Part One: History of the West India Docks and Royal Navy Rum

Hardcover – Picture Book, July 21, 2025
Matt Pietrek (Author) | Alexandre Gabriel (Author)

Part One: History of the West India Docks and Royal Navy Rum

Among the most transformative events in London’s history was the introduction of inland dockyards along the River Thames. The West India Dock was built in 1802 to maximize the incoming flow of colonial goods, such as sugar and rum, as well as the outgoing flow of goods bound for the colonies. More docks like the East India Docks soon followed, changing London’s landscape forever. By the 1820s, the West India Docks’ rum storage facilities held so much rum that it continues to stagger the imagination two centuries later.

A massive amount of rum arriving at the West India Docks — millions of gallons annually —was purchased by the Royal Navy. Indeed, the Royal Navy was the British Caribbean’s largest customer for 150 years and arguably kept the British Caribbean’s rum industry afloat during decades of financial turmoil. What the Royal Navy did with that rum, and how sailors consumed it, is shrouded in mystery and misconceptions.

Among the biggest mysteries is the exact recipe for the navy’s rum, which has never been revealed till now. Chapters Six and Seven of The Rum Never Sets contain the Royal Navy’s 1960s-era recipe, including source distilleries, specific marks, and exact quantities of each. This information was preserved via the handwritten notes of a gentleman who blended it for the Royal Navy.

Part Two: The Seven Pillars of Royal Navy Rum

In Part Two, Alexandre Gabriel examines Part One’s findings and outlines seven key technical factors (pillars) of Royal Navy rum over several centuries. The pillars combined cover many aspects of the rum’s sourcing, aging, and blending.

In addition to technical descriptions and analytical data for each pillar, Gabriel also demonstrates how they influenced his team’s work in creating and blending a modern rum based on each pillar, i.e., Planteray’s Mister Fogg Navy Rum.

Precursor

The precursor to the Rum Never Sets was Exploring 300 Years of Royal Navy Rum and Its Techniques, a limited-edition book published by Planteray and sold at trade events. In the year since that book’s publication, we (Wonk Press) added significant amounts of new material, reworked some of the original material, and added nearly 100 new images and a full index to make The Rum Never Sets a full-fledged Wonk Press book.

Below you’ll find the Table of Contents for The Rum Never Sets, which provides additional detail about what’s covered. I’ll have more to say about the book’s origin in future stories here.

Part One — History of the West India Docks and Royal Navy Rum (Matt Pietrek)

BRITAIN’S RUM HISTORY IN OVERVIEW

• Key Themes of British Dock Rum History

• The End of the Golden Era of British Dock Rum

• The Road Ahead

LONDON’S WEST INDIA DOCKS & RUM QUAY

• Advantages of the West India Docks

• Rum Quay

• Safety Precautions & Inspections

• Fire on the Thames

• The End of Rum Quay

WHAT WAS LONDON DOCK RUM?

• Rum Sources

• Transport and Aging

• Rum Styles & Merchant Marks

• Plummer & Wedderburn – Mark or Style?

• Commercial London Dock Rums

• Commercial Navy Rums

LONDON’S RUM MERCHANTS

• Plantation Owners & West India Docks Subscribers

• Wine & Spirits Specialists

• The Great Consolidation – United Rum Merchants

SOURCING BRITAIN’S MILITARY RUM

• The Age of Contract Bid Notices

• Rums of the Navy – 1700s

• Rums of the Navy – 1800s

• Rums of the Navy – 1900s

• Known Royal Navy Rum Blends Over the Years

• Navy Rum Suppliers

• ED&F Man

• Rum for the Army

ROYAL NAVY RUM PRODUCTION

• HM Victualling Yards

• Rum Arrivals

• The Royal Navy’s Vats

• Issuing Containers

• Rum Losses

• Navy Rum Quality

• End of an Era

• Understanding Alcoholic Strength & Proof

THE LAST NAVY RUM VATTER

• An Interview with Arthur Roberts

DRINKING THE ROYAL NAVY’S RUM

• A Brief History of Navy Rum Consumption

• The British Navy’s Version of Its Rum History

• The Daily Ration Ceremony

• The Battle For Sobriety – Grog Formulation Changes

• Temperance & the Royal Navy

• Black Tot – The End of Navy Rum

• Navy Rum Goes Commercial

• Navy Neaters

Part Two — The Seven Pillars Of Navy Rum (Alexandre Gabriel)

· PILLAR 1 – BLENDING RUMS OF DIFFERENT ISLANDS & COUNTRIES

· PILLAR 2 – DOUBLE AGING

· PILLAR 3 – THE EFFECT OF USED BARRELS

· PILLAR 4 – DYNAMIC AGING

· PILLAR 5 – ACTIVE VATTING

· PILLAR 6 – ISSUING PROOF

· PILLAR 7 – BURNT SUGAR “BROWNING”

Conclusion – The Enduring Legacy of Navy Rum (Alexandre Gabriel)

LINK TO BOOK
https://www.wonkpress.com/products/the-rum-never-sets