Beverage company Bickford’s has opened a $5 million visitor's centre as part of a plan to attract visitors to its historic rum distillery.
Queensland's Beenleigh Rum Distillery, which was opened in the late 1800s after being built by convicts, is now welcoming visitors for the first time since the 1980s.
Bickford's hopes to eventually attract over 200,000 tourists a year to the Eagleby site.
Spokesman Chris Illman said the visitor's centre houses a museum as a starting point for the company's new distillery tours.
“People will get to see how Beenleigh Rum is returning to the quality and craft it was once known for, using small-batch copper pot distillation, ageing in barrels instead of large vats, and quality local ingredients,” he said.
Bickford’s Group, which includes Bickford’s Cordials, Andrew Garrett wines and a range of boutique labels, has been restoring and expanding the heritage-listed distillery since it purchased the Beenleigh site in late 2012.
“Our changes here aren’t just structural,” Illman said.
“We've been busy re-imagining our products and what we have now is a craft range that will reinvigorate the rum category in Australia.
“We know Queenslanders are all about rum and drink nearly twice as much of it as other Australians in an average month.”
According to the 2014 International Wine and Spirits Record Report, rum is one of the last spirit categories to undergo premiumisation in Australia.
