British Royal Navy Rum: Pussers responds...

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:36 am

In service to you...

Not so long ago arose a question as to the various proofs/labels underwhich Pussers is sold, eg red and blue labels and 40 - 42- 54.5 - 75%. Personally we ran across a vare rare combination - a 40% Red Label - an expression that was disappointing. We later spent time with the Pussers rep in Key Largo who left the impression this issue was an "experiment" that didn't work out. Somehow were left with the notion that this one did not represent the official formula.

At long last, our suspicions have been proven wrong. I recently wrote and received this very informative reply...

Pussers: "Dear Capn Jim,

"Thank you for your inquiry as to the red label at 40% and the formulas for each of our different offerings. Indeed the red label was simply a change in alcohol volume, but I can assure you that the recipe has not deviated in anyway. We are committed to the traditions laid down by the Royal Navy and still use the same tried and true methods of distilling. Over this last year we have changed HQ’s and are now based here in Charleston SC. The distillery and the origins of the blends are still West Indian. The product offerings at 42%, 54.5% and 75% for the RNR and the 15 year old at 40% will be the same. I am sorry that the Red label was not as enjoyable for you and hope that you will long continue to be a fan of Pussers Rum."

"I would like to invite you to look at our website at www.pussersrum.com

Please feel free to browse through and if you have any comments be sure to send anything that you feel might be done to improve or add to it. We are very appreciative of sites such as yours and having read the forums and feedback I would happen to agree with everyone regarding Demerera being the very best for rum. Our tradition requires that one of the key ingredients is rum from the pot stills of Demerara which have consequently helped us to secure some prestigious awards and recognition during 2012.

As an independently owned and operated company we feel it important to continue to get the message out regarding the finest ingredients being sourced and blended and the complexities of the distilling process itself. Thank you for your continued support and appreciation.

If there are any other questions regarding Pussers Rum, please feel free to contact myself.

Yours sincerely, and “Up spirits”

This is now the final answer as far as we're concerned: they are all the same distillate, with the usual purchase being the 47.7% Blue Label. Believe it or not, for years we were able to find this in a full liter for $19.95. Pussers also provided me with a special document "Early History, Facts, Folklore and Nelson". This document is extremely informative and more complete than the website by far.

This to be uploaded and linked, stay tuned...

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:18 pm

Great!

I'm glad you received a reply as I haven't heard back from them yet.

I look forward to reading that document.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:45 pm

Pusser's History, Facts, Folklore and Nelson...

Is (here). Enjoy...

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:58 pm

Thanks Jimbo,

Hmmm that raises a few questions for me.

Firstly a plated still that rips azeotrope from a wash (95.63%) is making flavourless vodka not rum and to my knowledge about the highest a plated column can go and maintain decent flavour for rum is 85%: They say that their wooden stills are producing a normal pot still abv of 67% so they must use a thumper (theoretical plate) or two or double distil or both to push it to 75%.

To say it cost 'significantly' more to produce Pusser's might be slightly exaggerated as the wooden stills would be heated with steam and no matter what there'd only be about 20% abv left in the wash at the end of the run. A plated still leaves about 20% of total available alcohols in the wash as well. You can run a plated still faster though as a pot still with a thumper takes a while.

So I remain confused as to how they are producing their 75% without too much heads in it. If the blend of rums are the same at the same ratio's as the original recipes. Then are all 5/6 rums 75% and blended and diluted?

Who knows, I probably won't find out either.

C'est la vie

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:40 am

Again, excellent questions...

I see you are not unfamiliar with distilling. I'd estimate that they are using the old double pot still, with the first feeding the second, achieving a double distillation in one run. Although DDL also has a big single pot still, of course that would have to be run twice - a stripping run followed by a spirits run.

FYI, the still pictured in this document is the Port Mourant double wooden pot still (not the Versaille single pot).

Does that do it?

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:35 am

I thought that pic looked as though the lyne arm was feeding into the second pot, now confirmed I think.

So that's one of the rums out of the five or six (depending on which description of Pusser's one reads) sort of explained....now where are the others distilled? and at what ratios are they blended?

It is a selling point of anything that comes out of DDL that they have the only wooden stills left in the world, so the other 4 or 5 rums must be coming from copper pot stills (god forbid they come from a modern stainless number!).

So the ratio's come into question for me, is the majority of Pusser's coming from the wooden stills? To give it that (paraphrasing) 'unique profile that only a 200 year wooden still can create'? I seriously doubt that the wood imparts much flavour at all as the sheer mechanics of time spent in pot to distillation would be so negligible that it would be hardly worth mentioning; but that's just the cynic in me. It does sound good on face value though; wow 200 year old wood stills! Also the proof is in the pudding and nearly everything that comes out of this distillery , Pusser's included, is in the highest of classes. I also read somewhere a while ago that DDL has a very unique yeast strain that is kept under armed guard

I would guess that this and skilful distilling has much more to do with the product than the timber of the pots.

