What FNQ Rum Co. has won, and what each award was actually for
Updated: 3 days ago
Awards pages usually say “multi award winning” and leave it there. This one names the trophy, the year, the body and the bottle, because on a shelf of Australian rum those are the only parts that help you choose.
Two world titles, three years apart
FNQ Rum Co. has won the top prize in its category at the World Rum Awards twice, with two different bottles.
World's Best Sugarcane Spirit, 2024 went to Platinum Cane Spirit. In the same year Platinum also took Gold and a Style Winner award at the same competition, and it has since taken a Trophy at the 2025 Australian International Rum Awards in the Agricole and Sugarcane Juice class at 94 points, a Double Gold in the Agricole and Sugarcane class, and Gold and Style Winner again at the 2026 World Rum Awards.
World's Best Pot Still, 2021 went to Iridium 5yr Dark Rum. Iridium has the longest record in the range, eighteen results between 2014 and 2025, running from an IWSC Bronze in 2014 through to a Silver at 94 points in 2025, and a Double Gold in the Aged Rum 5+ Years class at the 2024 Australian Rum Awards at 93 points.
Those are different competitions in different years for different spirits, which is worth saying plainly, because award language is usually vague enough to imply one bottle won everything.
The highest score in the range belongs to the strongest bottle
Palladium Overproof Rum, bottled at 60%, took Gold Outstanding at the 2025 IWSC with 98 points. It has also taken the Overproof Rum 50% ABV and Over trophy twice, at the 2024 Australian Rum Awards at 93 points and the 2025 Australian International Rum Awards at 92 points.
A 98 point Gold Outstanding is the highest single score anywhere in the FNQ Rum Co. record. If you buy by number, that is the bottle.
The two older casks
Iridium X 10yr Aged Rum, at 47%, took a Trophy at the 2024 Australian International Rum Awards at 90 points, a Silver at the 2023 IWSC at 92 points, and Gold at the 2026 World Rum Awards.
Iridium Agave Cask Rum, also 47%, has one award and it is a good one: Gold Outstanding at the 2024 International Wine and Spirit Competition. It is a rum finished in an agave cask, not an agave spirit, and FNQ Rum Co. explains that distinction properly on its own site.
The 2024 world title went to Platinum
Platinum Cane Spirit won in a sugarcane spirit category rather than in one of the rum categories, which is why the title reads the way it does. FNQ Rum Co. sets out how the spirit is made on its production page.
It is also the reason Platinum tastes the way it does: nothing has been between the cane and the glass except the still and a volcanic rock filter.
What a medal does not tell you
None of the above says what is in the bottle or how it got there. For that, the useful reading is FNQ Rum Co. and its own production page, which sets out the eight stages from cane to bottling, including the 1500 litre Arnold Holstein copper pot still every drop of FNQ rum has come off, and the cask hall where humidity sits above 70% for most of the year. There is also a barrel register that publishes the record for each cask.
The short version: the cane is grown on the Atherton Tablelands and crushed to syrup within a week of the cut, not trucked in as refinery molasses, and nothing is added at bottling but water to strength.
Taste FNQ Rum Co. at the cellar door
FNQ Rum Co. is poured at the Mt Uncle cellar door in Walkamin, open daily 10am to 6pm, closed public holidays, about an hour from Cairns. A guided tasting is $20 per person with sessions at 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm, and walk-ins are welcome for a standard visit.
Or order from the shop, with flat rate shipping within Australia.
Common questions
Which FNQ Rum Co. bottle has won the most?
Iridium 5yr Dark Rum, with eighteen results between 2014 and 2025. Platinum Cane Spirit has fewer, but it has the most recent run and the 2024 world title.
Which has the highest score?
Palladium Overproof, Gold Outstanding at 98 points, 2025 IWSC.
What was Platinum judged against?
The World Rum Awards judge a sugarcane spirit category separately from their rum categories. Platinum won that category in 2024.
Where can I taste them?
At the Mt Uncle cellar door in Walkamin, open daily 10am to 6pm, closed public holidays.
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