A Memorable Rum Tour at the Worthy Park Estate

Rum is an alcoholic beverage that is intimately intertwined with Caribbean history and culture. That history is cruel and downright abhorrent, where millions of West Africans were taken against their will to the Caribbean to work as slaves on sugar plantations, growing sugarcane from dawn till dusk, reaping, grinding and boiling sugarcane juice to make muscovado sugar and molasses, the latter of which was then fermented to make rum. Our ancestors likely never got to consume much of it, but now rum is the liquor of choice for their descendants and remains a quintessential part of the Caribbean spirit. There are at least three surviving Jamaican sugar estates and distilleries to this day, and you can tour all of them! Read on for my experience at Worthy Park, and when you’re ready, reserve your tour here.

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The History of Worthy Park Estate

The Worthy Park Estate is nestled in Lluidas Vale, a valley located at 1,200 feet above sea level deep in the hills of St. Catherine, one of Jamaica’s central parishes. Worthy Park Estate was founded in 1670 and began producing cane and sugar in 1720. Since then, the 10,000 acre property has only changed ownership three times and has been in the Clarke family since 1918. The land has been used for cattle, poultry, citrus and other crops, but sugarcane has remained the most important crop. Approximately 40% of the land is currently dedicated to growing sugarcane. The sugar season in Jamaica lasts from January to June and is a 24-hours per day operation when in season. A lot of the sugarcane harvesting is still done by hand and 210,000 tonnes of sugarcane are milled each year. Worthy Park Estate prides itself on being Jamaica’s largest and almost exclusive supplier for the local sugar market, with their sugar factory rated first in the island for its efficiency every year since 1968! They produce approximately 24,000 tonnes of sugar each year.

“From grass to glass.”

Worthy Park also prides itself on making all its rum from molasses produced at Worthy Park in turn from sugarcane grown in Lluidas Vale. They even sell their extra molasses to other distilleries. Worthy Park has been producing 100% pot still distilled rum intermittently since the 1740s. There was a glut of Jamaican rum on the market following World War II which drove down prices, leading to the cessation of rum production in 1962. However, in 2004 the Clarke family decided to re-enter the market and by 2007 the flagship brand of Rum-Bar rum was launched. Initially, the rum didn’t do so well as it didn’t measure up to the taste of other Jamaican rums on the market but they have steadily improved their product and are now a force to be reckoned with on the local and international market. Their numerous international awards speak for themselves, including Jamaican Distillery of the Year by the Berlin International Spirits Competition in 2016 and Double Gold for their Rum-Bar White Overproof Rum in the International Spirits Challenge in 2020.

Getting to the Worthy Park Estate

Lluidas Vale is just under an hour’s drive from Kingston using the North-South Highway (also known as the Edward Seaga Highway or A1). From here, take the Linstead exit which starts at JM$700 for class one vehicles in 2025. After paying the toll at the Linstead Toll Plaza, continue along the main road (A1) through Ewarton and past the bauxite plant, formerly ALCAN. It’s a straight road until you get to a fork then take a left to get onto Worthy Park Road. Thankfully there was a sign there to confirm the correct road. After this, you cannot get lost because it’s one straight road. Follow the road and signs until you reach the gate to the estate. You’ll recognize it by the bright red sign and this cute red and green wagon. P.S. Google Maps was a very reliable guide which isn’t always the case in Jamaica.

Before you arrive at your destination, the gorgeous unspoilt views will leave you breathless. This is a totally different side of Jamaica. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, not even on my Appleton tour. Acres and acres of sugarcane fields as far as the eyes can see. The area is rather lonely but we still stopped to take photographs. Make sure you pull over safely and don’t impede other motorists. The few cars that passed were filled with friendly people who seemed more curious or smug that I was taking pictures of the views they see everyday, rather than threatening. However, always be polite and aware of your surroundings.

