Long Pond 1941 – Gordon & MacPhail
58 Years in the Cask – A Jamaican Rum from the Second World War!
Some rum bottlings have a history that is perhaps even more remarkable than the rum itself. Long Pond 1941, bottled in 1999 by the long-established Scottish company Gordon & MacPhail, is undoubtedly one of the most exceptional bottlings in Jamaican rum history.
Distilled on 3 May 1941, in the middle of the Second World War, this rum spent around 58 years maturing in a cask before being bottled in Scotland in 1999. Its unusually long maturation and documented origins make it a remarkable historic single-cask bottling – perhaps even the rarest from Jamaica.
Long Pond Distillery – A Jamaican Rum Tradition Dating Back to the 18th Century
Long Pond Distillery is located in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, a region with a long history of sugar cane growing and rum production. The estate’s origins are traced back to 1753, and records confirm that rum was distilled the first time at Long Pond Estate sometime between 1775 and 1803.
Long Pond is therefore one of Jamaica’s long-established distilleries. For many years, its rum was produced mainly for blending and international trade. A 1931 article placed its style somewhere between Wedderburn rum and the even more intense Continental Flavoured rum. From the 1950s onwards, Long Pond rum was used extensively in blends for Captain Morgan. Bottlings carrying the Long Pond name and identifying its origin only became known in the mid-1980s.
You can read more about its history here: Revisiting Jamaica's Long Pond Rum Distillery Revisiting Jamaica's Long Pond Rum Distillery
A Cask on an Extraordinary Journey
The rum was distilled in Jamaica on 3 May 1941. In 1946, five years after distillation, the cask was shipped to Great Britain.
Records show that the cask had been stored in Elgin, Scotland, since 1967. It was held by Gordon & MacPhail, a company founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. Originally a grocery, wine and spirits merchant, the business developed under the Urquhart family into a leading specialist in selecting, maturing and bottling high-quality single malt whiskies. Its reputation was shaped in particular by its practice of keeping selected casks in storage for many years.
The rum was finally bottled in 1999, by which time it was around 58 years old.
The 1999 Bottling
Long Pond 1941 – bottled by Gordon & MacPhail
Distilled - 3 May 1941 / bottled 1999 with an age of approx. 58 years
Cask Number 76 with an ABV of 50 % Vol. in a 70cl bottle.
Presentation: Wooden box and certificate of authenticity
Conclusion
Gordon & MacPhail Long Pond 1941 is much more than an exceptionally old rum. It brings together Jamaican rum production during the Second World War and the Scottish tradition of cask maturation and independent bottling.
Its journey began in Jamaica on 3 May 1941, continued to Great Britain in 1946 and ended with bottling in 1999 after decades of cask maturation.
This unusual story, with its key stages supported by records, makes Long Pond 1941 an important piece of rum history – and a bottling that holds a special place not only in the history of Long Pond itself.
We are proud to offer a bottle of this remarkable rum in our auction – and in exceptionally good condition, too! View the auction here…Click to see the Auction…