The Appleton Estate is the oldest sugar estate and distillery in Jamaica.  Its origin dates back to 1655 when the English Crown granted land to the heirs of Francis Dickinson (1632-1704) for his service in the Invasion of Jamaica in1655.  It is believed it was the year 1749 when rum was first produced from sugarcane grown in the estate making Appleton Rum the world's second oldest spirit behind Mount Gay Rum from Barbados.  The Dickinson family sold the estate in 1845 and subsequent owners continued producing rum and acquiring additional land for the estate.

Since 1825, John Wray distilled and blended his own rum and served them at his Shakespeare Tavern next to the Theatre Royal in Kingston.  In 1860 he brought his nephew Charles J. Ward ( -1913) into the business and in 1862 Wray retired and made Charles a partner.  Charles J. Ward took over the business at the death of his uncle in 1870 and expanded into rum trading and production.  Ward's rum won medals in the 1862 London International Exhibition and subsequent exhibitions in Paris (1878), Amsterdam (1883), New Orleans (1885) and Jamaica (1891).

Before Ward's death, the company he founded J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd., had acquired three sugar estates and distribution rights for other brands.  After Ward's death, in 1916 the trustees who administered Carles Ward estate sold J Wray & Nephew Co., Ltd. to Lindo Brothers & Co. Ltd.  Shortly after acquiring J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd., Lindo Brothers acquired the Appleton estate and in 1917 moved all distillery operations there.  J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd. continued to operate under the management of Lindo Brothers & Co. Ltd. until 1939 when they sold it to Percy Lindo.  In 1957 the family of Percy Lindo sold the company to a syndicate that included some of the principal shareholders of Lascelles deMercado & Co.  In 1989, the syndicate sold J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd. which then became a wholly owned subsidiary of Lascelles deMercado & Co..  In September 2012, Gruppo Campari paid $415 million for an 81.4% stake in Lascelles deMercado & Co.  

​Sugarcane production at Appleton for the 2016-2017 & 2017-2018 crop years were 18,900 &16,500 m.t., or 22% & 20% of the total island production of 88,000 & 82,400 m.t.  Most of the production at Appleton and Worthy Park sugar factories was molasses used in the making of rum. 

In July 2020, J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd. confirmed that it would cease to operate its Appleton Estates Sugar Factory.  Chairman of J Wray & Nephew Co. Ltd. Clement Jimmy Lawrence, said that despite the closure of the sugar factory, Appleton Estate Distillery and the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience will continue normal operations.