Expect to be passed by at least a dozen trucks carrying sugarcane during your time here. This is a working sugar estate after all. I got a tour discount with Gustazos, however the usual price is $2,700 for locals. For those of you who don’t know, Gustazos Jamaica is a website and company which offers discounts and promotions for locals. If it ever comes around again, buy it! Foreigners pay a reasonable $25USD per person. There are no restaurants, but there’s an affordable souvenir shop with Tortuga rum cakes (made with Worthy park rum), fridge magnets, caps and of course bottles of rum on sale. If you reserve the experience here, transport and entry fees are included for one upfront price.

Reservations must be made ahead of time but are now available from Mondays to Saturdays, starting at either 10am or 2pm. Drive up to the visitors’ centre, purchase a ticket and get ready for two hours of edu-tainment.

“Go where the Wi-Fi is weak but the rum is strong.”

– Our tour guide

The Worthy Park Estate Rum Tour

We were greeted with welcome cocktails of our choice. I chose a rum punch which was excellent. Our pleasant tour guide broke the ice then gave us samples of sugarcane, molasses and sugar. As usual, the molasses made several faces pucker but I actually like the earthy robust flavour of blackstrap molasses. Strange, I know. It’s a great source of iron as well. A tablespoon of the stuff every day is equivalent to taking a daily iron supplement. Next, we watched a short video detailing the history of the estate, narrated by former Miss Jamaica World Yendi Phillips. I wish the screen were larger and the room dimly lit, because after a few minutes I think most of us zoned out. Nonetheless, it was a great informative video and I enjoyed the aerial shots of the estate.

After the video, we were taken outside to watch– & participate in– the sugarcane juice extraction process. Next, guests were treated to refreshing glasses of cane juice then escorted to the distillery in a tractor-drawn jitney. I’m very happy to see this addition to the tour, as back in 2021 we actually had to make our way to the distillery and back in our personal vehicles! Well done, Worthy Park, for listening to guest feedback! When we alighted at the distillery, our tour guide pointed out Blue Mahoe trees, the National Tree of Jamaica. They’re rather tall and statuesque. Afterwards we got to enter the distillery and see where the funky steps of fermentation and distillation occur, then were shown where the magic occurs at the ageing house.

Click here to make reservations.

Their rum is aged in white American oak barrels and naturally takes on different flavours such as vanilla, banana and citrus depending on how long it spends in the barrels. Our Caribbean rums take half as long to mature in the tropics than they do in temperate climates but we have greater evaporation from the barrels. That evaporated portion is known as the angels’ share, and it treated our senses with that pleasant but heady alcohol vapour during our time in the ageing house.

We ended the tour with sampling their rum products pictured below and the differences between the age and flavour profiles were explained. Swirl, sip, cleanse the palate with some water then repeat! My favourites were the Rum-Bar Gold and that rum cream! It was so creamy and smooth and delicious! Perhaps they have made me a convert with this one. I’ll look out for it and purchase once I stumble across it on supermarket shelves. That taste test wasn’t enough, so I was delighted to get a proper cup of their rum cream on my way out as one of the options for the final cocktail.

Wrap Up

I didn’t expect to love the tour this much, and having now taken it twice, I’m ecstatic that every single kink I wrote about in 2021 has been ironed out, namely the addition of a tractor-drawn jitney, and tours are now available on Saturdays. I encourage everyone to make the journey to Lluidas Vale if they can. I don’t think most Jamaicans or visitors to Jamaica have ever seen this side of the island. Not only is it steeped in history and tradition, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. On the way back, we got delicious jerk and cow skin soup from Grant’s Jerk Centre in Ewarton as recommended by our guides when we asked for where’s the best place in the area to get food. Check them out. 🙂 I love supporting businesses from the community and eating at new restaurants on my travels. It makes for a more enriching experience.

Make reservations by clicking here, or by contacting Worthy Park directly. Don’t forget to subscribe to Adventures from Elle by email. ‘Til next time! And, if you’ve never used GetYourGuide, download the app then enter ADVENTURESFROMELLE5 to save 5% off your first excursion.

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