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Chairman’s Reserve is the flagship of St Lucia Distillers
St Lucia Distillers makes rum in the Roseau Valley, on three pot stills and a Coffey column still. Chairman’s Reserve, first blended in 1999, is its flagship range. Spiribam lists Bounty and Admiral rum among the island’s other brands.
Chairman’s Reserve and St Lucia Distillers at a glance, from the brand’s own site, Spiribam and Difford’s Guide (a secondary source)
Founded
- Chairman’s Reserve
- St Lucia Distillers formed in 1972 from two older distilleries; Chairman’s Reserve first blended in 1999
Location
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Roseau Valley, St Lucia
Owner
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Groupe Bernard Hayot, through Spiribam
Stills
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Two John Dore pot stills, a Vendome hybrid still and a two-column Coffey still
Raw material
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Imported molasses, and some fresh cane juice
Casks
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Mostly ex-bourbon; port for some blends
Signature bottlings
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Original, White, Spiced, Forgotten Casks, 1931, Legacy
Style
- Chairman’s Reserve
- Pot and column blends, medium-bodied
| Feature | Chairman’s Reserve |
|---|---|
| Founded | St Lucia Distillers formed in 1972 from two older distilleries; Chairman’s Reserve first blended in 1999 |
| Location | Roseau Valley, St Lucia |
| Owner | Groupe Bernard Hayot, through Spiribam |
| Stills | Two John Dore pot stills, a Vendome hybrid still and a two-column Coffey still |
| Raw material | Imported molasses, and some fresh cane juice |
| Casks | Mostly ex-bourbon; port for some blends |
| Signature bottlings | Original, White, Spiced, Forgotten Casks, 1931, Legacy |
| Style | Pot and column blends, medium-bodied |
Two distilleries became St Lucia Distillers in 1972
By the brand’s own timeline, Denis Barnard built a distillery at Dennery, on the island’s east coast, in 1931. By the late 1950s Geest ran the island’s only other distillery, at Roseau. In 1972 the two merged as St Lucia Distillers, and production moved to Roseau.
The Barnards bought out Geest’s share in 1992 and sold shares to Angostura of Trinidad in 1997, and in 2005 sold the rest to CLICO, with Laurie Barnard, Denis’s son, staying on as managing director; the brand’s own site records his death in 2012. Spiribam, the spirits arm of the French Groupe Bernard Hayot, now owns it.
Chairman’s Reserve is named for Laurie Barnard, who was chairman when it was first blended. He wanted more kinds of rum to blend from, and under him the distillery added pot stills beside the column still it had run since 1985.
Four stills of three kinds make the rum
The distillery imports its molasses from the Dominican Republic, three times a year by tanker, pumped ashore by a pipeline about a mile long. It also distils some juice from cane grown beside the distillery, for the 1931 and Legacy.
By its own account the distillery works with two yeast strains, two raw materials and four stills, and ages mostly in ex-bourbon barrels, with port casks in the 1931.
The column still makes most of the rum and the pot stills add weight
The four stills at St Lucia Distillers, from the brand’s own production page
Coffey
- Type
- Two-column continuous still
- Installed
- 1985
First John Dore
- Type
- Pot still of 450 litres
- Installed
- 1998
Vendome
- Type
- Hybrid batch still with nine plates
- Installed
- 2003
Second John Dore
- Type
- Pot still of 6,000 litres
- Installed
- 2005
| Still | Type | Installed |
|---|---|---|
| Coffey | Two-column continuous still | 1985 |
| First John Dore | Pot still of 450 litres | 1998 |
| Vendome | Hybrid batch still with nine plates | 2003 |
| Second John Dore | Pot still of 6,000 litres | 2005 |
By the distillery’s own figures the Coffey column produces about 4,500 litres of pure alcohol a day, while the pot stills hold from 450 to 6,000 litres a batch. Difford’s Guide puts the distillery’s output at about a million litres of pure alcohol a year.
The range covers a filtered White, a Spiced and yearly editions
The Chairman’s Reserve range, from the brand’s own site and Difford’s Guide (a secondary source)
Original
- What it is
- Light and heavy rums aged in ex-bourbon casks for about five years on average, then married in cask for six months
- How to drink it
- Mixed or over ice
White
- What it is
- A blend of aged and unaged pot and column rums
- How to drink it
- Daiquiri and long drinks
Spiced
- What it is
- The rum infused with bois bandé bark and other local spices and fruit
- How to drink it
- Long, with ginger beer or cola
Forgotten Casks
- What it is
- Blended from casks overlooked after a fire at the distillery in 2007; now in the range
- How to drink it
- Neat
1931
- What it is
- First released in 2011 for eighty years of rum production on the island; some port-cask and cane-juice rum in the blend
- How to drink it
- Neat
Legacy
- What it is
- Launched in 2020 in honour of Laurie Barnard
- How to drink it
- Neat
| Bottling | What it is | How to drink it |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Light and heavy rums aged in ex-bourbon casks for about five years on average, then married in cask for six months | Mixed or over ice |
| White | A blend of aged and unaged pot and column rums | Daiquiri and long drinks |
| Spiced | The rum infused with bois bandé bark and other local spices and fruit | Long, with ginger beer or cola |
| Forgotten Casks | Blended from casks overlooked after a fire at the distillery in 2007; now in the range | Neat |
| 1931 | First released in 2011 for eighty years of rum production on the island; some port-cask and cane-juice rum in the blend | Neat |
| Legacy | Launched in 2020 in honour of Laurie Barnard | Neat |
The limited editions change each year, so check the label of the bottle in hand.
Mix the Original and the White, and sip the older bottlings
The facts come from a distillery visit report and the trade press
The history, molasses, fermentation and stills are from the brand’s own history and production pages, and the make-up of each bottling from Difford’s Guide’s pages for the Original, White, Spiced, Forgotten Casks, 1931 and Legacy. Ownership is from Spiribam.
The naming of Chairman’s Reserve, the 2007 fire, the 1931 and the Legacy are from the Chairman’s Reserve history on Difford’s Guide. The 1972 merger is also set out in the distillery’s own history.
Jerry Can Spirits is an independent company: we are not affiliated with St Lucia Distillers or Chairman's Reserve, and we do not act for or on behalf of them. This page is our own account, drawn from the sources it lists.