The Rum Festival Newcastle was one of the events organised by Lucy Douglas and her team. Lucy is behind a travelling Rum Festival. Visiting towns and cities throughout the UK during 2017.
The Festival took place at Hoult’s Yard a office/create hub/venue just 5 minutes drive from Newcastle City Centre in Byker. Yes that Byker of Byker Grove fame. No before you ask Ant and Dec weren’t in attendance. Neither was Jimmy Nail, Sting or Gazza.
A Demerara rum from Whiskybroker. Whisky Broker seem to be a company that goes down the Ronseal route of promotion by doing “Exactly what it says on the tin”. So apologies for the slightly long title for this particular review. They have declined to give their first rum bottling a snappier title.
Walter Hicks 125 Navy Rum hails from St Austell, Cornwall. Produced by St Austell Brewery who are perhaps better known for producing Tribute Cornish Pale Ale, Korev Cornish Lager alongside Bad Habit and Cardinal Syn real ales.
Products from the St Austell brewery are not only to be found in the South of England. The Nicholson pub chain operated by Mitchell and Butler stock a number of their ales and have exclusivity on a couple.
Recently there was a debate at Tales of the Cocktail. The debate centered around “When is rum not a rum?”.
Basically it was a discussion between those who add sugar (and/or other additives) and those who are very much against the practice. This got me thinking about a subject which is very close to my heart.
Following the abolition of the daily tot on 31st July 1970, excess stocks of rum were drawn from their barrels and placed into wicker clad stone flagons. These stocks lay untouched in bonded underground warehouses around the world, remaining the property of the Admiralty.
Only guests at state banquets and royal weddings had the privilege of tasting these rums. Often they were brought from archive warehouses and decanted into ceremonial flagons. Some of this rum was served at the wedding of HRH Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Andrew served in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Invincible, during the Falklands War.
Pusser’s relaunched their rums in 2014 to stop all the confusion about the various Blue Labelled rums floating around different parts of the world at varying strengths.
One of the rums that caused the least confusion was this one. Not because the bottle does not immediately make you think it is one of their lower proof rums but because it was and is only available in one country. For some reason our German cousins were not satisfied with a meagre 54.5% ABV rum and demanded more so this 75% ABV expression was launched for the German market only. Thanks to the guys at Beers of Europe I was able to obtain a bottle for £49.99. Which sounds quite expensive but once I’ve explained exactly how this 75% ABV rum SHOULD be drank you will see I wasn’t stung too badly.
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31st July 2016 will mark the 46th Aniversary of Black Tot Day. 31st July 1970 was the final day a “daily tot” of Navy Rum was given to British Royal Navy Sailors and personnel.