Pussers Rum Gunpowder Black Label 54.5 Percent ABV

Product Information

Initially the U.S. Navy also continued the tradition of a daily rum ration. Starting in 1794, when the U.S. Navy was officially established listed, sailors were given “one half-pint of distilled spirits” per day. The Navy encouraged sailors to drink American made whiskey since it was cheaper than imported rums. American sailors also had the option of forgoing their spirit ration and receiving an additional three to six cents a day in wages. While I remember well the bottle of 1930’s Jamaican rum I once had the privilege to enjoy, this is not a rum I can lay my hands on ever again. Instead, when not throwing down my own kill-devil blend, I am partial to the Plantation, El Dorado, Mount Gay, Flor de Cana, St James and Appleton rums as well as any Conquering Lion or Cuban aguardiente I can lay my hands on. From the home of rum history, lore, and expertise – the Caribbean and South America. Hundreds of years of sugar cane cultivation and rum distillation saturate the landscape and its peoples, and I can’t help but feel that by bringing my base rum from this source I am maintaining a historical link between S&O’s Gunpowder Rum and the Golden Age of Piracy (and the quality is hard to beat) Bundaberg is very dear to the Australian heart I think. Every Aussie has tried it, many have grown up with it. It is a colossus of the Australian industry and doth bestride their rum history (for over 125 years). Of course such a titanic producer has a certain inertia and so has taken some while to recognise the changing expectations of many rum drinkers. Rum is easily obtained in quantity in NZ, and some of it is of a certain degree of quality, but as rum has long been considered a holiday and party beverage, the average Kiwi is not prepared to pay terribly much for a bottle of the stuff. Scotch is a luxury brand, rum is not.

This Pusser’s 15 YO is the company’s only aged expression. Historically, it was a blend of rums from Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. Lately, it appears that the rums have been drawn entirely from the Demerara Distillery in Guyana. Around 50% of the blend is from the wooden pot, double distilled rums from the Port Mourant still, and the balance is from column stills at Demerara. The 15 YO is a different blend of rums than its siblings. In 1979, American entrepreneur Charles Tobias reached an agreement with the Royal Navy to produce “navy rum” in the same style as traditional Royal Navy rum. Tobias secured the recipe, hitherto a secret, in return for a royalty paid to the Admiralty. Pusser’s Rum Ltd was set up in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, to bottle and distribute the rum.

Rum has long been a part of NZ history. From the first arrivals of whalers and sealers, to the ANZACs at Gallipoli drinking vast quantities to steel their nerves. Even today NZ is I think still the largest consumer of Jamaican rum outside of Jamaica.

The Royal Canadian Navy followed suit on March 31, 1972, and the New Zealand Navy carried on the tradition until February 28, 1990. The Australian Navy had done away with the rum ration in 1921. In 1842, the spirit ration was reduced to one gill or four ounces. In 1862, during the Civil War, the U.S. Navy abolished the daily spirit ration. The Confederate Navy, however, continued the tradition; in large part because many British sailors served in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. When the mainbrace was cut, sailors would have to climb up the rigging and splice together the ends of the mainbrace that had been cut. Tying together two ropes the size of a man’s arm while perched in the ships rigging during a naval battle was no easy task.On the nose, there are pronounced molasses and dark sugar notes, followed by a creamy, almost buttery aroma, vanilla and dried fruits notes of dates, prunes and figs, along with tropical spices of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, pepper and just a touch of clove and a hint of furniture wax. Various half-finished projects sit on my desk which, by stages, creep towards completion as time allows. There are a handful of benefits to be had in being a boutique rum company, one is the flexibility to experiment and do short production runs. Something that the larger companies can not do as freely. One such is an annual release begun last October and timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, an important date in the history of the Royal Navy. This tiny test run of only 50 bottles was matured over a year in a cask of French oak and bottled at 60%abv. This may sound slightly mad and at times this interview will reveal the slight craziness of its creator BH Simpson. However, as this interview will reveal there is method to his madness.