Rum Ration

[Piper42nd]

Pussers makes it seem like they were the sole supplier to the British Navy.  Were there others?

Was there an equivalent to Pussers for the British Army?

Harvey 

[healdav]

Pussers, Pursers, Victualling Officers, Supply Officers, and several other names, are and always have been the people who distributed the rum to the RN. It came from the Victualling Yards and was bought by the government in bulk supplies, The RN never touched the money side.

I presume that the army would have been much the same.

[Piper42nd]

It sounds like you think Pussers is a person when it is actually the brand name of a rum manufacturer.  I'm looking for an equivalent rum distiller the Army might have used.

[healdav]

33 minutes ago, Piper42nd said:

It sounds like you think Pussers is a person when it is actually the brand name of a rum manufacturer.  I'm looking for an equivalent rum distiller the Army might have used.

Actually, "Pusser"is the traditional RN name for what is now the Supply Officer. Where the name came from is a bit of a mystery, but traditionally is believed to be a corruption of Purser, the bloke who looked after the money for official purposes on board ships in long gone days.

The "Pussers" rum is a brand name. They make several of these, one being the real stuff and the other 'Gunpowder proof'. Nothing to do with the RN - although the Pussers Rum if pretty much like the real stuff.

[Piper42nd]

The label says "Original Admiralty Rum" and the back says supplier to the RN.  I'd like to think it was true or they wouldn't say it.

Assuming it's true the question remains were they the only ones?

Also I'd still like to know who supplied the Army. 

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

If I remember right we called all Navy Types Pussers, while they called us "Pongos"

They said we were called that because where ever the Army went the pong gos.

We called our supply system, the QM Store, admin by the SQMS and the QM (Quarter Master)

When we were carried on RAN Ships. we got the two can per man rule, each night (via the RAN system), which was fine, because not all soldiers drank, so we got there two cans.

On land the QM (Army system) never gave out anything

I remember only being given a rum ration on two occastions, on operations over seas.

But we did get a Gun fire Breakfast on Anzac Day, while away most times during my service.

S.B

 

Edited 27 August , 2022 by stevenbecker

[kenf48]

1 hour ago, Piper42nd said:

Also I'd still like to know who supplied the Army. 

This newspaper article from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph 7 October 1914 indicates the War Office made bulk purchases at the docks, presumably of rum imported from Jamaica, or other islands of the  West Indies producing rum from sugar cane. 

It would make economic sense to bypass wholesalers and retail agents and buy direct from the importers.  Presumably this practice continued throughout the war. 

The 'stoneware jars' mentioned were SRD jars which were used for many liquids Given a strong tradition of temperance, especially among non-conformists, the publication of this report (not neccesarily this report) caused much controversy, including questions in Parliament.

image from BNA on FMP

A forum search on 'rum' returns many hits, perhaps most notably:-

Off topic for this forum but I recently re-watched the Rod Steiger  movie  'Waterloo' where it was alleged gin was given to the troops before the battle.  At the time I wondered how historically accurate this was but did not pursue it.

 

[Chasemuseum]

They original question related to who were the manufacturers/suppliers.

The first question really should be what is rum ? This is an alcoholic spirit from fermenting cane sugar (ferment achieves about 18% alcohol (ethanol)) and then distilling it in a conventional still to achieve about 90% alcohol. Its fairly easy to distill up to about 95% alcohol, however there is a molecular affinity between ethanol and water and it is a special chemical process to remove the last 5% of water to make absolute alcohol. This is manufactured for medical purposes.

The distilled sugar cane spirit is only alcoholic spirit when it is placed in the barrel. It must be in the oak barrel for a year and on its first birthday it is rum. When decanted from the barrels at the bottling plant it is diluted with water to the commercial drinking grade for that bottler, typically about 35 to 38%.

The British Army will have had a specification for the alcoholic content of SRD. They will have bought it from any of the trade suppliers both in the UK and internationally. For bulk international shipping it would have been transported still in barrels at the higher concentration and then diluted and bottled in the stoneware jugs at bottling plants in the UK. Its impossible to say whether these bottling plants operated purely as contract bottlers for spirit purchased overseas and imported by the government or whether government involvement only commenced at the bottling plant. In peace time the latter would be the case, but in wartime with the dramatically higher volumes involved and the risk of shipments being destroyed in transit whether the government became more intimately involved in the supply to ensure reliability and limit unnecessary costs to the government is unknown.

[FROGSMILE]

On 27/08/2022 at 22:16, Piper42nd said:

The label says "Original Admiralty Rum" and the back says supplier to the RN.  I'd like to think it was true or they wouldn't say it.

