Jamaica 2007

Appleton Estate settlement was established in 1655, and as history claims, the land was given to captain Francis Dickinson as a reward for his part in seizing Jamaica (that time ruled by the Spanish) for the Queen of England. Dickinson named the estate after his birthplace in England – Appleton. His descendants then founded a prosperous distillery and in 1749 started the official rum production which makes Appleton officially the longest-working distillery in Jamaica.

In 1871 is Appleton Estate bought by William Hill and then it changed the owner several times in the next decades. Finally in 1914 is the estate bought by James Miller Farquharson who decided for massive expansion of rum production. Cecil Lindo (Lindo Brothers & Co.) noticed the potential of the distillery and he bought the estate together with J. Wray & Nephew company in 1916 and established J. Wray & Nephew Ltd. corporation. The first rum under the Appleton Estate brand is on the market in 1944. Around 1970 the company undergoes further growth and modernization of the distillery and its premises and in this year, the first continuous column still was installed. New Yarmouth distillery together with the sugar refinery joins J. Wray & Nephew Ltd. in 1986 and Appleton distillery opens a visitor center in 1988.