The image of a colorful pirate, dashingly trampling a barrel of rum with his foot, is known to every lover of the drink. In terms of sales, Captain Morgan ranks second among all brands of rum (the first belongs to Bacardi). In the world it is the seventh most popular alcohol, in the USA it is the second.
Historical reference. Canadian Samuel Bronfman dedicated his whole life to creating an alcoholic empire as powerful as Pernod Ricard or Bacardi. Prohibition was passed in the United States in the 20s, which made liquor smuggling extremely lucrative. Having bought on the cheap all the equipment of one of the closed American distilleries, the Bronfman brothers took it to Canada and equipped their own enterprise. Since 1924, whiskey, which was produced by the brothers’ company Distillers Corporation Limited, was illegally sold almost throughout the United States.
Things were going so well that four years later the Bronfmans bought Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, a well-established Canadian firm founded in 1883. The reputation of the company was impeccable, so the name Seagram was assigned to the combined company.
The scale of the smuggling can be judged by the fact that after the repeal of Prohibition, the US government imposed a $1,5 million fine on Seagram. The participation of the company in bootlegging scams is still the subject of historical research in Canada.
By the beginning of the 40s, the company was already competing on equal terms with the largest alcohol producers. While Europe fought and then rebuilt what was destroyed, Seagram captured markets. Samuel Bronfman bought up alcohol brands around the world, trying to form the most complete range possible.
In 1944, Seagram acquired Long Pond, an old Jamaican distillery built in the late XNUMXth century. From time immemorial, rum has been made on it: quite high-quality, but not much different from other varieties of Jamaican rum. Regular customers of the distillery, pharmacists brothers Levy, insisted this drink on spices, and then it really acquired an unusual taste, dominated by vanilla. Mr. Bronfman bought the recipe from the Levy brothers.
Branded rum was named after Henry Morgan, an English pirate whose name in the middle of the 1673th century terrified the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies. The dashing captain, at the head of his own squadron, was engaged in sea robbery, robbed and burned the rich cities of the Caribbean coast. In XNUMX, King Charles II of England knighted Morgan, gave him the rank of admiral and appointed him governor of Jamaica.
It is clear that the name of the legendary filibuster sooner or later had to be on the label of the “most pirated” of alcoholic beverages. By that time, Seagram already produced several brands of rum, so “Captain Morgan” did not become the pearl of the collection. Such brands were jokingly called “poor relatives” by the company’s marketers. The company did not bother with either the design of the bottle or special advertising. For almost 40 years, the drink was supplied mainly to the countries of the Caribbean Sea, and even in small batches – to the UK.
Due to tax breaks in the 50s, the Bronfmans moved rum production to Puerto Rico. The Jamaican government, taking care of preserving jobs, delivered an ultimatum to Seagram: for the opportunity to legally indicate the phrase “Jamaican rum” on the Captain Morgan label (this is a serious advantage), the company was obliged to cede part of the rights to the brand to a local manufacturer. From then until today, all Captain Morgan rum sold in Jamaica is made by J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. It is not exported to other countries.
In the early 80s, when Seagram was already one of the five largest world alcohol producers, the company’s revenues suddenly decreased: less whiskey was bought in the world due to the fact that rum and cocktails based on it came into fashion. An urgent need was to launch a drink that would compete with Bacardi products.
It was then that Seagram’s marketing department remembered Captain Morgan’s spiced rum: thanks to its unusual taste, it could become a real discovery. To develop the label design, the company invited the famous fantasy illustrator Don Maitz. A legend was invented for consumers: supposedly rum is produced according to a recipe created by Henry Morgan himself.
In fact, if the famous pirate drove rum, then its taste was most likely terrible: the Bacardi brothers developed the distillate purification technology in the XNUMXth century.
Trial sales of the drink were successful, and since 1983 the brand has entered the international level. The volume of production increased every year. But at the end of the twentieth century, the owners of the company went into business in the field of radio electronics and began to get rid of non-core assets that had become non-core. First, in 1985, the distillery was sold to Seagram’s rivals Serrales. The company continued to produce rum under license. The Captain Morgan brand was acquired by Diageo in 2001.
Diageo plc is a giant of the alcohol industry, formed in 1997 through the merger of several subsidiaries of the British firm Guinness. Since 2012, the production of Captain Morgan rum has been moved to the British Virgin Islands. The drink can only partly be considered Jamaican, as it is made from three varieties of rum: Jamaican, Barbadian and Guyanese.
If the word “rum” is not in the name of any Captain Morgan brand product, then this is a ready-to-drink cocktail. Many of the cocktails are not much different from spiced rum: their strength can be 35-40%.
Types of rum Captain Morgan
Captain Morgan White rum – colorless transparent rum with a strength of 37,5% with a vanilla-fruity aroma. The taste of coconut, melon and banana is set off by caramel notes. The aftertaste is dry, peppery-vanilla. The drink is aged for at least a year in white oak barrels. Especially for Canada, a white rum with a light green tint is produced, not completely purified from fusel oils, which give the drink a piquant flavor highly valued by connoisseurs.
Captain Morgan Grapefruit rum is a 35% ABV white rum with red grapefruit flavor. The advertising motto of the drink is “Summer sunset in a bottle.”