The company that now uses the brand name was just one of many contractors to the Royal Navy in the past and like any canny commercial concern has made the name a unique selling point.  I suspect they might even have registered the brand name to protect it, but don’t know for sure.  Declaring themselves as “supplier” doesn’t mean they were the only supplier.  As kenf48 explained, there were a number of contractors to the RN.  The War Office similarly placed contracts with a variety of suppliers.  An important point is that the spirit concerned, rum, was particularly easily accessed for the armed services because it had for centuries been a part (sugar cane) of the key triangular trade passage with the Caribbean and the islands there, the vast majority of which were a part of the then British Empire.

”It was in the 18th century that rum replaced the traditional alcoholic beverages distributed to seamen and infantrymen, namely the more common beer and the less common wine and brandy.  Rum proved to be much more attractive than these old drinks, as it was not only very cheap in the Caribbean, but also had a higher alcoholic strength; therefore significantly less room was required for storage and transportation when compared with beer or wine. In short, rum was a more cost-effective option, because it helped to save both space (precious aboard ships) and money.

Until the beginning of the 18th century the regular ration in the Royal Navy was one pint of wine or a half pint of brandy. After the introduction of rum, sailors were issued half a pint a day. Yet in 1740 Admiral Edward Vernon considered the suggestions forwarded by captains and doctors, who insisted that swallowing the whole ration of liquor at a single draught had a bad effect on sailors’ health and behavior. Thus he ordered that rum be diluted to half strength with water (half a pint of rum and a quart of a pint of water). At first sailors disliked the new drink and called it “grog” after Admiral Vernon’s nickname, “Old Grog,” which he got from his coat of grogram cloth. But they soon got used to it.

In 1825 the ration of rum was reduced to a quarter of a pint and in 1850 it was further cut down to one eighth. Beginning in 1928, under the provisions of the special instruction of the Admiralty, sailors could request a money equivalent of their alcohol allowance.

It was estimated that in the second half of the 19th century an army of 36,000 men required some 550,000 gallons of rum annually, including extra alcohol allowances issued before battle (distributed for better combat) or in its aftermath (for celebrating victory). After all, every occasion for heavy drinking was welcomed, no matter whether it was a royal birthday or the anniversary of a major event. Thus rum played an important role in the management of the army’s manpower for, as Major General James Wolfe, known for his training reforms in the British Army, declared in 1758, it was ‘the cheapest pay for work that can be given.’

Rum was issued to soldiers because it was believed to make them better fighters and the battlefield experience did indeed seem to prove it. This favourable and highly desirable impact of alcohol on the fighting spirit of the troops was commonly known as “Dutch courage.” The phrase derives from the English soldiers who fought in the Netherlands in the English-Dutch wars of the 17th century and who got their courage up by one or two sips of a Dutch gin called “genever.” Originally, the English troopers used the expression with reference to Dutch soldiers, who drank both heavily and frequently.

In the 1760s the ration of rum in the British forces deployed in the American colonies was half a pint per soldier per day, which came to 23 gallons per man per year.”

Rum Suppliers.

“At first, the rums were purchased whenever the ships docked for provisions and supplies, so the rum blend would vary vastly. This changed in 1731, when an act was passed dictating that rum rations would be given to the entire RN fleet, regardless of where they were stationed.

This created a demand for a consistent blend, and in 1784 James Man (ED&F Man) was awarded a contract to start supplying the Royal Navy with rum, something this company did all the way up until Black Tot Day in 1970. The vast majority of this rum was sourced from the British rum-producing islands (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana), and shipped back to the Royal Docks in London, where the rum would then be aged and blended into a consistent product in bonding stores. It was then shipped out to the naval stations around the world.

There were numerous reasons for this, including; the introduction of the breathalyzer and more complex controls on board ships. The day the final rum was served was dubbed Black Tot Day, and was a sad day for all involved.

The navy celebrated their fallen comrade with gun salutes and naval burials at sea, as the last tots were enjoyed across the British fleets.

Any rum that remained after Black Tot Day was transferred into wicker-covered demijohns at full strength. It was stored at the spirits ageing warehouses along the Thames, only being brought out for Royal Weddings, before finally being put up for auction.

It was these very same demijohns that caught the attention of Sukhinder Singh of Elixir Distillers and The Whisky Exchange back in 2008. Lured in by the rich complexities, Elixir Distillers spent the next few years sourcing the rest of these rare demijohns. Once obtained they were blended and bottled as ‘Black Tot - The Last Consignment’ in 2011. A piece of liquid history, and one for any serious collector’s cabinet.

