Distillation

Cruzan has left the pot still behind. According to the company, between 1940 and 1950 the pot still, which works batch by batch, was replaced by a column that runs continuously.

In a column, vapor rises through many plates, becoming enriched with alcohol along the way. This produces a continuous stream of high-proof, light distillate that tastes of sugarcane with a fine sweetness. For large volumes, this is the economical choice: Diageo built a facility on St. Croix with a planned capacity of up to 20 million proof gallons a year, roughly 38 million liters of pure alcohol.

On Tortola, you encounter the older technique. The Callwood distillery in Cane Garden Bay works with a pot still whose kettle sits directly over the fire; travel accounts call it the oldest continuously operating pot still distillery in the Caribbean. In this method, one batch is distilled after another, and the distillate retains much of the cane juice's flavor.

The Pusser's brand owns no still at all. In 1979, Charles Tobias received the rights to the name and the blending specifications of the Navy rum from the Admiralty; the "Admiralty blend" consists of five West Indian rums. It has been sold to the public since 1980, and the company Pusser's Rum Ltd. is based on Tortola.

Captain Morgan also separates brand from distillery. According to industry sources, the rum for product sold in the US has come from the facility on St. Croix since 2012. That doesn't make it a Jamaican brand, even though rankings sometimes list it there. "Original Spiced Gold" is legally a spirit drink in the EU, not rum, since rum there may not be flavored.