Barbados Harewood Dark Rum 1780 Vintage

Barbados "Dark" Rum Vintage 1780, from Harewood House Cellars with Christie's Label. The World's Oldest Rum, Distilled in Barbados, Bottled at Harewood, and Offered in Original Bottles.

The Harewood Rum represents a storied lineage, tracing back to 1711 when Henry Lascelles ventured to the West Indies to engage in the lucrative family business of sugar, cotton, tobacco, and rum. His success in these trades, largely built on the back of African slave labor, led him to become one of England’s wealthiest men. By 1738, he and his son Edwin acquired the Harewood and Gawthorpe estates, and in 1759, Edwin initiated the construction of Harewood House. The house's construction was meticulously recorded by the diligent steward Samuel Popplewell, whose detailed accounts also preserved the earliest mentions of the Harewood Rum in a 1805 cellar book entry. This rum, described as from Barbados, was surprisingly consumed sparingly, with records showing minimal annual consumption.

By the 20th century, the rum had fallen out of favor, forgotten until a 2011 discovery by Mark Lascelles and Andy Langshaw, who uncovered it in an inventory of the cellar. Found under layers of cobwebs and mould, these bottles were identified as possibly the world's oldest rum. After a careful restoration process, including recorking and re-waxing, 23 bottles were deemed suitable for sale. Proceeds from the sale of these bottles at Christie’s were dedicated to the Geraldine Connor Foundation, honoring a prominent figure in Yorkshire’s West Indian community and her work with disenfranchised youth in performing arts. This sale not only celebrated a remarkable historical artifact but also supported a legacy of community enrichment and cultural celebration.