Rum and me

I don't like spirits much.  I seldom drink them.  I'm a wine guy.  Wine is king.

But lately I've rediscovered rum.  Especially the dark, rich rum that was a specialty of my hometown, an old seaport in Massachusetts.  This flavorful distillation brings back my earliest childhood.

In New England rum was still a hugely popular flavoring for all sorts of products.  There were always rum candy bars for sale, rum-flavored ice cream (frozen pudding was the local name), and rum was used in many baked goods.  Rum gave also me my first episode of drunkenness when I was about 3 years old. I saw a bottle of the stuff on the kitchen table, reached up, pulled it down and drank enough to put on quite a comical show for my parents.  (My father, a former member of HRH's navy, was amused; my mother was  horrified, then amused.  I ended up with an adult hangover.)  I recall having liked the heavy, sweet flavor, so it must have been a dark rum. 

Home then was a small city named Newburyport.  It lies about 35 miles north of Boston, near the mouth of the Merrimack River and just a few miles south of the New Hampshire border.  This place was a haven for Basque and Breton fishermen in the 1500s before the English had settled there.  Soon after the English came in 1630, Newburyport became an important Colonial and early Federal period shipbuilidng and trading center.  And rum was always part of that trade.  As I was growing up there was always a big sign on a ramshackle distillery near the water, "Caldwell's Rum Since 1790."  I'm sure it's gone now.

There was no glory in this trade; molasses from the West Indies was distilled into dark, flavorful rum, stored, aged and shipped in oak, and traded for slaves in Africa, who were transported to the West Indies.  And so it would go on and on.  Rum was a vital, perhaps the key, component in this Triangular Trade that enriched many a New England family and enslaved many an African one.  And many a poor New Englander tried to keep warm on bitter nights with rum grogs and toddies.

Whatever the long, sad history of this drink, it remains characteristic of the Caribbean, where you could say sugar cane fields are the vineyards of the islands.  Each island does its own thing with rum.  I became reacquainted with it in the Dominican Republic, where it's silky, smooth and excellent on the rocks.

When I'm at home I like Gosling's, a dark Bermudan rum.  Tonic water brings out its rich flavor while cutting the sweetness a little.  And the taste takes me home to the Newburyport of 50+ years ago.  That's the only way you can go home again.  Only the flavors remain roughly as they were.

Roughly but not exactly.  I quote a fellow named Michael Brody in a Beverage Business article:

"We even bought the venerable New England Caldwell's label from UDV.  Old Newburyport was once produced in a distillery right about where Leary's Package Store stands now, downtown on the waterfront. We tried to reinvent it, but we weren't very successful - we could not duplicate the very specific taste of New England  Rum. Sad to say, that New England rum taste may be gone forever. It was the second-oldest trademark in the US, The oldest of them all is Old Medford, and that's what Paul Revere was drinking in roadhouses en route to Lexington."

The old town never looked this cute when I lived around there.  It resembled some ramshackle Irish county town with crumbling stucco and lots of grime.

Still, I liked it when it was a real town, with a real commercial life of its own, not a tourist haunt or a bedroom community for affluent Bostonians.

Comments

[Fede]

I love Ruhm too and I get a glass of it while tasting dark chocolate. In Italy good chocos are made by Gobino (my fav): http://www.guidogobino.it/ and also Domori: www.domori.com

One simple common rule while choosing a bottle of ruhm I've learned: sweet rum comes from the islands and dry ones come from mainland. Of course as every common rule it has exceptions!

Ciao Terry non bere troppo!

[Terry Hughes]

Non bere troppo? Troppo tardi, amico mio !

[Michael Stagliano]

I have an aunt who has an old original bottle of Old Medford Rum, still full of Rum and sealed.
Any idea of what it may be worth?
I think she would like to sell it.
Mike

[Terry Hughes]

Mike, I have no idea. I'll bet someone on eBay is selling something very like it. Maybe you could check there?

[Pat D'Alleva]

MEDFORD RUM - I am trying to get in touch with Mike regarding his Aunts Medford Rum Bottle. Please have him email me.
Thanks
patdalleva@aol.com

[Terry Hughes]

Sorry, Pat, I don't have his email address.

[GD]

Ever tried Barrilito Three Star straight up in a snifter? Ah, a true nectar!

[bob scott]

Caldwell's Newburyport Rum was the first rum I ever drank, and one of the first drinks I ever drank.

I was very disappointed to learn that it stopped being made about 15 years back, maybe more, and I have been looking ever since for a rum that tastes like it, with no success.

Do you, or does anyone reading this, know of any rum that comes even close to Caldwell's taste?

Would be very grateful to know.

Thanks,

Bob Scott
bobsco60@yahoo.com

[TH]

Bob I feel your pain. You re asking a guy who s listeninc to a Clyde McPhatter playlist on his ipod. Can someone help this soul ?

[MFitzsimmons]

We just found a bottle unopend of caldwell's Newburyport rum, and are wondering what to do with it. Suggestions?

[TH]

Drink it?

Lots of people come to this site lookong for the stuff. Ebay it??

[Rebecca]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone might be able to answer the following question for me. During a recent landscaping overhaul of our front yard we unearthed a brown bottle with the name Caldwell's Rum imprinted in the glass. The bottle is in perfect condition and we were wondering if anyonene knew how old the bottle might be? It was obviously made prior to the use of paper bottle labels. Any help on dating this bottle would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Strappo]

Rebecca, it takes no great leap on my part to say, "Probably the 19th century." I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to date these things, really.

Would anybody out there know?

(Be patient -- people do search on 'Caldwell's rum' or 'Newburyport rum', in fact a lot more than I would have ever thought. Eventually someone WILL come up with a suggestion of precisely where to look for help.)

[Karen]

For all Caldwell's Rum or Newburyport, MA lovers, just saw this mug on ebay. Looks like a fun collectors item.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=120327120770

[Newbury Resident]

Sat. Oct. 24, 2009 the Historical Society of Old Newbury will be having a auction. Included are 8 vintage bottles of Caldwell's Rum. Check out their website www.newburyhist.com and download their online LIVE AUCITON CATALOG.