Distillery

West Indies

The West Indies Rum Distillery is the giant hiding behind Barbados rum. Founded in 1893, it brought column distillation to the island and today distils an estimated 85 percent of all Barbados rum. Since 2017 it has been the Barbados home of Plantation Rum, yet most of what it makes reaches you under other names.

  • Source of vintage Rockley Style rum
  • Approachable, well-priced entry rums
  • Coffey and pot still range
Loved by BjörnNi 🥃, Steve the Barman, Eugene227 & over 2,000 more

RumX market intelligence

As of July 2026

Community score
7.6/10
ratings
7,507
bottles catalogued
242
available to buy now
69

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RumX Guide

Barbados' biggest distillery, founded in 1893

Read the full guide

Top-rated rums from West Indies

Ranked by community score, available bottles first.

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Award-Winning Rums from West Indies

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Best value from West Indies

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Community purchases

12,057 bottles from West Indies bought by the community.

+216 purchases in the last 3 months.

Added to collections, last 12 months — dark bars are the last 3.

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Community reviews: West Indies

Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum (No. 2) 2025

Review by Chrischi78

Chrischi78
Chrischi78 Top voice
Feb 2026257 reviewsGermany
7.8/10

Very decent Navy blend! Well-integrated alcohol. A touch too sweet. But really recommendable for the price-enjoyment ratio and a good introduction to Navy blends! Easy sipper!!!!!!!!!!

Auto-translated 15 found this helpful
Planteray PXXO 20th Anniversary Rum

Review by Rum mit Carlos

Rum mit Carlos
Rum mit Carlos Top voice
Feb 20267 reviewsGermany
9.0/10

On the nose, for me clearly American oak with light spice and fruit notes. The taste is very convincing. Initially light wood notes which immediately transition into fruit and spice notes. In the finish, the aging in sherry casks becomes clear and it lingers pleasantly long in …

Auto-translated 5 found this helpful
Planteray Barbados (Marsala cask) 2017

Review by zabo

zabo
zabo
Dec 20251,503 reviewsGermany
5.9/10

Also diese Planteray Kollektion war gar nicht mal so gut. Hab jetzt mal die ganzen Samples probiert, aber da war jetzt wirklich keiner dabei, den ich persönlich bräuchte und empfehlen würde. Alle wirken trotz der Verdünnung, verwässert und trotzdem meist alkoholisch und haben so …

14 found this helpful
Planteray Hogo Monsta (Extra High Ester Rum) 2025

Review by Thunderbird

Thunderbird
Thunderbird Top voice
Oct 20251,251 reviewsGermany
8.8/10

Finally got the Hogo Monsta in my hands today and poured it straight into the glass. Immediately, a load of esters fills the room. It instantly brings associations to Jamaica. Only this is a rum from Barbados... the nose is almost identical to a C<>H, HGML. On the palate, funk, …

Auto-translated 26 found this helpful
Stade’s Rum Vulcan Two Taps 2019

Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰

Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Sep 20255,556 reviewsDenmark
7.2/10

#5747 28.09.2025 Day two of the Whisky Live 2025, which this year looks better organized/arranged inside. This one wasn't really me. Pretty sweet and some of the Barbados spirit was missing in my mind. Fruity with good ABV and wood integration.

27 found this helpful
Stade’s Rum Old Gregg Fusion 2022

Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰

Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Sep 20255,556 reviewsDenmark
7.6/10

#5748 28.09.2025 Day two of the Whisky Live 2025, which this year looks better organized/arranged inside. A pretty OK release especially when looking at the price tag. Fruity with nice wood and ABV integration, still a bit sweet though.

28 found this helpful
Plantation Extra Old XO 20th Anniversary (Magnum)

Review by bur2000

bur2000
bur2000
Dec 202431 reviewsGermany
6.8/10

In der Nase vor allem fruchtig und saftig. Orangen, aber auch ein Anklang von Johannisbeeren. Leicht staubig. Auf der Zunge dominiert die Orange oder Zitrusfrucht zusammen mit einem etwas stumpfen Gewürz.. Ein wenig floraler Geschmack im Hintergrund und eine leichte Süße. Der …

Plantation Barbados One-Time Limited 20 2013

Review by Mark Leggett

Mark Leggett
Mark Leggett
Nov 202451 reviewsUSA
9.2/10

Aromas of caramel, orange, spice maybe cinnamon and hints of barrel. Flavors of dried fruit, honey, caramel and a woody hint. This is complex and has a lot going on. It is a great sipper and too good to use as a mixer I think.

