By the mid 1990s Laurie Barnard, St. Lucia Distillers' Chairman was adamant it was time for change: "If we are to export our rum we need to be different; we need to have the  tools to make great rum the old way. A column still and molasses is one dimensional.'" Thus began a journey which saw the commissioning of three pot stills to add to the existing Coffey still as well as the replanting of sugar cane that had ceased back in 1962. Ever innovative, never content with mediocrity and possessed by a fierce competitive streak. Laurie drove the idea of having a diversity of rums from different stills and aged in contrasting woods so that the blender would have a palate of maturates from which to create a great rum.