Rum was once the drink that built the American colonies. Two hundred fifty years ago, American distilleries were producing 5 million gallons of it annually, and in the port towns of early America, no drink was more cherished — it filled the tavern mugs of Boston merchants and fueled the booming economy of New England distilleries.

In 1733, parliament passed the Molasses Act, imposing heavy taxes on the key ingredients to rum. The colonists responded not with submission, but with defiance — smuggling became widespread, and some of America’s most famous patriots, like John Hancock, filled their ships with contraband molasses from French and Dutch islands.

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