‘Navy Style’ rums, generally thought of as a heavier-style Caribbean blends, are still enjoyed across the UK.”

The Traditional [Original] Navy Blend.

” Millions of gallons of rum were required to supply the entire navy, so it was sourced from multiple places. Not much evidence survives about the rum’s provenance before the twentieth century, but by the 1930s the lion’s share came from British Guyana and Trinidad, both British colonies at the time, with smaller amounts coming from Barbados and Jamaica. When supplies ran low and necessity required it, they’d even source rums from Cuba and Martinique. 

The formalized Royal Navy blend dates back to the early 1800s, and it marked the very first time that rums from different countries were blended together. The blending took place in several victualing (pronounced “vittling”) yards in England, where naval supplies and provisions were prepared and stored (in bonding stores) before transporting to the ships. The rum was poured into large open vats, each holding several thousand gallons. “They would dump the rum into these vats, in whatever the preferred recipe was—and that changed over time.  “All the vats were apparently connected, so you could take some of the rum from this vat and send it to that vat.” The rum was circulated up to two years. Water was added during the process, and an agitator would blend the rum and the water so the strength of the final product would be uniform. The vats were never completely emptied—they were always topped off with new rum—so by 1970, a solera of sorts had been created, with decades-old rum in the blend. Caramel was added for colour, as well as a touch of flavour, before the contents were shipped off to sea. Larger ships received their rations in casks, while smaller ships and submarines got stone flagons wrapped in wicker.“

NB. “If you’re looking for a more affordable approximation of the Royal Navy rum, you’ve got a couple of options. Charles Tobias, a former American sailor, convinced the British admiralty to give him their blending recipe, which he recreated as Pusser’s Rum. It’s not a faithful recreation—as expert Matt Pietrek says, “Pusser’s blends to the flavour profile of the navy blend, if not the actual recipe”—but it gives a good idea of what the real thing tastes like, at a price that’s several orders of magnitude cheaper. Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof expression is bottled at the same 54.5 percent ABV as the naval rum, while the flagship Pusser’s Blue Label comes in at a milder 42 percent.“

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Piper42nd]

Thank you everyone for your help.  In a poor attempt at a summary then:

In 1784 James Man became the sole (according to them) supplier of rum to the RN and continued in that role until 1970.  ED&F Man becoming the company name in 1869.

Man purchased the rum directly from the distillers in the Caribbean, had it shipped in bulk to Deptford where it was placed in large interconnected vats.  

The rum was aged and blended there then placed into containers of various sizes depending on the ship.  I don't know if Man did the blending and filling or if the Government did it.

Pusser's didn't come into the picture until 1980 as a venture to capture and sell the original recipe for RN rum.  I believe the best they could do in that regard was to obtain the ED&F Man purchase records and blended something "like" RN rum.

Per kenf48's newspaper clipping something similar happened for the army at the "Rum Quay at the West Indies Dock".   I don't know if these were the same vats used for the RN rum or if Man supplied the rum.

[depaor01]

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

The company that now uses the brand name was just one of many contractors to the Royal Navy in the past and like any canny commercial concern has made the name a unique selling point.  I suspect they might even have registered the brand name to protect it, but don’t know for sure.  Declaring themselves as “supplier” doesn’t mean they were the only supplier.  As kenf48 explained, there were a number of contractors to the RN.  The War Office similarly placed contracts with a variety of suppliers.  An important point is that the spirit concerned, rum, was particularly easily accessed for the armed services because it had for centuries been a part (sugar cane) of the key triangular trade passage with the Caribbean and the islands there, the vast majority of which were a part of the then British Empire.

”It was in the 18th century that rum replaced the traditional alcoholic beverages distributed to seamen and infantrymen, namely the more common beer and the less common wine and brandy.  Rum proved to be much more attractive than these old drinks, as it was not only very cheap in the Caribbean, but also had a higher alcoholic strength; therefore significantly less room was required for storage and transportation when compared with beer or wine. In short, rum was a more cost-effective option, because it helped to save both space (precious aboard ships) and money.

Until the beginning of the 18th century the regular ration in the Royal Navy was one pint of wine or a half pint of brandy. After the introduction of rum, sailors were issued half a pint a day. Yet in 1740 Admiral Edward Vernon considered the suggestions forwarded by captains and doctors, who insisted that swallowing the whole ration of liquor at a single draught had a bad effect on sailors’ health and behavior. Thus he ordered that rum be diluted to half strength with water (half a pint of rum and a quart of a pint of water). At first sailors disliked the new drink and called it “grog” after Admiral Vernon’s nickname, “Old Grog,” which he got from his coat of grogram cloth. But they soon got used to it.

