Gosling's

Goslings BLACK SEAL® Rum and the establishment of the Gosling family in Bermuda began long ago. In the spring of 1806 James Gosling, the oldest son of William Gosling, a London wine and spirits merchant, set out from England on the ship Mercury, with £10,000 of merchandise, bound for America. After ninety-one desperate days on becalmed seas their charter ran out, and they put in at the nearest port, St. George's, Bermuda. Rather than pressing on for America, James opened a shop on the King's Parade, St. George's, in December 1806. By 1824 James had returned to England and his brother Ambrose rented a shop on Front Street in the new capital of Hamilton for £25 a year. In 1857 the firm, know as Ambrose Gosling and Son, was renamed Gosling Brothers.
Three years later the first oak barrels of rum distillate arrive in Bermuda. After much experimentation in the blending process, the distinctive black rum destined to be Black Seal was formulated and offered for sale. At first they didn't call it Black Seal, in fact up until the first world War it was sold from the barrel, and folks brought in bottles for a fill up of “Old Rum” or so called because of its distinctive smoothness. Eventually, the black rum was sold in champagne bottles, reclaimed from the British Officer's Mess, and the corks sealed with black sealing wax. Pretty soon people began to ask for the “Black Seal”. In 1949 a play on words and images gave birth to the little, barrel juggling “Black Seal”.

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