Alexandre Gabriel, owner and master blender of Maison Ferrand and the West Indies Rum Distillery, has long been driven by his curiosity about the history of spirits and the revival of forgotten techniques. This is evident in the birth of Citadelle Gin, from the discovery of an ancient gin recipe to the launch of Mathilde Liqueurs, inspired by cassis that his grandmother made.
His latest project, Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum, reflects this ongoing curiosity. The newly released limited edition rum is a carefully crafted tribute to the history and techniques of navy rum production.
Gabriel’s inspiration for Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum came from a deep-rooted fascination with the history of navy rum making.
“Navy Rum has influenced and really shaped rum as we know it today,” says Gabriel Forbes“Rum is one of the few spirits where it is admitted and explained that ingredients from different origins are mixed to make a rum.”
This curiosity led him to collaborate with Matt Pietrek, a rum enthusiast like himself, who spent months researching the British Navy archives. This research uncovered valuable historical techniques and documents that have since shaped the production of Mister Fogg.
“The idea of a master blender is that when you mix different spirits, your goal is to make one spirit better than any of the components individually,” says Gabriel. “The incredible thing about rum is that you do this with rums from all over the world; it’s an old tradition rooted in Navy Rum. Technically, this was born out of necessity – nobody would have dreamed of it.”
Navy Rum is exactly what you imagine when you think of rum that was transported on ships in the 19th century. It is often dark in color and has a high alcohol content.
“I was sure it would be 54.5% alcohol because we had seen pictures of old bottles and (Pietrek) found the documents to prove it,” Gabriel says. “But then he found documents explaining that the Navy had realized that the way they measured alcohol wasn’t that accurate, and that even though the sailors were reporting 54.5%, they were getting more like 55.7%.”
This is a big difference, he continues, as this high-proof version, often referred to as ‘Navy Strength,’ ensures the stability and robustness of the rum.”
We decided to produce Mister Fogg at 55.7% because the instruments are now accurate enough to allow us to label the rum content on the bottle,” notes Gabriel.
One of the most unique aspects of Mister Fogg is the process of “proactive vatting,” which involves storing the rum in large open wooden barrels, allowing for significant evaporation and oxygenation. Gabriel compares this method to making a béchamel sauce on the back burner, achieving a “beautiful oily concentration” that adds complexity to the rum. This technique, while challenging, was essential to staying true to the traditional methods discovered during their research.
In addition to proactive vatting, Gabriel also integrated “double ageing” and “dynamic ageing” into rum production.
“This process, which we now call ‘dynamic aging’, creates a great interaction between the liquid and the wood as the liquid moves through the barrel,” explains Gabriel. The result is a rum that is not only rich in flavor, but also full of history, reflecting the rum’s journey across the seas in barrels exposed to different temperatures and humidity levels.
The road to creating Mister Fogg was not without its challenges. Gabriel and his team had to overcome hurdles of 19th century manufacturing, replicate the intricacies of French customs regulations and ensure the rum maintained its historical integrity. But for Gabriel, these challenges were part of the appeal.
“The fact that the Navy was willing to lose more than 10% each year through evaporation of the Angel’s Share using open barrels fed by gravity to make the rum smoother showed that they cared about the quality of the rum and were very creative in how it was made,” says Gabriel. “That’s the aspect that inspired me to create Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum.”
Looking to the future, Gabriel continues to focus on the legacy of Navy Rum and its influence on modern rum production. He sees the creation of Mister Fogg as a way to honor the past while pushing the boundaries of what rum can be.
“For us, it’s the journey of a creator with a desire to share,” says Gabriel. “All in all, we hope that there are other people out there who are just as crazy as we are in some ways and want to share an adventure with us. I think that’s what it’s all about, and that’s why we go to work in the morning.”