Rum is a delightful drink. It is for all
seasons. When it rains there is nothing like a bit of rum to keep you company
as you watch the rain cascade down. When the sun beats down mercilessly rum can
be the basis of cool cocktails. It freezes in winter and this is when you make
hot rum punch to warm you up. The general perception is that rum originated in Barbados around
1645, supposedly developed by English colonist. Over time it came to be
connected with trade in molasses, sugarcane, and slavery. However, studies show
that rum goes beyond the Caribbean and could
actually have originated in the Indian sub-continent. Hercules continues this
age-old tradition with its fine matured rum.
Ain-i-Akbari
Abu’l Fazl ibn Mubarak, chief vazir of
Emperor Akbar, responsible for writing the Ain-i-Akbari or the Constitution of
Akbar around 1590 wrote about sugar being cultivated and used for the preparation
of alcohol. Back in those days, the cane was pounded with the bark of acacia and
the juice was fermented for a week. It was strained and imbibed, possibly
inspiring poets and singers to come up with intoxicating renditions. Arrack is
the name the locals used for the distilled spirit and the term is still in use in
Southern parts of India.
Arrack could refer to alcohol distilled from molasses or cashew or from toddy
or from mahua flowers. He states further stills were used for distillation. The
arrack was distilled again to make it extremely strong and it carried quite a
punch. It is not surprising and it is quite logical that sugarcane should be
used for rum distillation since the cane grew abundantly all over the Indian
sub-continent. The Emperor Darius of Persia invaded India back in 510
BC and found sugarcane that gave a sweet juice. Some historians state that the
first sugar appeared in India
about 2500 years ago. Possibly it traveled from here to other parts of the
world, notably Brazil
from where the British took it to Barbados and found a way to use the
discarded molasses to produce rum.
Rum even predates Ain-i-Akbari
Rum even finds mention in the History of
Firuz Shah written by Zia ud-din Barani sometime during the 1300s. Alauddin
Khilji tried to ban the sale of liquor but people took to distilling it within
their houses until he removed the ban. The Chinese Buddhist Monk, Zuanzang
visited India
in 630 AD, traveling through Kandahar
and Kashmir. He found that people indulged in
drinking fermented juices of grapes and sugar cane. The traders of those times
loved the strong distilled spirit made from sugarcane. Historian J H Galloway
arrived at a hypothesis that though sugarcane may not have originated in India, this is
where it was processed into various forms like sugar, jaggery, and rum.
Alexander the Great found Sugarcane here in 326 BC. Raymond Allchin wrote in
the South Asian Archeology journal in 1979 that distillation from sugarcane was
popular in India
in the 5th century BC and even before that. Excavation at sites such
as Taxila and Sirkap led to the discovery of distillation equipment, the design of
which is still in use in rural India.
Even the Matsyasukta tantra mentions Gaudi, a distilled drink made from
molasses and other ingredients.
Hercules continues the tradition
Herculex 3x Rum may not be the somarasa of
Vedic times but it does continue the rich cultural and brewing heritage of
India, drawing inspiration from those practices and refining it with modern
innovations. Each sip is a delight carrying within it the quintessential
distilled history of Indian liquor.
