Inspired by the saltwater marshes and white sand beaches of the Central Gulf Coast, Circle Hook Original Rum is the perfect cap to a long day on the water.

After a lifetime spent on the ocean, we’ve learned that patience and persistence always yield the best results. That’s why each batch of our Original Rum is aged in American oak barrels in the South Mississippi heat until its complexity and depth of flavor meet our high standards. We’re proud to celebrate the passion and vibrancy of the Gulf Coast in every bottle we produce.

A sip is all you’ll need to see why the hook sets itself.

Inspired by the saltwater marshes and white sand beaches of the Central Gulf Coast, Circle Hook Original Rum is the perfect cap to a long day on the water.

After a lifetime spent on the ocean, we’ve learned that patience and persistence always yield the best results. That’s why each batch of our Original Rum is aged in American oak barrels in the South Mississippi heat until its complexity and depth of flavor meet our high standards. We’re proud to celebrate the passion and vibrancy of the Gulf Coast in every bottle we produce. A sip is all you’ll need to see why the hook sets itself.

Inspired by the saltwater marshes and white sand beaches of the Central Gulf Coast, Circle Hook Original Rum is the perfect cap to a long day on the water.

After a lifetime spent on the ocean, we’ve learned that patience and persistence always yield the best results. That’s why each batch of our Original Rum is aged in American oak barrels in the South Mississippi heat until its complexity and depth of flavor meet our high standards. We’re proud to celebrate the passion and vibrancy of the Gulf Coast in every bottle we produce. A sip is all you’ll need to see why the hook sets itself.

The History of Circle Hook Distilling

The seeds of Circle Hook Distilling began to germinate in 2018 when I became tired of the long absences from my family required by my Alaskan fishing business. I had been a licensed boat captain since I was nineteen and held a 1600 ton master’s license. I had commercial fished in Alaska for over twenty years. Looking out at the horizon or facing into a black gale had gotten old. I felt I had nothing left to prove on the ocean; my only remaining maritime ambition was to express my love and appreciation for our mother sea.

I loved our new home on the Gulf Coast, especially the warm winters, and I had a deep desire to be productive during my time away from fishing. Distilled spirits had long interested me, and over time my interest had grown into a passion for the science (and savoring!) of them. As I learned more about the industry, I realized that distilling fit the bill as a business for which I would have the enthusiasm to see me through start-up challenges as well as one that would be flexible enough to allow for continued management of my fishing business. Distilled spirits only improve with time, so our product would only appreciate while I was away fishing!

My research into distilling evoked my childhood memories of the California wine industry. Every year we would travel to Calistoga and join our family friends in their harvest festivities. There was nothing like the smell of fermenting grapes and a family wine stomp to imprint the generous feeling of a harvest celebration on a young child! I wanted to recreate that feeling for my own family and friends, and show my children what it takes to be an entrepreneur and start a business from scratch.

So, armed with years of research and the determination of a veteran boat captain I set off for a new voyage in life. So far, the support we have received from the community has been amazing. I truly want to create a product we can all enjoy and be proud of here on the Gulf Coast.

A Brief History of Rum

There is much debate about the origins of rum. Among the debated is the actual name, rum. Some believe it is a derivative of the word rumbullion which means “a great tumult or uproar”. Others believe it may reference the large drinking glasses preferred by Dutch seamen known as rummers. Still others argue that rum comes from various contractions of the words saccharum (latin for sugar) or arôme (French for aroma). Regardless of the origins of the word, Rum has cemented its place in society as one of the most widely enjoyed spirits in the world. And rightly so, since it is the first branded spirit ever made.

Although rum has a rich history thought to begin as early as several thousand years ago with the Chinese and Malay people, modern-day rum got its beginnings on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean, specifically on the island of Barbados. Plantation workers on the island discovered a byproduct of the sugar refining process called molasses that, when boiled down multiple times, could be made into alcohol. They filtered the impurities out of the fermented liquid and then placed it into oak barrels to rest. The resulting beverage is what we know today to be rum. Of course, at the time, it wasn’t called rum. Rather, it was called by many different names including rumullion or rumbustion. The Barbados islanders called it kill-divil. Some referred to it as Black Gold due to the high profitability and high demand of molasses which later turned the main port of Bridgetown to one of the wealthiest ports in the world.

Rum didn’t remain secluded to the islands for long though. Word spread of the profitable new spirit and its popularity soon spread to Colonial North America. This resulted in a huge new demand for not only the spirit but also for sugar in Europe. To support this demand, a massive labor force was created to work the island plantations. Rum was now a global commodity that tied Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean in a massive and complex web of commerce.

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