Where to begin...?

The history of rum on the east coast of the United States is both long and well documented. However, if you carry on up the coast you come to a place where rum is and has been intimately woven into the local fabric since after the arrival of colonial influences. The history of rum in the Canadian Atlantic Provinces traces its roots to the east coast of the United States through New England trade with Newfoundland in 1670 but also includes French and English influences, the Royal Navy (Halifax was the home of the North America and West Indies Station from 1745 to 1907) and a constant flow of shipping trade moving bountiful salt fish south to the Caribbean and rum and molasses north, all the while boasting a population that in many cases drank more rum per-capita than all other wine and spirits combined (ale might still have it beat by volume). Rum was used as payment for labour and trade, it led to times of provincial prosperity and well as made and lost fortunes, fueled riots and lost elections. The post colonial history of the Atlantic Provinces is soaked in rum.

Through this writing project I plan to explore many of the facets of the history of rum in the Atlantic Provinces as well as use this platform as record of my exploration into the wider rum world as it exists today. I hope you enjoy.