Captain Morgan Coconut rum is a 35% ABV white rum with coconut and tropical fruit flavors.
Captain Morgan Pineapple rum is a 35% ABV white rum with a pineapple flavor. The drink is especially good in summer cocktails.
Captain Morgan Lime Bite is a 35% ABV white rum. In its taste, the sweetness of vanilla is softened by the fresh touch of lime.
Captain Morgan Silver Spiced rum is a 35% ABV white rum with a rich vanilla aroma intertwined with delicate cinnamon notes. The drink is insisted on natural vanilla and cassia bark (Chinese cinnamon).
Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum is a 35% ABV golden rum with a caramel-vanilla aroma and a mild, slightly sweet taste.
Captain Morgan Original Spiced gold – pure gold rum, 35% alcohol, fragrant with spices and tropical fruits. The taste harmoniously combines honey-vanilla and fruity notes. This drink can be served as a digestif.
Captain Morgan Limited Edition Spiced rum (sherry oak finish) – spiced rum of dark cherry color, 35% alcohol. Aged in sherry casks, as a result of which it acquires an exquisite aroma of old oak with hints of cherry, molasses and vanilla. Soft wine-caramel taste, enriched with undertones of cherries and cocoa, turns into a long warm aftertaste.
Captain Morgan 100 Proof Spiced rum – golden rum with a strength of 50%. The drink has a rich vanilla taste, absolutely devoid of alcohol bitterness. The finish is short, dry.
Captain Morgan Fire Sheep is an amber-red rum with a 35% alcohol content. The sharp ginger taste of the drink is softened by warm vanilla-cinnamon undertones.
Captain Morgan Black Label Jamaica rum is an old amber colored rum. The drink is a mixture of three varieties of rum: Jamaican, Guyanese and Barbados, which is aged for 3 years in oak bourbon barrels. Two varieties of this rum are produced: a strength of 40 and 50%. The drink smells of honey and vanilla. Astringent notes of oak are woven into the soft aftertaste of vanilla and molasses.
Captain Morgan Black Spiced rum – almost black rum with a strength of 47,3% (for Australia and several European retail chains – 40%). The complex aroma of the drink gradually reveals hints of cloves, cinnamon (cassia bark), vanilla and hibiscus. The spicy caramel flavor is balanced by the astringent bitterness of burnt oak, which gives the rum a resemblance to aged whiskey.
Captain Morgan Dark rum is a dark amber rum with a strength of 40%, consisting of a mixture of 5 varieties of Caribbean rum. The drink is subjected to double distillation, and then aged in white oak barrels from 2 to 7 years. The rum has a spicy, slightly sharp taste with a barely perceptible fruity note and a long warm aftertaste.
Captain Morgan Deluxe Dark rum is a dark amber rum of the Dark variety of long-term exposure. It is poured into bottles, shaped like old flasks. The date is indicated on the neck – 1680. The strength of the drink is 40%. Pronounced oak bitterness gives sharpness to the nutmeg-ginger taste with undertones of caramel, raisins and prunes.
Captain Morgan Private Stock rum – dark amber rum, 40% abv. Alcohols are selected very carefully. The drink is aged for two years in oak bourbon barrels, and then insisted on a mixture of natural spices: vanilla, cassia bark, nutmeg. The taste is very soft, the astringency inherent in young rums is barely perceptible. Thanks to the harmonious combination of caramel-cinnamon and oak notes, the drink seems much more seasoned than it actually is.
Captain Morgan Tattoo is a dark amber aged rum with a strength of 35%. The unusually fresh, piquant taste of the drink is due to the fact that it is insisted on a mixture of wormwood, rosemary, pepper and cinnamon.
Captain Morgan 1671 is a dark amber rum with a strength of 35%. It is bottled, the shape of which resembles ancient jugs (in 1671, Captain Henry Morgan captured and plundered Panama. In 2011, Diageo sponsored an expedition that raised a sunken sailboat from the squadron of the legendary pirate from the bottom of the Caribbean Sea). In the taste of the drink, soft shades of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cherry, almond, molasses, bread and provocative tones of pepper, ginger and old oak, ending in a slightly bitter chocolate aftertaste, effectively complement each other.
Captain Morgan Cannon Blast is an amber-colored rum, 35% ABV, with a rich citrus flavor. A bottle of drink with great accuracy imitates a cannonball (as the name of rum is translated). In ultraviolet light, instead of Morgan’s figure on the label, a skeleton with a defiantly grinning skull appears.
Captain Morgan Jack-O’Blast is a light golden rum with 30% abv. Produced specifically for the celebration of Halloween. The drink is poured into orange bottles made in the shape of a pumpkin. The taste of rum resembles pumpkin pie, generously seasoned with vanilla, ginger and cinnamon.
Captain Morgan Long Island Iced Tea is a golden-colored cocktail with a strength of 35%. Consists of rum, vodka, whiskey, gin and Triple Sec liqueur.
Parrot Bay is a line of rum-based cocktails. Two types of drinks are produced: a strength of 19 and 45%. Diageo produces Parrot Bay Coconut (coconut), Strawberry (strawberry), Passion Fruit (passion fruit) cocktails.
