Puncheon rum

Puncheon rum (or puncheon) is a high proof heavy-type rum produced in Trinidad and Tobago. The name 'Puncheon' is derived from the giant wooden casks, known as 'puncheons' in which the rum was stored.^[1] Though puncheons have been used for centuries to store rum,^[2] the first "Puncheon rum" of the style was manufactured in the early 1930s by the Fernandes family. Today, three local brands, Forres Park,^[3] Caroni, and Stallion, produce Puncheon rum, bottled at 75% alcohol by volume. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is sometimes referred to as "firewater".^[4]

Puncheon rum dates back to the early 1930s, when the Fernandes family acquired the Forres Park estate in Trinidad. The Fernandes family set up a distillery on the estate, and started distilling rum to sell as Vat-19, a gold rum. However, they also made additional rum for their own personal consumption, and for their estate workers.^[1] The rum was stored in massive wooden barrels called puncheons.^[5] However, the interest in this rum escaped the estate, and soon it was also produced for the market. It gained a stigma for being associated with hooligans, called "baa-johns", who regularly consumed it to demonstrate their toughness.^[5] In 1973, Angostura bought the Forres Park rum company from the Fernandes family.^[6]