What to Expect from a Bayou Rum Distillery Tour (Lots of Rum!)
While in Lake Charles I went to the Bayou Rum Distillery on a tour. If you can, I’d definitely recommend fitting this rum tour in your Louisiana schedule, here’s why…
I love rum. Cuban rum, Belizean rum, any rum’ll do me, but this Bayou (bye-you) was something a little different.
Cleaner, fresher, maybe it was that alligator bite.
“Bayou Rum, distilled in Lacassine, Louisiana is handcrafted in a traditional pot still using 100% natural Louisiana cane sugar & molasses.”
– BAYOU RUM DISTILLERY
Established relatively recently in 2011 the Bayou Rum Factory is open to the public daily, to show off their award winning blends. And they have won plenty of them, from as far as Spain.
Give it a year or two and Bayou will be the standard worldwide. Bet you a dollar.
In February the distillery won the Louey Award for the tourism attraction of the year from the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association. So yeah, it’s good!
Bayou Rum tours
The Bayou Rum tours start with a video showing exactly why this spot in Louisiana is just perfect for rum production, even more so than the usual Caribbean. This is mainly thanks to the local sugar plantations, the weather, and the marshy ground.
Why hadn’t they done it before?!
That’s exactly what the Bayou Rum Distillery President, Trey Litel, was asking himself when he decided to change that, alongside his brother Tim and their rum aficionado friend Skip Cortese.
He led me on the tour round the factory on my Bayou rum tour and it was obvious to see he was super passionate about his product being the best. He was fresh off the plane from an exciting meeting in NYC where it was confirmed distribution would extend way, way, beyond the few states it was currently in. It’s on its way to England, I’m telling ya.
He knew that instead of shipping all that delicious Louisiana sugar cane and resulting molasses (above) out to the rest of the world it was time for someone in the state to get in on the rum game, a $2 billion industry.
Tim and Trey’s arrival on the scene was announced with a huge party, which by the sounds of it, everyone in the state came to, drawn in by the two free drinks but staying for the unique atmosphere and elegant elixir.