Barbados Rum …Rums of the Finest Quality

Not only is Barbados rum famous with over 1200 rum shops but for the production of the oldest, finest and most notable rums around the world!

Mount Gay is the world’s oldest brand. This brand is declared as the oldest and Cockspur’s Five Star is argued to be the finest, any local rum shop lime, will address this dispute.

At this point feel free to add E.S.A. Fields white rum to the discussion and when on the topic of white rums, say Malibu and heat up this rum shop debate. Go to any Barbados rum shop, ask “the question”.

The Birth of Rum

It wasn’t long before those dealing with the sugar making process realised that mixing molasses ( sticky residue after sugar cane is crushed and boiled to form sugar crystals) with water and leaving it out in the sun to ferment, formed a spirit, now called rum.

All In the name of Rum

The name “rum” was first recorded in Barbados but no one seems to agree with how the name arrived.

Some say it came from the Devonshire word ‘rumbullion” which means a great uproar.

Others believe it was made from the large drinking glasses used by Dutch seamen called ‘rummers’.

And a few more claim that the name arrived from the ‘rumbustious’ behaviour in the taverns of Bridgetown by all consuming the substance back in the day.

The drink has been called these names over the years:

Nelson's Blood
Kill-Devil
Demon Water
Pirate's Drink
Navy Neaters
Barbados water

It’s interesting to find out in some instances why.

Where there are so many alternatives in the name of rum, thousands agree with the quality taste of its blends.

Rum of the Finest Quality: Who Could Resist

By the 1640’s rum was a lucrative business . The first ones to take up the drink were the English who sold large amounts to local navy ships.

Shortly there after rum ended up in abundance in England and made its way to other ports around the globe. In the London market, it was such a popular choice it was called ‘Barbados Water’.

History also tells us that around 1655 the British navy, very impressed with Barbados rum, adopted a daily ration of half a pint, served mixed with lime juice or neat. Was this the motivation for ‘Navy Neater’?

Out of concern for his soldiers soberness at sea, Admiral Edward Vernon ordered the neat rum ration to be watered down, this watered down mixture was then called grog. The term is still used to describe rum mixes in Bim.

Rum was a “cure-all” for aches and pains in the tropics and because of this it is said to have acquired the name ‘Kill-Devil’.

In fact the ‘rum remedy’ is highly recommended by loved ones today for: the common cold…”have some rum and orange juice” and after a nerve-wrecking encounter…“have a shot of rum to calm yah’ nerves”.

I was recently told this story of how irresistible Barbados rums are:

The story begins - "After Horatio Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, his body was placed in a casket of rum to preserve it so that it could be taken back to England.

When the casket arrived it was opened only to find that there was no rum in it.

On removing the pickled body it revealed that there was a hole in the casket. The mystery was solved, evidently the sailors drilled a hole in the casket during their journey and drunk all of the Barbados rum, in the process they also drunk Nelson’s Blood." -The End

Maybe this explains the meaning of Nelson's Blood. And would this story have anything to do with the term ‘tapping the admiral’?


As you can imagine Barbados Rum has a fine and colourful past and is as alive!- today as it was back then.

With many more choices of Barbados rums-white, light, gold, dark, spiced and flavoured here are some popular local favourites for consideration:

- Mount Gay: Mount Gay Rum
- Hanschell Inniss: Cockspur Rum
- R.L Seale : E.S.A. Field White Rum, Doorly’s, Old Brigand Special Barbados Rum.

The wonderful thing this is on your vacation you can visit rum shops, tour the rum distilleries of its birth place and taste the first and finest rums of the world in an authentic setting.

You can easily take home the ones you like (see Barbados airport customs departure requirements) to share with your family and friends.

These Rum Distillery Tours...:

Malibu Beach Club and Visitor Centre

Four Square Rum Distilleries

...Are ones that take your through the experience of rum from the process of making it to the point where get to savour the blends and rum made foods. There is the all new Island Safari Rum Shop Tour.



Barbados Rum Notes: