Kirk and Sweeney XO Dominican Rum

Kirk and Sweeney XO Dominican Rum

"Kirk and Sweeney was the name of a wooden schooner that was best known for smuggling rum from the Caribbean to the United States during Prohibition," says August Sebastiani, President of 35 Maple Street Distillery. Just before it entered the territorial waters of the United States, the schooner would drop anchor and sell the rum to smaller boats which would come up alongside the Kirk and Sweeney. The smaller boats, which were faster and more maneuverable than the boats in the Coast Guard's fleet, would smuggle the rum ashore. As other boats followed suit, the edge of U.S. jurisdiction the line where boats like the Kirk and Sweeney dropped anchor became known as the "Rum Line" and the row of ships waiting to sell rum on the Rum Line were said to be anchored on "Rum Row." The process begins with quality "Blackstrap Molasses" which is the byproduct of hand-harvested sugarcane sourced just south of the distillery. The liquid is carefully fermented, distilled and aged in American oak barrels in the Dominican Republic. The presentation is inspired by an old captain's reserve cigar box, enclosed in a rich mahogany-styled gift box and opens just as a treasure chest might. Bottled in ultra-premium handmade crystal glass inspired by the traditional bottles that were used during the early 20th century.