rum, george washington and elections

[Ken Gargett]

i am assuming that this falls within the historical spectrum of posts and not US politics. or if another permissible connection is necessary, think of the carribean and cuba providing the stuff. 

anyway, was doing some reading on the history of rum and came across an interesting bit. 

George Washington entered politics for the first time in 1757, and that was a time when rum figured prominently in American life. Average consumption was 3.7 gallons per person per year. By far the most popular drink. And it seems it was happily splashed about come election time. Washington decided he was above that and ran on his record and merits. He was thrashed. Three candidates vied for two seats in Frederick County and the top two each won about 46 percent of the vote. Washington failed miserably with 7 percent.

It was the only election he would ever lose. When Washington stood again the following year, he took no chances. Washington’s agents doled out 28 gallons of rum, 50 gallons of rum punch, 46 gallons of beer, 34 gallons of wine and two gallons of hard cider.

So apparently yet another politician's principles lasted less than a year. Nothing changes.

 

another interesting thing was that the British, in their dispute with the Americas, cut off rum as much as possible, diverting locals to making whisky instead of importing their beloved rum (and yes, i am sure it is all much more complex than this). but had that not happened, America might have been a predominantly rum drinking nation for the last couple of hundred years. 

[Chibearsv]

8 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

So apparently yet another politician's principles lasted less than a year. Nothing changes

At least he may have started with some. 

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, Chibearsv said:

At least he may have started with some. 

excellent point. that puts him ahead of 99% of them. 

[Woody Hayes]

Some things just never change.  Today it's entitlements and student loan forgivness.

[BrightonCorgi]

The Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase were both toasted with Madeira by the Americans.  For the Louisiana Purchase, the French had Bordeaux and the Spanish had Malaga at the toast.  Madeira is our historic national wine.

[Cigar Surgeon]

16 hours ago, Psiman said:

New England area in U.S. made a lot of rum. It was the molasses that got cut off and hurt rum production in U.S. The brandy and rye were being made cheaper and there is where the rum industry fell apart in the U.S.   It's coming back big now. So many new rum companies in U.S. and it's out of control and most are mixer type rums that are swill but there are some high end very good ones but none in the league of Barbados, Jamaica or Guyana. Privateer and Balcones make good high end U.S. rum with no sugar added ,coloring added and non chill filtered and some cask strength versions. Everybody wants to jump on the Foursquare train but good luck making anything in that style as good

Had the great fortune of having the 2005 (12 year ex-bourbon) and the Sagacity (12 year, ex-bourbon ex-madeira, port and column blend) some time ago and was definitely impressed.

[joeypots]

There was a lot of rum made in Boston for a long time. Take this example from 1919.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Molasses_Flood