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Go to the Bermuda news section for snippets of new from BermudaSo where did Black Seal come from?
Rich, smooth and full-bodied, "BLACK SEAL" Rum is a unique blend of rum by Gosling Brothers of Bermuda. The original recipe is a closely guarded family secret that has been handed down for over four generations.
Goslings Black Seal Rum and the establishment of the Gosling family in Bermuda began early two hundred years ago.
In the spring of 1806 James Gosling, the eldest son of William Gosling, a wine and spirits merchant, set out from Gravesend on the ship Mercury, with ten thousand pounds worth of merchandise, bound for America. After 91 days on becalmed seas the ship charter ran out, and they were forced to put into the nearest port, which happened to be St George's, Bermuda. James decided to stay, and opened a shop in St George's in December 1806.
By 1824 James had returned to England and his brother Ambrose had rented a shop on Front Street in Hamilton, for the sum of £25 per year. The Goslings family were to remain in the shop for the next 127 years. In 1857 the firm which was known as Ambrose Gosling and Son was renamed to Gosling Brothers.
Three years later the first oak barrels of rum distillate arrived in Bermuda. After much experimentation in the blending process, the distinctive black rum, destined to be Black Seal was formulated and offered for sale.
At first they didn't call it Black Seal, and up to the First World War it was sold from the barrel and people brought in their own bottles for a fill up of "Old Rum".
Eventually the black rum was sold in champagne bottles which were reclaimed from the British Army Officers mess, with the corks being sealed with black sealing wax. Fairly soon, people began to ask for the "Black Seal".