In the words of those wise philosophers known as the Village People; In the Navy, you can sail the seven seas! In the Navy, drink all the rum you please!
Well, maybe that wasn’t exactly what the Village People said back in the heyday of trashy disco, but it’s close enough for our purpose today, which is to discuss Navy Rum.
Sure, we all know about rum, and maybe even that it comes in dark, light, and even coconut-flavoured varieties. But what’s the deal with Navy Rum? And do you have to dress like the Village People to really enjoy it?
The sordid history of Navy Rum goes back to the year 1655. The old European powers were in the throes of the Anglo-Spanish war, with the Brits and the Spaniards wreaking havoc on each country’s overseas colonies, and each side vexing the shipping lanes and merchant vessels of the other.
At the time, Jamaica was part of the Spanish Empire, and its bountiful sugar cane crops made it an irresistible target for the British Navy, which attacked the island of Jamaica without warning on a spring morning in 1655.
At the time, the British Navy kept its seamen healthy and vigorously swimming by providing a daily ration of French Brandy. Unfortunately for the seamen that poured out of invading vessels onto the fertile shores of Jamaica, French Brandy was increasingly hard to find.
Necessity being the mother of invention, the British Navy quickly changed the daily booze ration from French Brandy to Jamaican Rum, which was easily available in plentiful supply on the occupied island.
Keeping their seamen healthy was a top concern of the British Navy, and scurvy was a constant threat to sailors who were notorious for not eating enough fresh fruit. In what may have been a precursor to the modern mojito, it was found that the effects of scurvy could be kept at bay by watering down the sailor’s daily rum ration and mixing it with lime juice.
Initially, this plan met with resistance from the rank-and-file seamen, who were long suspicious of anything other than full-strength rum. The “gunpowder test” was frequently used, which verified the proof of the rum by throwing gunpowder into the rum and testing to see if it would explode when lit, proving the rum was of sufficient strength.
By 1740, the days of the gunpowder test were gone, and the boistrous seamen had resigned themselves to consuming their half-pint of daily rum ration with water and lime juice, a practice which continued until 1970, just a few short years before the Village People burned up the disco charts with their own take on life in the Navy.
Disco-related details aside, Navy Rum tends to be bottled at a strength that will pass the gunpowder test, namely that it will ignite rum-soaked gunpowder, which needs to be at least 54% ABV.
Since Navy Rum was usually stored for long periods during extended sea voyages, the long time aging in oak barrels produced a dark and full-flavoured rum, with plenty of molasses-like aftertaste.
Your intrepid liquor reporter has swilled many a tot of rum over the years, and when drinking Navy Rum, I am sure to avoid the so-called Lamb’s Navy Rum for two reasons. First, it is bottled at 40% ABV, which falls far short of the gunpowder test requirements of the brave sailors of yore. Second, the overly-sweet taste makes it suitable only as a mixer in cocktails, while your humble narrator prefers a fine rum neat, over ice.
My first choice is Pusser’s Navy Rum. If it’s a Pusser’s, you can be sure the seamen will be all over it. True to its Caribbean roots, Pusser’s Navy Rum is bottled in the British Virgin Islands, using the same recipe obtained from the British Navy over 300 years ago.
While it is a tad pricier than the mainstream rums at your local booze merchant, you can usually find the Pusser’s Navy Rum for under $40 at a store near you.
Your humble narrator sips his well-aged rum neat over ice, to pay the proper respect to such a fine spirit. If that’s not your thing, add muddled mint leaves and soda water if you are into mojitos, or just coke and lime for a Cuba Libre.
