Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum – A Family Secret for Over 150 Years
With my knee injury weighing heavily on my mind, I can’t help but feel like the unthinkable may be happening:
I’m getting old.
Not rickety, creaky and possessed of a musty smell old. Not yet. But also not quite the young, wild man I used to be who managed to amass nearly a whole decade simply referred to as “the lost years”—a time which remains hazy and undetailed due to a combination of embarrassment, reverence, and my terrible memory that, come to think of it, may be a direct result of the many “experiences” had over the course of those adventurous days.
This revelation leads me to a solemn wish on this Friday Happy Hour: that as the years continue to flow past, I desperately hope to improve with each consecutive one until, at some unknown point in the future, I become as delicious and desired as Gosling’s Family Reserve Old Rum.
If you remember from my post a few months ago on Dark n’ Stormy’s, the Gosling family got their start making rum on the island of Bermuda way back around 1808. Shortly after their start, they began recycling old, discarded champagne bottles to hold their dark elixir and sealing them with black wax. It was through this practice that Black Seal got its name.
Well, one look at a bottle of their Family Reserve Rum and you’ll be transported back over a hundred and fifty years to old Bermuda. The classic, dark green, frosted champagne bottle is back with its cork sealed under an artistic flow of black wax. The Gosling’s mark is also sealed in wax. There’s a straightforward, old-style label with a hand-written bottle number and a simple metal band—also hand applied.
The whole thing is then placed lovingly into a wooden, straw filled box with the Gosling’s name and Old Rum branded onto its sides. Unfortunately, when laid flat, it reminded me a little of a coffin and got me hoping that the undetermined time when I would age to my apex will happen before I find myself in a similar state.
All that’s great, but it’s what’s inside that counts, right? (At least that’s what I keep telling myself.) Well, the uncommon thing about what’s inside starts with the fact that it’s been a family secret for well over 150 years! Yes, when they say this is the Family Reserve Rum, they mean it. The Goslings have been enjoying this older, more lovingly crafted version of Black Seal for generations without sharing any with the world! Even now, despite letting us all in on the pleasure of enjoying their Old Rum, the Gosling’s still aren’t into sharing very much thus keeping this bottle and its contents a rare indulgence.
And how exactly does it taste?
I would say it’s elegantly smooth, lightly smoky and subtly sweet with just enough of a robust kick the longer you spend with it… Something I can only aspire to age into!
Can’t find this rare gem in your local liquor store? Try using modern means to enjoy this classic family heirloom.
Cheers!
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