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Is rum the unsung national spirit of Australia?

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) •
October 29, 2026 • 01:00 PM
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Cheaper brands are common enough, but a cohort of homegrown boutique distilleries are pitching high-end rum as a fertile frontier for local spirits.

Is rum the unsung national spirit of Australia?

With the excise on spirits in Australia sitting at just over $110 a litre of pure alcohol, making cheap rum has become a game solely for mass-production giants.

Boutique distillers are aiming to corner the opposite end of the market – wooing what David Fesq of Red Mill Rum describes as “a grown-up and potentially more affluent client in rum country”.

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