In 1825 the ration of rum was reduced to a quarter of a pint and in 1850 it was further cut down to one eighth. Beginning in 1928, under the provisions of the special instruction of the Admiralty, sailors could request a money equivalent of their alcohol allowance.

It was estimated that in the second half of the 19th century an army of 36,000 men required some 550,000 gallons of rum annually, including extra alcohol allowances issued before battle (distributed for better combat) or in its aftermath (for celebrating victory). After all, every occasion for heavy drinking was welcomed, no matter whether it was a royal birthday or the anniversary of a major event. Thus rum played an important role in the management of the army’s manpower for, as Major General James Wolfe, known for his training reforms in the British Army, declared in 1758, it was ‘the cheapest pay for work that can be given.’

Rum was issued to soldiers because it was believed to make them better fighters and the battlefield experience did indeed seem to prove it. This favourable and highly desirable impact of alcohol on the fighting spirit of the troops was commonly known as “Dutch courage.” The phrase derives from the English soldiers who fought in the Netherlands in the English-Dutch wars of the 17th century and who got their courage up by one or two sips of a Dutch gin called “genever.” Originally, the English troopers used the expression with reference to Dutch soldiers, who drank both heavily and frequently.

In the 1760s the ration of rum in the British forces deployed in the American colonies was half a pint per soldier per day, which came to 23 gallons per man per year.”

Rum Suppliers.

“At first, the rums were purchased whenever the ships docked for provisions and supplies, so the rum blend would vary vastly. This changed in 1731, when an act was passed dictating that rum rations would be given to the entire RN fleet, regardless of where they were stationed.

This created a demand for a consistent blend, and in 1784 James Man (ED&F Man) was awarded a contract to start supplying the Royal Navy with rum, something this company did all the way up until Black Tot Day in 1970. The vast majority of this rum was sourced from the British rum-producing islands (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana), and shipped back to the Royal Docks in London, where the rum would then be aged and blended into a consistent product in bonding stores. It was then shipped out to the naval stations around the world.

There were numerous reasons for this, including; the introduction of the breathalyzer and more complex controls on board ships. The day the final rum was served was dubbed Black Tot Day, and was a sad day for all involved.

The navy celebrated their fallen comrade with gun salutes and naval burials at sea, as the last tots were enjoyed across the British fleets.

Any rum that remained after Black Tot Day was transferred into wicker-covered demijohns at full strength. It was stored at the spirits ageing warehouses along the Thames, only being brought out for Royal Weddings, before finally being put up for auction.

It was these very same demijohns that caught the attention of Sukhinder Singh of Elixir Distillers and The Whisky Exchange back in 2008. Lured in by the rich complexities, Elixir Distillers spent the next few years sourcing the rest of these rare demijohns. Once obtained they were blended and bottled as ‘Black Tot - The Last Consignment’ in 2011. A piece of liquid history, and one for any serious collector’s cabinet.

‘Navy Style’ rums, generally thought of as a heavier-style Caribbean blends, are still enjoyed across the UK.”

The Traditional [Original] Navy Blend.

” Millions of gallons of rum were required to supply the entire navy, so it was sourced from multiple places. Not much evidence survives about the rum’s provenance before the twentieth century, but by the 1930s the lion’s share came from British Guyana and Trinidad, both British colonies at the time, with smaller amounts coming from Barbados and Jamaica. When supplies ran low and necessity required it, they’d even source rums from Cuba and Martinique. 

The formalized Royal Navy blend dates back to the early 1800s, and it marked the very first time that rums from different countries were blended together. The blending took place in several victualing (pronounced “vittling”) yards in England, where naval supplies and provisions were prepared and stored (in bonding stores) before transporting to the ships. The rum was poured into large open vats, each holding several thousand gallons. “They would dump the rum into these vats, in whatever the preferred recipe was—and that changed over time.  “All the vats were apparently connected, so you could take some of the rum from this vat and send it to that vat.” The rum was circulated up to two years. Water was added during the process, and an agitator would blend the rum and the water so the strength of the final product would be uniform. The vats were never completely emptied—they were always topped off with new rum—so by 1970, a solera of sorts had been created, with decades-old rum in the blend. Caramel was added for colour, as well as a touch of flavour, before the contents were shipped off to sea. Larger ships received their rations in casks, while smaller ships and submarines got stone flagons wrapped in wicker.“

