William Hinton

Sugar cane has been grown on Madeira since before the island was colonized. The island's forests supply raw material for building sugar mills and fuel for furnaces, adding to the island's already favorable conditions for growing sugar cane (thanks to its climate, sun exposure, and water sources). Sugarcane plantations once occupied nearly all of the island's arable area. After sugar production moved to the Caribbean Islands, many of these plantations were converted into vineyards. Nonetheless, the island still features a small number of cane fields. When sugar cane output on Madeira skyrocketed in 2007, it became imperative to find a way to support the farmers who had devoted themselves to the crop. This need gave rise to Eugenho Novo Da Madeira, the company that now produces William Hinton Rum. All of ENM's agricole rum is crafted in a column still that was built in the 1800s and refurbished in 2007. All of the sugar cane is picked by hand, then crushed by machine, fermented, and distilled in a column still.