#WCW: At 65, Jamaican Master Rum Distiller, Is Just Getting Started

In the States, turning 65 means people expect you to retire. Joy Spence, the force behind Jamaica’s most famous rum and the world’s first female master blender, shows no sign of slowing down.

Spence was born in the parish of Manchester and grew up in Kingston. Her father was a banana industry worker and her mother was a dedicated homemaker, who encouraged Spence to seek out an education. Spence loved school (she loved learning so much that her mother found her standing on a stool at the head of the class teaching her classmates one day) and in fact, it was one teacher who set her on her path.

“My chemistry teacher in Kingston, Eldora Mills,” Spence said. “I used to help her prepare the labs for the upper school and realized I had a passion. I was very advanced academically because of helping set up the labs. [After she passed away] I was devastated – she was my role model – but I was determined to carry on and make her proud.”

And she did. Spence dedicated years of her life to teaching, as a chemistry lecturer at Jamaica’s College of Arts & Science (now the University of Technology). She went on to pursue a master’s degree in analytical chemistry at the University of Loughborough, England, and graduated with honors, achieving the highest exam scores ever recorded. Her record is undefeated and still stands to date. [pagebreak]

In 1979, she returned to Jamaica and decided that it was time for a change. She joined Estate Industries Limited (the company that produces Tia Maria Liqueur) as their research and development chemist. Two years into the job, she was bored. Feeling restless and unchallenged (and intrigued at what was going on next door at J Wray & Nephew Limited, producers of Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum) she walked over and asked for a job. She got it.

As Appleton Estate’s chief chemist she worked closely with the master blender, Owen Tulloch. It was Tulloch who saw something special in Spence.

“He was a wonderful mentor and father figure to me and I learnt so much about the art of blending from him,” Spence said.

Working with Tulloch, Spence realized her sensory skills were above average and she discovered she had an organoleptic talent: the ability to detect, identify, and differentiate between aromas. [pagebreak]

Together, Spence and Tulloch fine-tuned her talents and soon she became his successor. During her tenure, she has been responsible for a number of noted releases, including the limited edition Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum and the limited-edition Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Jamaica Rum.

Spence, now 65, has high hopes for rum and Jamaica. And her country feels the same about her. In 2005, Spence was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD) for her service to the industry.

More importantly, though, she has opened doors for other women in the spirits industry. Spence is in some great company these days – the rum industry now has a handful of women who hold the Master Blender title, including Brugal’s Jassil Villanueva and Zacapa’s Lorena Vásquez Ampié.

Still, she’s not done working.

“We have lots of exciting plans for the Appleton Estate brand in the future but we don’t want to reveal these plans until the time is right,” Spence said. “….I look forward to the day when premium aged rums take their rightful place in the sun.”