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RUM No other spirit can conjure up tropical sea swept images other than Rum. Rum is a spirit distilled from sugar cane and its by-products: sugar cane juice or molasses. It’s produced in hot climate countries that grow sugarcane. It comes in three styles: white (light), gold (aged), and dark. It’s made from sugarcane or molasses. The first time the term rum was ever used was in 1672. And in1862 Don Facundo Bacardi made the first light rum in Cuba. Beginning in the 1600s, members of the British Royal Navy received a half pint of rum a day to ward off scurvy. It didn’t work (scurvy is caused by a vitamin C deficiency), but Britannia did rule the oceans for many years. In the 1800s, a Spanish wine merchant named Don Facundo Bacardí moved him and his family to Cuba. Don and his brother Jose he opened a small store and developed a passion to create the first smooth rum (up until that point it was pretty crude). The result was Bacardi rum and today it’s the most popular rum in the world. During the American prohibition, pirates made money rum-running (the smuggling and transporting of rum). They would anchor their ships about three miles from shore and small fast boats (built to out run the authorities) would come to them. After prohibition many of the pirates joined the navy or coast guard.
Rum Facts In rum running times, captains would add water to the rum bottles to stretch their profits. Captain McCoy was one captain that did not cut his rum and it’s believed that’s where we get the phrase "The Real McCoy." Rum was issued daily to every sailor in the British
Navy from 1651 until 1970.
Misc. Rum Stuff
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