The crystalline turquoise waters shimmer and dance invitingly in the sun on a hot, humid April day in Jamaica. We are at a spring-fed pond with clear waters burbling from limestone caverns in the heart of the Nassau Valley, 75 kilometres south of Montego Bay. Article content

Surrounded by rolling, forest-covered hills, this pond feeds the Black River. It is also the water source used by Appleton Estate to make its world-famous rums. The water, piped to the distillery about seven kilometres away, is mixed with sugar cane molasses and a proprietary yeast for fermentation. Article content

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Appleton Estate master blender Joy Spence, the world’s first female master blender, is leading a group of writers through the rum-making process at the distillery, wh

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