Construction on the new home of Cayman Spirits Company, maker of Seven Fathoms Rum, may begin as early as next week.
The 5,000-square-foot distillery located off Bronze Road in Industrial Park, east of Esterley Tibbetts Highway, will include a visitors centre, factory and storage for products. The company’s current headquarters at Hammerheads on North Church Street will remain as a facility for tourists, perhaps as a museum and pick-up point for tour buses to the new distillery.
The new building will allow the company to produce more rum and expand their product line into vodkas, liqueurs and what would be the first whisky made in the Caribbean.
“We’re breaking new ground in the spirits industry, with the first underwater-aged rum and now the first Caribbean whisky,” company co-founder Nelson Dilbert said.
Mr. Dilbert hopes to clear all planning requirements by the end of the week, begin construction next week and have the facility open in June.
The existing 600-litre still will be moved to the new distillery and upgraded for the production of vodka. Meanwhile, a new 4,000-litre still will take over the production of rum.
Eco features
Not only will the new facility allow for greater production, but it will feature green components to cut down costs and reduce the company’s environmental impact. For example, Mr. Dilbert said the company is looking into placing solar panels on the roof of the new building and also using a geothermal cooling system.
“We don’t use a lot of electricity,” he said. “But we do buy tons of water to cool the tower.”
In the new facility, groundwater (as opposed to the potable desalinated water provided by the Water Authority) will be pumped into the factory for cooling, and then sent back down into the ground.
Additionally, the distillery’s new boiler will run on propane rather than diesel fuel.
“Our new boiler has the least amount of emissions in the industry. We are spending extra, but we hope that will translate into fuel savings and have less of an impact on the environment,” he said.
New facility
Set up to accommodate public tours, the 5,000-square-foot facility will be divided into three parts: a visitors centre with a gift shop and tasting bar; the factory for production of spirits; and a storage area for products such as finished rum.
The tourism companies that bus tourists to the waterfront facility will take tourists to the new Industrial Park facility when it is opened.
The two-storey building will occupy a small portion of the 1.4-acre parcel purchased by the company. The additional land gives the company the option to expand in the future, Mr. Dilbert said. Much of the surrounding land is vacant as well.
The only access to the facility is via North Sound Road and Bronze Road. However, in the longer-term future, direct access from Esterley Tibbetts could be created.
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