Sydney Rum Distillery John Frum’s Cargo Cult Dry Spiced Rum

John Frum's Cargo Cult is the dry spiced bottling from Sydney Rum Distillery, a molasses rum run off a column still and then dressed with baking spice rather than sugar. The conceit is right there on the label, a cargo cult curiosity, and the rum follows suit by skipping the syrupy sweetness most spiced rums lean on. At 38.5% it sits light in the glass and aims squarely at long drinks.

The aroma opens on vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and clove, with a light fruity lift and a whiff of petrol that gives it an unexpectedly funky, almost Jamaican character. The palate stays fruity and gently spiced, never sharp, with only a soft cinnamon warmth before a woody, faintly roasted finish. Because it is genuinely unsweetened, it reads dry and a touch austere on its own, which makes it most at home stretched over ice in a spiced highball or paired with cola.