Traveling with Tucson : Estate Whim Plantation and Cruzan Rum Distillery

Friday, January 20, 2017

Estate Whim Plantation and Cruzan Rum Distillery - St. Croix

We arrive at the Whim Plantation

One of the most prosperous sugar plantations from the 17th to 19th century, Whim Plantation also processed sugar cane from nearby plantations.
The oval shape of the house is unique and it has only three rooms - all on the first floor. The house is constructed of a type of building material known as Tabby - it is a mixture of stone, coral and molasses. The walls are three feet thick.

The Dining Room

The Bedroom

and Salon for entertaining

The house is surrounded by a "dry moat" providing cooling and ventilation

a woodworking shop in the basement

Sugar Cane Press

Here lizard lizard

Slave quarters

Mill turned by oxen or mules

The fully restored windmill

Part of Sugar Factory ruins

Well, we worked up a thirst at the Sugar Plantation so headed to Cruzan Rum Factory

Remnants of the original plantation, Estate Diamond., the old sugar mill is now a cistern for the distillery.

Sugar cane juice is turned into molasses, transferred to distillery tanks, diluted with rainwater and then boiled at 400 degrees. The mixture is then cooled to room temperature and transferred to the 'seed tanks'. Yeast and more rainwater are then added to total 500 gallons of the mixture. Sixteen hours later it is transferred to fermentors, where more water and molasses are added. The yeast eats the sugar, converting it into alcohol. The remaining mix is three parts water, and one part molasses. Only 10% of this mixture is used in the rum. Then the distilling process begins. Cruzan Rum uses a multi-column distillation process that removes nearly all impurities from the rum, including fusel oils. Fusel oil is what causes hangovers, so there you go, another reason to drink Cruzan Rum... no hangovers! After distilling the Rum is clear - color comes from the barrels it is stored in.