NB. “If you’re looking for a more affordable approximation of the Royal Navy rum, you’ve got a couple of options. Charles Tobias, a former American sailor, convinced the British admiralty to give him their blending recipe, which he recreated as Pusser’s Rum. It’s not a faithful recreation—as expert Matt Pietrek says, “Pusser’s blends to the flavor profile of the navy blend, if not the actual recipe”—but it gives a good idea of what the real thing tastes like, at a price that’s several orders of magnitude cheaper. Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof expression is bottled at the same 54.5 percent ABV as the naval rum, while the flagship Pusser’s Blue Label comes in at a milder 42 percent.“

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding info FROGSMILE.  When I drink rum, my mind tends to drift to the men who drank it in previous generations,  and the circumstances in which it was  consumed. It's a different experience to knocking back a glass of Bombay Sapphire. 

Great detail there.

Thanks,

Dave

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, Piper42nd said:

Thank you everyone for your help.  In a poor attempt at a summary then:

In 1784 James Man became the sole (according to them) supplier of rum to the RN and continued in that role until 1970.  ED&F Man becoming the company name in 1869.

Man purchased the rum directly from the distillers in the Caribbean, had it shipped in bulk to Deptford where it was placed in large interconnected vats.  

The rum was aged and blended there then placed into containers of various sizes depending on the ship.  I don't know if Man did the blending and filling or if the Government did it.

Pusser's didn't come into the picture until 1980 as a venture to capture and sell the original recipe for RN rum.  I believe the best they could do in that regard was to obtain the ED&F Man purchase records and blended something "like" RN rum.

Per kenf48's newspaper clipping something similar happened for the army at the "Rum Quay at the West Indies Dock".   I don't know if these were the same vats used for the RN rum or if Man supplied the rum.

I think you’ve summarised things very well except that I think ED&F Man were involved in the standardisation of the blend and continued to be a principal contractor but not the only one.  The point being made about them (and perhaps by them) was their longevity in that they continued as a contractor right up until the end in 1970.  Given the sheer size of the RN in say, 1914, I think it would’ve been impossible for just a single company to maintain the supply.  It seems though that they were perhaps ‘first among equals’…

Edited 28 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, depaor01 said:

Outstanding info FROGSMILE.  When I drink rum, my mind tends to drift to the men who drank it in previous generations,  and the circumstances in which it was  consumed. It's a different experience to knocking back a glass of Bombay Sapphire. 

Great detail there.

Thanks,

Dave

It’s made me think that I’d like to start drinking it again Dave, especially something as close as possible to the old Admiralty blend, although it is very expensive at that price range/quality.  I recall rum being a common tipple in the 1970s, but it’s become rather an unfashionable drink since then in favour of single malts, vodkas and more recently, botanical gins.  Perhaps we should start a renaissance!

Edited 28 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[depaor01]

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

It’s made me think that I’d like to start drinking it again Dave, especially something as close as possible to the old Admiralty blend, although it is very expensive at that price range/quality.  I recall rum being a common tipple in the 1970s, but it’s become rather an unfashionable drink since then in favour of single malts, vodkas and more recently, botanical gins.  Perhaps we should start a renaissance!

I'm in!

[FROGSMILE]

On 28/08/2022 at 22:54, depaor01 said:

I'm in!

👍
"In 1783, with the City of London at the heart of global merchanting, the sugar broker and barrel maker James Man spotted a business opportunity: within a year, he had secured the exclusive contract to supply rum to the British Navy. More than 230 years later, with the City now at the centre of global finance, the employees of the same company founded by James Man still trade in sugar, molasses and coffee. Now called ED&F Man, we have 3,400 people in around 60 countries, where we source, sell and ship agricultural commodities around the globe.

"ED&F Man is a specialist merchant of agricultural commodities, trading specifically in sugar, molasses and coffee. In addition, we act as broker to clients who need to access commodity and capital markets to hedge their risk."

 

Edited 1 September , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[FROGSMILE]

As an Afternote….

“Simply listing where the navy’s rums came from is wildly insufficient to describe what the navy mixed up for their sailors.

To truly understand the British navy’s rum blend requires knowing which distilleries the rums came from. Scratch that… What we really need is the specific rum marques the navy used. The marque is critical. It identifies a rum from a specific distillery with a specific flavor profile.

In today’s rum world, some companies put the marques they use on their labels. For instance, PM (Port Mourant, from DDL), or DOK (Hampden Estate). 

