| Rum The Noble Spirit from Sugar Cane |
| The precursors to rum date back to antiquity. Development of fermented drinks produced from sugarcane juice is believed to have first occurred either in ancient India or China, and spread from there. An example of such an early drink is brum. Produced by the Malay people, brum dates back thousands of years. Marco Polo also recorded a 14th-century account of a "very good wine of sugar" that was offered to him in what is modern-day Iran. The first distillation of rum took place on the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 17th century. Plantation slaves first discovered that molasses, a by-product of the sugar refining process, fermented into alcohol. Later, distillation of these alcoholic by-products concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first true rums. Tradition suggests that rum first originated on the island of Barbados. Regardless of its initial source, early Caribbean rums were not known for high quality. A 1651 document from Barbados stated "The chief fuddling they make in the island is Rumbullion, alias Kill-Divil, and this is made of sugar canes distilled, a hot, hellish, and terrible liquor". After rum's development in the Caribbean, the drink's popularity spread to Colonial America. To support the demand for the drink, the first rum distillery in the colonies was set up in 1664 on current day Staten Island. Boston had a distillery three years later. The manufacture of rum became early Colonial New England's largest and most prosperous industry. The rum produced there was quite popular, and was even considered the best in the world during much of the 18th century. Estimates of rum consumption in the American colonies before the American Revolutionary War had every man, woman, or child drinking an average of 3 Imperial gallons (13.5 liters) of rum each year. To support this demand for the molasses to produce rum, along with the increasing demand for sugar in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a labor source to work the sugar plantations in the Caribbean was needed. A triangular trade was established between Africa, the Caribbean, and the colonies to help support this need. The circular exchange of slaves, molasses, and rum was quite profitable, and the disruption to the trade caused by the Sugar Act in 1764 may have even helped cause the American Revolution. The popularity of rum continued after the Revolution with George Washington insisting on a barrel of Barbados rum at his 1789 inauguration. Eventually the restrictions on rum from the British islands of the Caribbean combined with the development of American whiskey led to a decline in the drink's popularity in the US. Until the middle of the 19th century most rums were heavy, single-distilled spirits, considered less elegant than the refined double-distilled spirits of Europe. In order to expand the market for rum, the Spanish Royal Development Board offered a prize to anyone who could improve the rum making process. This resulted in many refinements in the process which greatly improved the quality of rum. One of the most important figures in this development process was Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, who moved from Spain to Santiago de Cuba in 1843. Don Facundo's experiments with distillation techniques, charcoal filtering, cultivating of specialized yeast strains, and aging with American oak casks helped to produce a smoother and mellower drink typical of modern rums. It was with this new rum that Don Facundo founded Bacardi y Compañia in 1862, and the great rums of the 19th and early 20th centuries date from this time. The best are quite superb, and although rare (much more so than cognacs of equivalent vintage), worth seeking out - on the nose intense and complex, on the palate simultaneously both mellow and fiery, with an exotic melange of tropical and wood ageing flavours. |
A remarkable cache of rare Fine Old Jamaica Rum circa 1870-1890.
Judging from the labels and bottles, these rums were bottled around
1900-1910, and had likely 20 to 30 years in cask prior to that. It's clear
from the packaging that this was regarded as a superb quality rum
even at the time it was bottled. This is an exceptional discovery - the
nose is one of the most exotic and powerful I've ever experienced.
19th century rum of this quality is extremely rare - far more so than
equivalently fine cognacs or armagnacs. At the time, top quality rums
were regarded by noted connoisseurs like George Saintsbury (in his
legendary "Notes from a Cellar Book" published in 1920) as on a par
with the finest cognacs. Saintsbury writes how rare old fashioned dark
rums (like these bottles) were becoming, and how superior they were
to the paler, lighter rums then coming into vogue.
The tasting notes below are by Dave Hughes, internationally renowned
author, wine journalist and senior judge at the International Wine &
Spirit Competition for over 20 years:
Huge, room-filling scent the instant the cork was pierced.
Fabulous deep old-gold colour, like an aged muscat.
Intensely powerful nose - toffee, prunes, old marmalade, dates,
overripe mango, caramel, vanilla, allspice.
Initially sweet on the palate, oaky and woody notes with a pronounced
citrus character - tangerine and lime. Good acidity. Finish is dry, and
very, very long.
An extraordinary spirit!
Click on the images to see enlarged versions.
SOLD OUT.
Judging from the labels and bottles, these rums were bottled around
1900-1910, and had likely 20 to 30 years in cask prior to that. It's clear
from the packaging that this was regarded as a superb quality rum
even at the time it was bottled. This is an exceptional discovery - the
nose is one of the most exotic and powerful I've ever experienced.
19th century rum of this quality is extremely rare - far more so than
equivalently fine cognacs or armagnacs. At the time, top quality rums
were regarded by noted connoisseurs like George Saintsbury (in his
legendary "Notes from a Cellar Book" published in 1920) as on a par
with the finest cognacs. Saintsbury writes how rare old fashioned dark
rums (like these bottles) were becoming, and how superior they were
to the paler, lighter rums then coming into vogue.
The tasting notes below are by Dave Hughes, internationally renowned
author, wine journalist and senior judge at the International Wine &
Spirit Competition for over 20 years:
Huge, room-filling scent the instant the cork was pierced.
Fabulous deep old-gold colour, like an aged muscat.
Intensely powerful nose - toffee, prunes, old marmalade, dates,
overripe mango, caramel, vanilla, allspice.
Initially sweet on the palate, oaky and woody notes with a pronounced
citrus character - tangerine and lime. Good acidity. Finish is dry, and
very, very long.
An extraordinary spirit!
Click on the images to see enlarged versions.
SOLD OUT.
Update 24th October 2005
Lemon Hart Rum circa 1945.
A fine British West Indian rum from the immediate post-war period.. SOLD
Lemon Hart Rum circa 1945.
A fine British West Indian rum from the immediate post-war period.. SOLD
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