobago was the Usine Ste. Madeleine, established in 1870 and once the largest sugar factory in the British Empire. It permanently shut down in 2003 when the government-owned Caroni (1975) Limited was closed. Since then, Trinidad Distillers Ltd. sources its molasses internationally mainly from the Dominican Republic and the Fiji Islands. It uses exclusively three multi column stills each with five columns made by Gebr. Herrmann in Germany that is no longer in business since the early 2000s when its assets were absorbed by what is now the Düsseldorf based GEA Group.