7.31.1970 – 7.31.2020 Black Tot Day 50 Anniversary 4. The Myth of the Secret Formula

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     7.31.1970 – 7.31.2020  BLACK TOT DAY 50   ANNIVERSARY 4. THE MYTH OF THE SECRET FORMULA

In the three previous articles of this series we have focused on the origin, development and end of the TOT, the daily distribution of rum (or better of Grog) in the British Navy. In this article and in the next, instead,  we will dedicate ourselves to dispelling a few myths about the TOT, which are extremely widespread  in the Rum World. The first myth is the so called "secret formula of the rum" utilized by the Navy to make the grog ration. We know it was a blend of different rums, and much has been written about the real provenance of these rums and the exact composition of the blend. Much has been said and written about the secret formula which gave birth to a special, inimitable product; some even claim they produce today exactly (or almost) the same rum the British sailors used to drink, diluted in the grog ration, until 50 years ago.

Lat’s start, as usual in this series, with J. Pack’s   “Nelson’ Blood. The Story of Naval Rum” published in 1995.

“The process of blending, therefore, accelerated from this time on until an established blend, primarily of Demerara and Trinidad rums, along with a small portion of other rums was finalized. The precise formula was always a closely guarded secret, and there is scant reference to it. Above all the rum broker had his own particular reason for keeping it quiet"

Nostalgia often plays tricks on you, and even our beloved Pack gives in to it when speaking about this precise, secret formula. And yet, he himself had written shortly before:

“Records reveal that the exclusive brokering rights for supplying rum to the Royal Navy started in 1784 when they were awarded to James Man, a cooper and merchant dealing in a variety of goods imported from the West Indies. The rum, obtained by the broker at about 40% overproof, was delivered to a bonded warehouse from which it was bought by the victualing department. The department then arranged with the Customs and the Excise for the rum to be transferred to the Deptford vats, and later to Gosport and Devonport vats where it was reduced in strength for supply to ships in cask. In 1870 when the laws of England permitted the registration of a business name, the firm was registered as  “E D and F Man“, taking the initials of the then current partners. The company’s name remains unchanged to this day.”

So, we have a large trading company which for almost two centuries bought great quantities of overproof rums from several producers, shipped them to London, blended them into a new rum and sold it every year to the Navy. The Navy stored it in huge vats in order to preserve it  before casking it, reducing it in strength and sending it to the ships. It was a complex process which involved, year after year, for nearly 200 years, a significant number of businessmen, public servants, clerks, workers, officers, sailors etc. Is it reasonable to think  that a precise formula of the blend sold by E D and F Man to the victualing department of the Navy, had it even existed, would remain secret?

There is more. I feel sorry for the many fascinated by the myth, but the rum sold by E D and F Man to the Navy could not possibly be always the same. In the course of time the technical processes of rum production have changed greatly. Therefore, the rum produced has changed too. Suffice it to think that in the past the only distillation equipment available was the Pot Still and that only since the 1830s did the use of  Column Stills, slowly, spread. Column Stills that, in the following decades did not certainly remain the same  but which obviously underwent a continuous technological development. Therefore, even if E D and F Man got its supplies from the same producers, the rums they purchased, blended and then sold to the Navy would have been different.

Moreover, we know that E D and F Man did not get its supplies always from the same producers. It was a normal business company which bought rums from different producers, in different countries, according to the actual availability and the price. Lastly, during the many periods of war communications were difficult and the fleets farthest from Britain often supplied themselves with what was on hand. Pack himself tells us, in other parts of his book, that in certain periods the rum came from Natal, South Africa and  also from Cuba and Martinique.

Here is what Pack writes: “The Second World War provided its peculiar problems as, year by year, it became increasingly difficult to obtain rum from West Indies sources. Demands to the broker had to take account of all those puncheons of overproof  spirit which German submarines were committing to the seabed. … Things became so critical in 1943 that the Admiralty was forced seriously to consider discontinuing rum, which, for reason of morale, the board was loath to do. A solution was found in the nick of time by the Treasury’s agreement to buy expensive and immature rum from Cuba and Martinique to make up the million gallons that were needed each year. … Rum from Natal was available in quantity for supply to ships in south east Asian and far eastern waters but, unblended it was far from popular, particularly as ‘taste’ was rum’s most important quality in hot climates. And taste was not Natal rum’s strong point.” Natal rum was used until 1961.