A set of recently uncovered rum purchase contracts from the British firm of ED&F Man provide far deeper insights into the navy’s rum purchases — more than we’ve ever had till now. (ED&F Man was the navy’s rum broker for several centuries up till the rum ration ended in 1970.)

These contracts show a particular moment in time, and aren’t a comprehensive list of the navy’s rum purchases. However, they provide an incredible peephole into a previously opaque universe.

These records show the purchase of specific marques of Demerara and Jamaican rum in 1944. 

The records presented below represent only a fraction of the navy’s purchases that year, so aren’t a complete view. History often hands us scant table scraps rather than a buffet, so we must account for this ambiguity in what we conclude from it.

Demerara (British Guiana) Rum

The document below shows ED&F Man as the intermediary between Rowett, Legge & Co, and the Admiralty:

SOLD for account of Messers. Rowett, Legge & Co. Ltd. To the Purchase Department, Admiralty.

The specific marques listed are:

VERSAILLES

J.W.D.

ICB/U

P.M.

JH/COVE

/M/E (‘M’ diamond ‘E’)

The Versailles, ICB/U and P.M. (Port Mourant) marques are well-known to Demerara rum fanatics. I wrote about the stills that make those particular marques in this story. The Port Mourant marque is particularly associated with British navy rum and is easily detectable in British Navy rum.

That leaves two other marques of some mystery:

JH/COVE – One source indicates it was a continuous still rum, possibly made at the combination of the Cove and The John estates.

J.W.D. – May be from vat stilled rum from the Blairmont estate, as suggested by a 1905 auction listing and other records.

It’s worth noting that the 65 puncheons of Port Mourant commanded a small 2 pence per gallon premium. In today’s market, that premium would assuredly be much higher.

As for the supplier, Rowett, Legge & Co., they were a British spirits trading firm who first appear around 1927. A 1957 report lists them as a subsidiary of Seagrams.

One interesting takeaway from these purchases is that it suggests the navy bought both pot and continuously distilled rums. Some writers have suggested the navy only used pot still rums.

Jamaican Rum

Some historical context is crucial to framing the Jamaican rum purchase that follows.

During the 20th century, the British navy avoided purchasing Jamaican rum as standard practice. Jamaican rum was not part of the blend, as several records make clear. The navy said the typical Jamaican rum flavor profile was not to the liking of their sailors. However, during World War II, the navy wasn’t able to purchase enough rum from its primary colonial suppliers, e.g. British Guiana, Trinidad and Barbados.

Faced with the possible inability to supply daily rum rations to their sailors, the navy was forced to buy Jamaican rum, as well as rum from countries they ordinarily wouldn’t have.

The document below shows ED&F Man as the intermediary between Lemon Hart & Sons, and the Admiralty:

BOUGHT FOR THE ACCOUNT OF THE PURCHASE DEPARTMENT, ADMIRALTY OF MESSRS. LEMON HART & SONS LTD.

Three marques are listed:

PGR/E – Believed to be a light rum from Jamaica Sugar Estates, Duckenfield

R.H.  – Believed to be a light rum from Rose Hall

LC (?) – According the Luca Gargano, this marque is “Lewis Cornwall” of Cornwall Estate, which was reproduced by Frome in the 1940s. I’ve not independently verified this.

The important thing regarding these Jamaican marques is that they were light, common clean rums, rather than the heavier Plummer, Wedderburn, or Continentalstyles. It’s likely the navy didn’t want the heavier Jamaican flavor profile to alter the blend’s identity. Or, these Jamaican rums may just have been what was available.

What’s the Key Takeaway?

In total, the 50,000 gallons of rum from the two contracts represent around 1.5 percent of the 3 million or so gallons the British navy originally sought to purchase in 1944. Reiterating what I said earlier, they’re a peephole view. We don’t know what the navy’s other rum purchases were. Nonetheless, it’s an unprecedented level of detail.

What’s unsaid in historical documents is often as telling as what is said. Consider the age of the rums purchased. Or rather, the lack of age. Both the Demerara and Jamaican rums purchased specify the “1944 Crop”. That is, rum distilled that year. Not aged for a one, two or five years.

The navy didn’t pay premium prices for aged rum. They bought unaged rum (minus some small time in the barrel during shipment) and vatted it for several years in the vats of the victualling yards at Deptford and elsewhere.

The navy made their own custom blend for at least 160 years. We also know that the source rums changed dramatically over time, including rum from the East Indies in the mid-19th century. There really was no single “Navy Rum Recipe”. The preferred component rums constantly changed over time.

