Suriname: Paramaribo Rum Haus

Suriname does have its own rum, being produced at the historic Het Surinaamsch Rumhuis, dating back to 1882. A massive Marienburg sugar cane plantation was established in the 1770s, and the sugar markets collapsed with advent of sugar beets in Europe, it was re-profiled into a distillery. After Suriname independence in 1975, the Dutch gave the distillery to the government who quickly mismanaged it and ran it down to a full shutdown. The distillery was restarted at a different location and started producing high quality rums under Borgoe label (Cornelius Lodewijk Borgoo was the government of Suriname in the 18th century). Sadly, both sugar cane and molasses are now being imported, but the production and aging is local. Borgoe comes in three aged expressions – 8 years, 12 years, and 15 years – and you get to sample all three. The 15 year Borgoe Rum was voted the world’s best rum in 2018.