Bottoms up
Distilling company hopes history will help its rum rise above a crowded field

Authentic Seacoast Distilling Company Ltd. is turning to an 18th century French fortress for inspiration to help its rum stand out in the competitive spirits and wine sector.

In September, the Nova Scotia- based distiller announced it was partnering with Parks Canada and the Fortress Louisbourg Association to use the historical site to mature aged rums it will use in special edition rums.

The company’s project will see the rum, which comes from the Caribbean, stored in a warehouse at the fortress that is a replica of the Magazin du Roi that once stood at this seaport on Cape Breton Island. Built in 1713, the fortress was France’s centre of trade and military strength in the New World, and rum was a major trading good at that time. Nova Scotia fish and lumber was often traded for Caribbean rum, which was stored at Louisbourg for local consumption and also exported to France.

The three-year-old Caribbean rum will age in oak barrels and will be sold both at the fortress and Nova Scotia Liquor Commission stores across the province. The product that will flow from the barrels will be overproof amber rum. Company president Glynn Williams says the area’s “wild and wooly” weather and variable temperatures will hopefully leave its mark on the rum. “We think it will create a taste that’s unique,” Williams says.

However, rum (or any product) sells not only because it’s good enough that people will buy it, but due to marketing that makes people think they want to buy it. That’s where the Fortress of Louisbourg comes in. By associating this rum with Fortress Louisbourg’s history, Williams hopes he’ll capture the attention of drinkers of spirits. After that, it’s up to the rum aging in those oak barrels in Louisbourg to do the rest.

“If you can speak to people’s hearts as well as their minds and give them an experience, it will cause them to move from what they’ve drank in the past to try something else,” Williams says.