Captain Morgan

This article is about a brand of rum. For the Welsh privateer, see Henry Morgan.
Captain Morgan
Type Rum
Manufacturer Diageo
Country of origin Jamaica, West Indies
Introduced 1944
Alcohol by volume 17.5% - 50%
Proof 70 (Original)
Color Golden
Variants Parrot Bay
Private Stock
Silver Spiced
Tattoo
100 Proof
Long Island Iced Tea
Lime Bite
Black
1671
Related products List of rum producers
Website Captainmorgan.com

Captain Morgan is a brand of rum produced by alcohol conglomerate Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean, Sir Henry Morgan who died on 26 August 1688. Since 2011, the label has used the slogan "To Life, Love and Loot."

History

In 1944, the Seagram Company started producing rum under the name Captain Morgan Rum Company.

Seagram CEO Samuel Bronfman purchased a distillery named Long Pond from the Jamaican government. Among the buyers of raw rum from the Long Pond distillery was a Kingston pharmacy named Levy Brothers. The Levy family had been purchasing raw rum, adding medicinal herbs and spices, aging, and bottling it. Bronfman liked the rum product and bought the rights to it.

In the 1950s the governments of both the United States and its Puerto Rico commonwealth territory instituted a number of job creation programs in Puerto Rico. Taxes on rum entering the contiguous 48 states from Puerto Rico were made lower than those on rum coming from foreign countries. At this time both Seagram's and the Bacardi family built large new plants near San Juan. In 1985, Seagrams sold its rum distillery and manufacturing facilities in Camuy and Arecibo—and doing business as Puerto Rican Destillers—to Destilería Serrallés, a Puerto Rican concern that had been producing the Don Q brand in Puerto Rico since 1865. As part of the contract Seagrams also licensed to Serralles the rights to produce and distribute the "Captain Morgan" brand in Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean until 2012.

In 2001, Seagrams sold the "Captain Morgan" brand to Diageo. Diageo made an announcement on 24 June 2008, that it intends to build and operate a new rum distillery on St. Croix, Virgin Islands beginning in 2010 and to source from it beginning at the end of their current supply contract in 2012.

An actor portraying Captain Morgan at the 2007 Scream Awards. The event was sponsored by Diageo.

In 1984, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum was introduced to the United States.[1] Captain Morgan is, by volume, the second largest brand of spirits in the United States, and the seventh largest worldwide. In 2007, 7.6 million 9-liter cases were sold. Most Captain Morgan rum is sold in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and Global Travel.[2]

Although the pirate Henry Morgan is a figure of Jamaican culture, the Seagram's Captain Morgan Rum was labeled as a product of Puerto Rico, whereas the Captain Morgan Rum produced by J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. is labeled as a "product of Jamaica."

In November 2009, the NFL banned a covert ad campaign, allegedly put on by Diageo. It was understood that for each NFL player striking the "Captain Morgan" pose on camera during a regular season game, Diageo would donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats (a non-profit which helps retired NFL players with various hardships after leaving the game). The league made this announcement following such a celebration by Brent Celek of the Philadelphia Eagles.[3]

In 2010 two American territories, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands bickered over plans for the Captain Morgan to move operations to the U.S.V.I under tax incentives.[4] The matter came to a head when it created a debate in the United States Congress over the USVI's attempt to use tax benefits to lure the company to that territory.[5]

In 2011, to bring it into line with the international version, Morgan's Spiced in the UK was rebranded as Captain Morgan's Spiced. This was accompanied by a large media campaign and parties hosted around the UK in clubs and bars to advertise the new rum. The "Captain Morgan" mascot was introduced along with "Morganettes".

The likeness of the Captain Morgan character was created by award winning artist Don Maitz.

Distillation process

Captain Morgan's Rum is distilled from sugar cane. The combination of the type of yeasts employed for fermentation, distillation method, aging conditions, and blending determines the characteristic flavor of rum. Made with molasses, water, mash and yeast, Captain Morgan Original Spiced rum is distilled in a continuous still. Once distilled, the clear spirit is aged in oak barrels for up to a year, adding a golden color and character to the rum before the flavors and spices are added. The brand’s taste is achieved through a proprietary recipe, which is blended into the rum mixture at the final stages of production, making use of spices indigenous to the Caribbean Islands.

Varieties

See also


References

  1. ↑ "Diageo Company History". Archived from the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  2. ↑ "Captain Morgan" Diageo. 9 August 2008
  3. ↑ "NFL to Captain Morgan, players: 'Ambush marketing' won't be tolerated". USA Today. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  4. ↑ Lever, Rob (29 March 2010). "Daggers in Washington in Captain Morgan rum battle". Caribbean Net News. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  5. ↑ "USVI governor asks US senator to reconsider legislation harming territory's economic future". Caribbean Net News. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-30.

External links