For fifty years, the rums that the British Royal Navy blended for its sailors has fascinated enthusiasts and historians. Most stories about navy rum endlessly recycle prior conjecture that's both vague and not particularly accurate. Ponder this conventional wisdom about the navy’s rums: Navy rum was a blend of rums from Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and... Continue Reading →
Pusser’s Rum Charles Tobias: On the Record (Part One)
For students of spirits history who pour over countless dry pages to glean precious tiny nuggets of information, coming face-to-face with living, breathing history that can be queried is as close to professional nirvana as one gets. Such was the case when my phone rang one morning, displaying a mysterious 284 area code. Not immediately... Continue Reading →
The British Navy’s Rum Vatting System: An inside look
As the 50th anniversary of Black Tot Day approaches, interest in all things British Navy rum is rising. A topic rarely discussed is how and where the navy actually blended their rum. Britain’s navy had a series of victualling (pronounced “vitalling”) yards in various places in the U.K., and elsewhere around the globe where they... Continue Reading →
Clarke’s Court and Grenada Distillers Ltd.
When it comes to exported Grenadian-made rum, one name has dominated over the last two decades: Clarke’s Court. The brand is the flagship of Grenada Distiller’s Ltd., the country’s largest rum distillery -- at least till Renegade Rum starts producing. During my recent Grenada visit (hosted by Renegade), I was also privileged to receive an... Continue Reading →
Grenada’s River Antoine Rum Distillery – Rum History Wonderland
Among rum cognoscenti, Jamaica’s Hampden Estate is held in exceedingly high reverence; a visit to the distillery is a rite of passage for hardcore rum geeks. Beyond just the extremely funky rums which draw high prices and attract collectors, Hampden’s distillery is revered as a step back in time a century or more into rum’s... Continue Reading →
The Colonial Rum Classification – A Primer
The topic of Spanish, French and French style rums come up frequently in rum discussions. It’s confusing to many, especially newcomers trying to make sense of the vast world of rum. Section Three of my book, Minimalist Tiki, has a very lengthy and detailed overview on rum. What follows is an adaptation of a small... Continue Reading →