Furthermore, external factors like wartime shortages forced the navy to deviate from their preferences. When circumstances returned to normal, their purchase patterns likely returned to their preferred suppliers.

With that context in mind, the above records are just a snapshot during a time when the navy couldn’t buy exactly what they wanted.

When the war ended, did the navy continue to purchase all the marques listed above? In the case of Port Mourant, we can confidently say yes. In other cases, such as the Jamaican marques, I offer a qualified “probably not”.

Ultimately, we still have an incomplete picture. But it’s an enormous improvement over what we had previously. It also gives hope that with time, luck, and persistence, we may bring even more of British Navy rum’s history into focus.”

Information source: Matt Pietrek aka “The Cocktail Wonk”.

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[robbie56]

I was in Grenada a few years ago and had a look around the River Antoine Rum Distillery. The “guide” said it had been on the go since 1785 and virtually unchanged since then. He also mentioned they supplied direct to Naval Vessels from that time onwards. Strong stuff.

 

https://www.bradtguides.com/destinations/north-america-caribbean/grenada/river-antoine-rum-distillery/

 

 

 

[healdav]

It depends when you are talking about - 18th, 19th or late 20th century, but I don't think you should put too much emphasis on exactly what the recipe was for Navy rum.

They would have used what they could get rather than go without, whether it came from Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua or anywhere else. It was the product that was important. It wasn't a game of "Master Rum maker 1824" or whatever.

By the way, rum wasn't diluted with water for everyone. Junior ratings, right to the end, had it diluted to stop it being hoarded, but POs and CPOs got it neat.

And whilst the practice was discourage, it was normal on a birthday for the members of a mess to let the birthday boy have 'sippers' from everyone. I have been invited into the CPOs mess on many occasions and was always treated to sippers from the person who invited me.

There was 'gulpers' as well, but that was very definitely frowned on and was most unusual. I certainly never had it or saw anyone being treated to it.

It all came to and end, partly because of the afternoon drunk, problem, which the politicians presented as not wanting drunk sailors dealing woth nuclear weapons - which most never saw and wouldn't recognise, but just as much because of the sheer manpower that it all took.

Most of the morning was spent by the Officer of the Day witnessing the mixing and doling out, together with two or three junior rating, and at least one PO or CPO. And often, in addition and Stores Accountant to record the quantity used.

Then there was the security problem and the sheer amount of space taken by the rum. Right to the end some people would do pretty much anything to get their hands on it. When Faslane was opened, for example in 1968, the rum was stored in a back part of the Victualling Store, but when a stocktaking was done it was found that an enterprising individual had been able to drill a hole through the wall of the building and into a barrel to drain off the rum! The store, after that, was lined with thick steel plate.

 

 

Edited 31 August , 2022 by healdav

[FROGSMILE]

39 minutes ago, healdav said:

It depends when you are talking about - 18th, 19th or late 20th century, but I don't think you should put too much emphasis on exactly what the recipe was for Navy rum.

They would have used what they could get rather than go without, whether it came from Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua or anywhere else. It was the product that was important. It wasn't a game of "Master Rum maker 1824" or whatever.

By the way, rum wasn't diluted with water for everyone. Junior ratings, right to the end, had it diluted to stop it being hoarded, but POs and CPOs got it neat.

And whilst the practice was discourage, it was normal on a birthday for the members of a mess to let the birthday boy have 'sippers' from everyone. I have been invited into the CPOs mess on many occasions and was always treated to sippers from the person who invited me.

There was 'gulpers' as well, but that was very definitely frowned on and was most unusual. I certainly never had it or saw anyone being treated to it.

It all came to and end, partly because of the afternoon drunk, problem, which the politicians presented as not wanting drunk sailors dealing woth nuclear weapons - which most never saw and wouldn't recognise, but just as much because of the sheer manpower that it all took.

Most of the morning was spent by the Officer of the Day witnessing the mixing and doling out, together with two or three junior rating, and at least one PO or CPO. And often, in addition and Stores Accountant to record the quantity used.

Then there was the security problem and the sheer amount of space taken by the rum. Right to the end some people would do pretty much anything to get their hands on it. When Faslane was opened, for example in 1968, the rum was stored in a back part of the Victualling Store, but when a stocktaking was done it was found that an enterprising individual had been able to drill a hole through the wall of the building and into a barrel to drain off the rum! The store, after that, was lined with thick steel plate.

