Another legendary pirate will soon join the ranks of St. Croix rum labels, according to an announcement Friday morning from Government House.
St. Croix is already the home of industry leader Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum, the second most widely sold rum brand in the world and the top selling spiced rum, produced by Diageo USVI.
This week, Beam Inc., the parent company of Cruzan Rum, announced the purchase from White Rock Distilleries of the Calico Jack Rum label along with the Pinnacle Vodka brand. The company will soon produce Cruzan, Ronrico and Calico Jack all at its St. Croix facilities, according to a news release from Government House, confirmed later in the day by a spokesman for the company.
“Beam is very excited about the acquisition of Calico Jack rum,” said Clarkson Hine, senior vice president of corporate communications for Beam. “While it’s currently less than half the size of our flagship Cruzan brand, Calico Jack has consistently outperformed the U.S. rum market and grown at a double-digit rate over the past several years. In fact, it was recently named a ‘Hot Brand’ by Impact magazine, the authoritative spirits trade publication.
Hine said the acquisition will be completed later this quarter, and Calico Jack will officially call the Cruzan Distillery on St. Croix its home.
It actually won’t be a long move, Hine said. Cruzan already “supplies the liquid” that becomes Calico Jack rum, which means White Rock has purchased bulk rum distilled at Cruzan and blended it into its brand. So in a sense, Cruzan already produces that volume of rum, and should be able to continue production without a hitch when the deal becomes final within the next two months.
Cruzan recently completed construction of a wastewater treatment plant that will allow it to expand production. Ground breaking ceremonies took place almost exactly two years ago, on April 15, 2010, and Hine said Friday the facility should be commissioned and fully operational before the end of this year. The treatment facility was required by the Environmental Protection Agency before the distillery could increase production.
According to a press release on the Beam Inc. website, the deal cost about $605 million in cash.
Calico Jack is the fifth leading flavored/spiced rum brand in the United States, and the brand has seen tremendous growth over the past years. The brand was first introduced in the U.S. market in 1993. While Diageo’s Captain Morgan’s is named for Henry Morgan, whose exploits in the Caribbean included the capture of Maracaibo and Panama City, Calico Jack is named for “Calico” Jack Rackham, best known for sailing with the women pirates Ann Bonney and Mary Read. He received the nickname “Calico Jack” because he preferred shirts made of that fabric.
In his press release, the governor congratulated the company on the purchase, saying he was “immensely pleased Calico Jack will soon be made in the Virgin Islands at the Cruzan Rum Distillery under what will, hopefully, be a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”
White Rock Distilleries was founded in 1937 in Lewiston, Me., manufacturing and marketing premium spirits. With more than 50 brands, led by Pinnacle Vodka and Calico Jack Rum, the company sold more than 3 million 9-liter cases of spirits in 2011.
