Bundaberg Rum Distillery Tour & Tasting Review

Planning a visit to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery? Here’s what we thought of the tour and tasting, plus everything you need to know about planning your visit!

If you catch me drinking a spirit, chances are it’s a rum. So when we planned our Sydney to Cairns road trip itinerary, a visit to the home of Australia’s most iconic rum was an essential addition!

Since the first batch of Bundaberg Rum was distilled in 1889, the bear-fronted yellow bottle has become a global export, perfectly paired with Bundaberg’s punchy ginger beer. If you’re also partial to a dark and stormy, here’s what to expect when you book a Bundaberg Rum distillery tour…

_{*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I’ll earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you)*}

Bundaberg Distillery Tour: Full Review

As we were driving from Noosa, we’d booked the final tour of the day at 3pm to allow ourselves plenty of time to get set up at our campsite just outside of town. After embarrassing ourselves on the bus by forgetting we couldn’t use our TransLink cards, we made the journey across town. The distillery itself is around 15-20mins walk from the bus stop. There’s ample parking, but if you plan on indulging at the tasting, you’ll want to either get the bus or taxi.

Fun fact: Australia loves ‘big things’. And Bundaberg Distillery has it’s very own ‘big bottle’ outside for the perfect photo opportunity. We messed around taking some pics, before making our way into the building for our distillery discovery experience.

Tour tip: Make sure you arrive early, as you have access to the self-guided Bundaberg Distillery museum before the tour! We arrived around 40 minutes before our tour took place.

The distillery museum gives some great context into the story of Bundaberg Rum, starting with the seven local investors who found a use for the region’s abundant sugar byproduct, molasses. The tongue-in-cheek tone across the displays make them an engaging read, and everything from production to marketing has a space on the museum’s walls.

At the end of the museum, there’s a ‘wall of fame’ of Bundaberg bottles from history. This is where our tour guide Taylor met us for a quick intro and briefing ahead of the distillery tour. Taylor was a great guide, sharing interesting information with a fun and engaging tone, combined with a fair few groan-worthy puns (something I ALWAYS appreciate).

You can’t take phones and cameras into the tour, which I actually quite like, and I’ll be quite vague on what you see on the tour – no spoilers over here! What I will say, is that it’s a really interesting tour, and I learnt lots about the process behind distilling rum.

The distillery building itself is also a great environment to take a tour in, with the old and the new combined and well-kept. We also learnt about the adversity the distillery has faced through fire and floods, and the founders and workers’ dedication to keeping the distillery up and running. There’s also a fun interactive element or two!

Reunited with our cameras and phones, we stepped back into the distillery shop to indulge in perhaps the most exciting part of any distillery tour. Yep, it’s tasting time.

Each visitor on the tour gets to sample one rum from a menu that includes standard and top-shelf blends; and one glass from the Royal Liqueur collection. If you’re used to distillery tastings in Europe, it might feel like a bit of a short change to only try two – but it’s mostly because responsible drinking is a big deal in Australia.

As we always do for any kind of tasting, we doubled our options by choosing different drinks and sharing all four. Ashley was immediately besotted with the full bodied and silky smooth Solera Rum. The most expensive bottle in the collection, retailing at $199 per bottle. (We absolutely almost bought some…)

Sticking to a favourite style, I gave the Small Batch Spiced Rum a try, and was equally impressed by the warming and gentle tingle. I sipped some neat before pouring in a splash of ginger beer for a tingly take on a classic dark and stormy. (We absolutely actually bought some…)

If you’re still thirsty after the tour, you can sit in the courtyard and order some more drinks. There was a small food counter selling hotdogs and burgers, but they’d closed up by the time our tour finished.

Tour tip: If you’re after a few drinks and a bite to eat in the Bundaberg bar, I’d recommend booking an earlier slot than we did. The bar is only open until 5pm daily, so by the time we’d finished our tasting, it had closed. It was a shame, as I’d have loved to have been able to try a couple more blends.

Summary: Is the Bundaberg Rum Distillery tour worth it?

In case you didn’t want to read the above, the answer to this question is: If you like rum, absolutely. It’s a great opportunity to learn a bit more about one of Australia’s most iconic drinks brands, and how the distillery is woven into the town’s history. Across the museum, tour and tastings, it’s an immersive and interactive experience ideal for rum fans.

I really enjoyed the tour, and think it’s well worth the A$30 price tag – especially with the two tastings. That’s almost the price of two drinks in a bar anyway, right?

If you have time, you can also combine a distillery tour with a tasting at their soft drinks brewery. You can try all 13 flavours, and the price includes a create-your-own six-pack to take away with you. Ideal for combining with your Bundy rum!