Pusser's Launches Limited Edition Nelson Trafalgar Bicentenary Decanter

Pusser's Rum, the original navy rum and the rum of Great Britain's Royal Navy for 330 years, has produced 18,000 limited edition Nelson Trafalgar Bicentenary Decanters to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Nelson's colossal victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21st, 1805. On that day, Great Britain's Royal Navy won its greatest victory and lost its greatest hero, Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. His colorful story and a full description of the decanter and the significance of each of its decorative panels are recounted in a 16-page booklet that accompanies the decanter.

Each decanter is hand decorated using coloured glass inks that have been permanently fired into the porcelain. The aged Pusser's Rum in the Bicentenary Decanter comes from a limited number of specially selected barrels. These were set aside to age in oak casks more than 15 years ago for this auspicious occasion that is being widely celebrated in many of the English speaking nations around the world. Each decanter has been numbered on its bottom.

There are four major designs around the body of the decanter. The first is the Pusser's Navy Rum logo with its reference to "Nelson's Blood". Pusser's Rum is also known to the Navy as "Nelson's Blood". In the heat of battle at Trafalgar, Nelson was mortally wounded by a French sharpshooter. As he lay dying, he requested that his body not be thrown overboard as was the custom in those days. At the end of the battle, legend has it that they placed his body in a large puncheon (cask) of Admiralty rum to preserve it for the long trip home. Upon arrival at Portsmouth, his pickled body was removed, but most of the rum was gone. The sailors had drilled a small hole at the base of the cask, and drank all the rum, thereby drinking of "Nelson's Blood" which became synonymous with the name Pusser's Rum. The expression is still popular in the Royal Navy today when alluding to Pusser's Rum.

The remaining three intricate designs depict scenes from the three greatest naval victories that Nelson led or in which he played the major role: the Nile 1785, Copenhagen 1801, and, of course, Trafalgar 1805.

There are three smaller cameos on the shoulder: Nelson, H.M.S. Victory, his flagship at Trafalgar, and Victory's coat-of-arms figurehead.

The Killick's Anchor, the official anchor of the Royal Navy, is countersunk in gold on the top of the stopper. The flags around the edge of the stopper are a reproduction of the famed flag signal that Nelson flew from his flagship for his fleet just before entering battle: "England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty"

The Rope Bumper around the decanter's base is Victory rope and was produced in Chatham, England, at the ropery, and on the same machinery, that made all the original rope for H.M.S. Victory when and after she was launched in 1775.

"I'm an avid Nelson historian and we have developed this decanter to truly pay tribute to this great leader and sailor. He was certainly the greatest fighting admiral the world has ever known, a brilliant tactician, a leader loved and respected by his men, and courageous to a fault. The world today would have been a very different place today if Nelson had no prevailed at Trafalgar," said Charles Tobias, founder of Pusser's Rum Ltd.

"Pusser's Rum is proud of its Naval roots. We don't just play lip service to our maritime heritage, Pusser's Rum is the real thing. And to date, more than half of this company's profits have gone to support naval charities and projects that are restoring and protecting the maritime heritage of the free world."

For more than 300 years, from the earliest days of wooden ships and iron men, sailors of Great Britain's Royal Navy were issued a daily ration - or "tot"- of rum by the ship's "Purser" (corrupted by the sailors to Pusser's).

On July 31st, 1970, the Admiralty Board abolished the daily issue of Pusser's Rum. In 1979, entrepreneur Charles Tobias resurrected the Pusser's Rum tradition. He obtained the rights and all the blending information from the Admiralty and formed Pusser's Rum Ltd. on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. He began bottling and selling Pusser's Rum to the public for the first time in 1980. Prior to then, it was restricted to the Royal Navy.

Today's Pusser's Rum is still produced with the blend of five West Indian rums in exact accordance with the Admiralty's specifications. Unlike most rums, it is predominantly a "pot-stilled" rum. The distillation process is similar to that used for single malt scotches, which produces greatly enhanced flavour. It is 100% natural, and yet without any flavoring agents or additives, it is known for its full, rich flavour that is unsurpassed.

To back this up, this Pusser's Rum, the father of all navy rums, has gained recognition as a world quality premium spirit. In the only two prestigious competitions it has ever entered, Pusser's won a gold medal at the International Wine & Spirits Festival, London, 2001; and the Double Gold at the San Francisco World's Spirits Competition, 2003, both testimony to its quality.