So, we have a high class rum coming from DDL blended with much smaller?? amounts of other copper pot rums from around the traps.

I am a huge fan of Pusser's rum and think it's exceptional. I am guessing that the smooth Demerara part of Pusser's is as high as 60-80% of the the entire rum and then mixed with smaller amounts of high ester Jamaican style copper pot distillate (Wedderburn?, Plummer? of the S&C family?) to give it that ester hint that it has. I would even say that for me that who ever blends this rum deserves a big pat on the back as the balance for me is really as close to perfect for my palate as it can be. I would love to try a blend that contained higher amounts of of the high ester rum. So my mission for this evening will be in two parts.

Firstly I'm going to blend a very small amount of S&C with Pusser's just to see if it pleases me. Secondly I'm going to blend 15 year ED with S&C to see if I can create something close to Pusser's.

Apologies if all this was waffle. I must stress that I rate Pusser's as 9 to 9.5 out of 10 it's a brilliant rum. However it doesn't exclude them from trying to gild the lily in their marketing spiel.

Cheers...

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:01 am

I assume...

...that you have heard or know that the DDL is the single beneficiary of what were hundreds of Guyanan distiileries and "marks". Their stills include...

On the company website the following stills are mentioned:

* Wooden Coffey Still, originally from Enmore Distillery
* Single Wooden Pot Still, originally from Versailles Distillery
* Double Wooden Pot Still, originally from Port Mourant Distillery
* Original French Savalle Four-Column Still, originally from Uitvlugt Distillery
* Modern French Savalle Four-Column Still, no mentioning of the origin of this still

But research done by others reveals...

The stills of Demerara Distillers Limited today

This was the point I contacted Stefanie Holt and later Carl Kanto. With their help I could identify the following stills, which are currently in use at the Diamond Distillery:

* 1x Wooden Coffey Still of Enmore Sugar Estate
* 1x Single Wooden Pot Still of Versailles Sugar Estate
* 1x Double Wooden Pot Still of Port Mourant Sugar Estate
* 2x French Savalle Four-Columns Stills of Uitvlugt Sugar Estate
* 3x Two-Columns Metal Coffey Stills
* 1x Two-Columns Metal Coffey-like Still
* 1x Five-Columns Metal Continuous Still
* 1x Re-Rectification Still
* 2x Metal Pot Stills

Those stills are almost the same as listed in Rum by Dave Broom and the Class Magazine article, with addition of the two new stills, which were build last year. But not all of these stills are used for the distillation of rum. DDL also produces neutral alcohol, Brandy, Vodka and Liquors for DeKuyper, for which the Re-Rectification Still and the metal pot stills are used. All the other ones however are used for the rum production and most of them are also included in at least one of the El Dorado blends, the premium range of rums by DDL.

(Credit: Cocktails Old Fashioned)

You're right, we really don't know what constitutes the five or six rums that constitute the blend. The DDL double wooden stills - for sure. A Jamaican? Without question. Trinidadian? Makes sense. As for the rest, who knows as it still remains a British state secret and is not shared by Tobias.

As far as trying your own blend, I agree that the 15 is by far the best choice, as it contains a dominant component of the Port Mourant wooden double pot rum. A belated agreement that I too reject company rep Carl Kanto's ridiculous assertion that the "200 year old wood" adds flavor. This is mooseshit for two reasons. A few hours in worn out wood adds nothing, not to mention the beer is being evaporated to capture only vapors. The "200 year" claim is not only mooseshit, but a virtual mountain of it - the wood has been reported to be replaced on a roughly 10 year cycle as I recall (about 10% a year). Or it may be 20; nonetheless the average age is nowhere even remotely close to 200 years.

Basta! Good luck.

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:28 am

No I didn't know any of that. (well I may of read it once as it does ring bells)

However I did read that the other Pusser's rums are sourced from other places so therefore my guess at Jamaican only because of a flavour that I think I pick up in the back three rows of the rums profile.

We'll see how the blending goes.

Post by **Capn Jimbo** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:49 pm

Yet more drivel...

In checking an old post, I'd found some resources that indicated that the main component is Guyanan, secondarily from Trinidad, and either three or four others. For the Trini component I'd suggest Scarlet Ibis.

da'rum · Post by **da'rum** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:56 pm

Hmmm just shy of 50€ for the Scarlet Ibis. That's a bit keen for me. If I trip over some at a bargain I'll give it a go.

It'd have to be a fire sale though.