But, in order to definitely dispel this myth of a precise and secret formula, the best thing is to  have another careful look at  a part of the minutes of  THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON WHISKEY AND OTHER POTABLE SPIRITS (1908)  to which I dedicated various articles a few months ago. 

(My bold)

TWENTY- FOURTH DAY, Tuesday, July 7th, 1908. Mr. Frederik Henry Dumas Man, called 

12992. What is your firm? – E.D. and F. Man, Colonial Broker.

12993. That is a firm of old standing, is it not? – It dates back to 1793.

12994. How long have you yourself been in business?  – Twenty-nine years.

12995. What is the nature of your business?  –  We deal in Colonial produce – sugar, rum, cocas, etc. We have got from three-quarter to seven-eighths of the rum trade, and a small fraction of the sugar trade.

12996. Is your trade exclusively in Jamaica rum?  – Not at all – any rum.

12997. But a large quantity of it is Jamaica rum?  – A large quantity of it is Jamaica rum.

12998. How is that rum that you sell produced? – In various ways. The Jamaica rum is, I think, entirely made in a pot still. The rum from the other countries is chiefly patent still, but there is more than one patent still. There is the Coffey still and some other still.

12999. Are you speaking of rum produced from the other West Indian islands?  – Yes.

1300. In which islands, so far as your knowledge goes, is the patent still employed? – It is employed both in Demerara and Trinidad. Those are the two chief producing countries, besides Jamaica.

13001. Have you any knowledge of a patent still being employed in some of the West Indian Islands?  — Oh, yes. Trinidad uses nothing but a patent still.

13002. But other than Trinidad?  — I think St. Kitts uses one, but I am not quite sure. We do not hear much about how it is made; we only have to test the quality.

13003. Is there much variation in the quality of Jamaica rum? – Tremendous.…

13007. How do you form an opinion of the value of the rum? – Simply by smell. We mix two parts of water to one of rum and compare it very carefully with other rums. The water brings out the flavours.

13008. You do not use any chemical analysis?  – No.

13009. You are employed by the Admiralty, are you not? – Yes, we buy their rum.

13010. Do you buy all the rum for the Navy? – Yes, all.…

13034. Mr. Nolan recommended and pressed on the Commission that no rum coming from the West Indies should be allowed to be sold as rum unless it was made in the pot still? – That is Mr. Nolan’s idea, I know.

13035. You are interested in the question generally. What would your view be about that? – I think that is ridiculous. Some rum made in patent stills is quite equal to some made in pot stills. To brand only one sort as rum and the other as something else is, to my mind, ridiculous.

13036. Do you think that would generally be the view of the people who are engaged in the trade of rum generally and not confined to Jamaica rum? – I am sure that would be their view. We once supplied the Admiralty with Jamaica rum (they usually take Demerara and Trinidad) and the sailors did not like it so well. 

13037. But you sell more Jamaica rum than anything else, do you not?  – No, I do not think so. It varies according the crop. Sometimes there is a big crop of Jamaica rum, and sometimes a big crop of Demerara …

13038. You do not know which predominates?  – What we call the proof rum, that is rum other than Jamaica.

13039. The bulk of the Navy rum, what is that?  — That would be proof rum – not Jamaica.

13040. Proof rum, I take it, is an expression of your own over there?  — A trade expression. It means to say that the rum is sold per proof gallon.

13041. But that rum is largely patent still rum?  — Chiefly patent still rum.

Therefore, in 1908, during a long period of peace and stability, the rums that E.D. and F. Man purchased from its suppliers in order to blend them and sell the new blended rum to the Navy were not always the same but varied according to the years, the prices, the crops etc.To sum up, I am sorry for anyone nostalgic (and for marketing guys), but a single, precise, more or less secret, formula of the Navy rum never existed.

Marco Pierini