The RumX Guide to West Indies

Barbados' biggest distillery, founded in 1893

A German engineer named George Stade built the West India Rum Refinery on Brighton Beach, just north of Bridgetown, in 1893. He brought column distillation to Barbados, and within two years the refinery was making more rum than every other Barbados distillery combined. It was renamed the West Indies Rum Distillery in 1994. Today it dwarfs the island: around 15 million litres of pure alcohol a year, roughly ten times Mount Gay or Foursquare.

The names you actually drink

WIRD rarely sells under its own name. It is the engine behind Plantation and Stade's, it supplied Malibu for decades and once made Cockspur, and it blends and bottles under contract for brands around the world. If you have drunk Barbados rum without knowing the distillery, the odds are good it started here.

A still house spanning eight decades

WIRD runs one of the most varied still collections in rum. Column stills cover the 1940s to the 2020s, led by a 1995 Stone & Webster four-column still and a vacuum column added in 2021. Alongside them sit pot stills, the small Gregg's Farm and the newer Hot Pot, plus the rare Vulcan, the last working chamber still of its kind. An ancient pot still once known as the Rockley still also survives on site.

The Plantation era

In 2017 Alexandre Gabriel of Maison Ferrand and Plantation Rum bought WIRD. Since then the distillery has reawakened the Vulcan still, built the hand-hammered Hot Pot, started a wild-yeast nursery, run seawater-mash experiments and opened the Harper cane mill in 2022 to crush estate cane. More of the rum is now aged on the island rather than shipped out as bulk.

Most popular vs highest rated

RumX tracks more than 240 WIRD bottles with over 6,000 community ratings. The highest scores do not go to the distillery's own labels but to aged, independently bottled Rockley style rum, where the celebrated 1986 vintage sits above 9/10. It is a reminder that WIRD's column rum, given two or three decades in oak, becomes some of the most prized rum on the island.

How the crew scored it West Indies

RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 7.6 sits in the “Good” band. 64% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 6% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →

Flavour profile of West Indies

Most frequently mentioned flavors

Aroma

Vanilla Woody Coconut Caramel

Taste

Woody Vanilla Sweet Caramel

Frequently Asked Questions about West Indies

Today it produces Plantation and Stade’s, it long supplied Malibu and once made Cockspur, and it distils, blends and bottles under contract for many international brands.

WIRD is the distillery; Plantation is the brand. Plantation’s owner, Maison Ferrand, bought the distillery in 2017, so WIRD is now Plantation’s Barbados home.

A prized, aged column-distilled Barbados rum from WIRD, named after an old still. The famous 1986 vintage, bottled by independents, is the most collected. Note that rum labelled Rockley almost certainly never ran through that still, which was decommissioned long before.

By far the most. Research puts it at roughly 85 percent of all Barbados rum, around 15 million litres of pure alcohol a year, about ten times Mount Gay or Foursquare.

Maison Ferrand, the company behind Plantation Rum, led by Alexandre Gabriel. It has owned WIRD since 2017.

RumX offers the world’s largest selection of rum through our innovative shop-in-shop marketplace, similar to Amazon. For West Indies rums, we currently have 322 offers starting from €15.80 across 34 partner shops including Rum Piraten, Rum & Co, Urban Drinks, Whiskysite.nl, Total Wine, delicando. Our platform compares prices in real-time from specialized rum retailers worldwide, ensuring you always find the best deals.

The RumX database currently contains 242 different rums from West Indies. This includes various expressions, limited editions, and bottlings across different age statements and proof levels. Our community has contributed over 7507 reviews for West Indies rums, making it one of the most comprehensive resources for exploring this brand’s full range. New releases are added regularly as they become available.

According to the RumX community, West Indies Rum Artesanal Barbados Rum Rockley Style BBR 1986 34yr 53,7% is currently the highest-rated West Indies rum with an impressive rating of 9.3/10 based on 89 reviews. This expression has earned praise for its exceptional quality and represents the pinnacle of what West Indies has to offer. However, taste is subjective, and we encourage you to explore the full range to find your personal favorite.
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Rating guide

RumX's 0–10 scale is strict. Here's what each band means.

9.0–10.0 Excellent Stash as many as you can afford. Tell no one.
8.0–8.9 Very good Bank a backup. Tell everyone you meet.
7.0–7.9 Good Buy one and recommend it to your friends.
6.0–6.9 Pleasant Solid, super glad I drank it.
5.0–5.9 Average Totally acceptable.
4.0–4.9 Drinkable Not vocally complaining.
3.0–3.9 Poor Wish I was drinking something else.
2.0–2.9 Very poor Nothing nice to say.
1.0–1.9 Unpleasant No, that's not for me.
0.1–0.9 Inedible Pour it out.