 

 

Very interesting Dave, but with regards to your second paragraph if you read the last post that I made (introducing the painstaking research of Matt Pietrek) you will see that the blending, and it’s variation over time and according to circumstance, is covered in some considerable detail.  You don’t appear to have picked up on that.  
 

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Piper42nd]

Thanks for providing Mr Pietrek's story Frogsmile.  I've read some of his work but hadn't seen that one.  I'm confused about what "marque" means though.  One the second receipt he mentions Demerara Rum and a list of marques.  Does Demerara indicate the region (river) and marque refer to a specific distiller?

[FROGSMILE]

9 minutes ago, Piper42nd said:

Thanks for providing Mr Pietrek's story Frogsmile.  I've read some of his work but hadn't seen that one.  I'm confused about what "marque" means though.  One the second receipt he mentions Demerara Rum and a list of marques.  Does Demerara indicate the region (river) and marque refer to a specific distiller?

I’m not an expert at all and have learned much from Matt’s research. It’s my interpretation from what he’s written, and assuming I’ve understood correctly, that “marque” refers to the plantation/distiller, yes.  Traditionally marque most commonly referred to a car brand like Mercedes Benz/Rolls Royce, so I think in the context of Matt’s writings the individual distiller is what he’s referring to.  However, the use of ‘marque’, language wise, is quite correct.  An alternative word for brand. 

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[healdav]

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Very interesting Dave, but with regards to your second paragraph if you read the last post that I made (introducing the painstaking research of Matt Pietrek) you will see that the blending, and it’s variation over time and according to circumstance, is covered in some considerable detail.  You don’t appear to have picked up on that.  
 

I did pick it up, but it is still the case that a ship that was running short or even had no rum on board would have bought whatever was available and blow the official recipe (and would have been supported by the crew).

As they say, 'any port in a storm'.

[FROGSMILE]

17 minutes ago, healdav said:

I did pick it up, but it is still the case that a ship that was running short or even had no rum on board would have bought whatever was available and blow the official recipe (and would have been supported by the crew).

As they say, 'any port in a storm'.

Indeed, but I think it’s also true to say that the vittling of ships during WW1 (and WW2 for that matter), when coaling stations existed across the world, was a different and more regulated affair to when you were serving in a navy that had more admirals than ships (that isn’t meant to be pejorative, just a fact).  I don’t think there’s any doubt that when needs must the purser would do whatever was necessary, but that isn’t the point of explaining the admiralty’s contractual processes of those earlier times.

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[healdav]

2 hours ago, FROGSMILE said:

Indeed, but I think it’s also true to say that the vittling of ships during WW1 (and WW2 for that matter), when coaling stations existed across the world, was a different and more regulated affair to when you were serving in a navy that had more admirals than ships (that isn’t meant to be pejorative, just a fact).  I don’t think there’s any doubt that when needs must the purser would do whatever was necessary, but that isn’t the point of explaining the admiralty’s contractual processes of those earlier times.

Actually, I wasn't in the Navy I was in the supply department which is (or was) civilian - unique in the world as it can trace its roots back to Alfred the Great.

Yes, there were and are more admirals than ships, but admirals don't retire, they are merely 'put at the disposition' on a pension. During the last war, convoy commodores were very often retired admirals.

The bit about more admirals than ships was invented by Harold Wilson who refused to believe that he didn't have a clue what he was talking about (he once said that he was going to convert Polaris submarines to hunter killers, a feat worth of Gandalf).

[FROGSMILE]

11 minutes ago, healdav said:

Actually, I wasn't in the Navy I was in the supply department which is (or was) civilian - unique in the world as it can trace its roots back to Alfred the Great.

Yes, there were and are more admirals than ships, but admirals don't retire, they are merely 'put at the disposition' on a pension. During the last war, convoy commodores were very often retired admirals.

The bit about more admirals than ships was invented by Harold Wilson who refused to believe that he didn't have a clue what he was talking about (he once said that he was going to convert Polaris submarines to hunter killers, a feat worth of Gandalf).

I’m aware of the retirement protocol, which also applies to generals given that it’s a very long standing way of doing things.

I was referring to admirals on the active list and regardless of who coined it as a bon mot, it happened at the time I’m thinking of to be true.  I did the calculation at the time based on ‘ships in ordinary’ and discounting those awaiting refit, or in reserve.

None of this of course has any bearing on the blending used for Royal Navy Rum Contracts, and we are in danger of getting so far off beam from that subject that this debate will start to resemble a civil service style working group.  God forbid.

Edited 31 August , 2022 by FROGSMILE