Golden drop draws crowd
NOT every dad would camp outside the Bundaberg Rum Bondstore for three nights just to be one of the first lucky punters to grab a bottle of the distillery's latest release for their collector son.
But Maryborough man Fred Bowman would.
The release of the new limited edition Master Distillers' Collection Golden Reserve yesterday was the sixth release Mr Bowman had been to collect for his son, Jamie.
"I only started doing it for him, but I kept coming because of the friendships," he said.
Over time, Mr Bowman has quietly become fixed on laying his hands on bottle number 71 out of the first 1000 bottles to be released.
"The first three releases, I got bottle number 71," he said.
"Bottle 71 is the year I proposed to my wife."
But Mr Bowman was about 47 bottles too early in his quest yesterday, and walked away with bottle 24.
However, fate stepped in and he managed to find the collector who had ended up with his special bottle.
"We swapped and now I've got number 71," he said.
Bundaberg Distilling Company brand manager Haydn Jobson said yesterday's release was one of the biggest.
"It's been a great day," he said.
