24 EXPERIENCES

The book-shaped box in front of you, do not only contain some of the best spirits you will ever taste. It also contains the journey of our West Indian rum. Christopher Columbus discovered the islands on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. With him he brought, among other things, sugar cane. The most suitable island for growing sugar canes was St. Croix. Due to its lush nature, it was nicknamed “The Garden of the West Indies”. St. Croix was the center of sugar cane agriculture in the Danish West Indies from the early 1700s. But sugar was not the only commodity. It soon became apparent that the residual product molasses could be used for the distillation of a sweet, aromatic alcohol.
One of the pioneers in the production of West Indian rum was the Danish pharmacist Albert Heinrich Riise, who lived and worked in the Danish West Indies from 1838 to 1878. His rum quickly became popular, and in 1893 the old A.H. Riise company placed Danish West Indian rum on the world map and received international recognitions.