rum-running , or bootlegging , is the illegal business of transporting ( smuggling ) alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law .

smuggling is usually done to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction .

the term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water ; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land .

it is believed that the term " boot-legging " originated during the american civil war , when soldiers would sneak liquor into army camps by concealing pint bottles within their boots or beneath their trouser legs .

also , according to the pbs documentary prohibition , the term " bootlegging " was popularized when thousands of city dwellers would sell liquor from flasks they kept in their boot leg all across major cities and rural areas .

the term " rum-running " most likely originated at the start of prohibition in the united states ( 1920 – 1933 ) , when ships from bimini in the western bahamas transported cheap caribbean rum to florida speakeasies .

but rum 's cheapness made it a low-profit item for the rum-runners , and they soon moved on to smuggling canadian whisky , french champagne , and english gin to major cities like new york city , boston , and chicago , where prices ran high .

it was said that some ships carried $ 200,000 in contraband in a single run .

rum - running

rum - running is a romance , and , like all romances , it grows in the telling .
learn how st - pierre profited from canadian rum running . locals used alcohol barrels as building material .
prohibition , rum running and the real mccoy rum running revisited six books look back at prohibition :
the real mccoy ,
the bootleg queen ,
and the liquor fleet that fueled the roaring twenties .
al capone toured st - pierre ' s rum running operations and left his hat with a local shopkeeper .
' rum running ' vessels listed by government ; score of american and foreign ships engaged in violating prohibition law .
a nova scotia woman recalls her husband ' s rum running ; most smugglers were upright citizens in need of money .
john demont . 2003 . maritime drug smuggling and rum - running . the canadian encyclopedia urltoken ( accessed july 9 , 2018 ) .
with the headline : ' rum running ' vessels listed by government ; score of american and foreign ships engaged in violating prohibition law .
demont , john . 2003 . maritime drug smuggling and rum - running . the canadian encyclopedia urltoken ( accessed july 9 , 2018 ) .
' rum running ' vessels listed by government ; score of american and foreign ships engaged in violating prohibition law . - the new york times
cape may county met prohibition head - on , with rum - running becoming part of the daily life and still and bootleg operations throughout the county . eight 75 - foot coast guard ships patrolled from their headquarters at the cape may coast guard station in full sight of rum running activities .
[ 227 ] philip p . mason , rum running and the roaring twenties , ( wayne state university press : detroit , 1995 ) , 62 .
“he was , without question , the most successful and notorious of the old time rum runners . he was , literally , the father of rum row and the inventor of much rum - running technique . mccoy actually furnished 700 , 000 cases to slake america’s thirst . ”
john demont , r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2003 ) . maritime drug smuggling and rum - running . retrieved july 9 , 2018 , from urltoken
demont , j . . r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2003 ) . maritime drug smuggling and rum - running . retrieved july 9 , 2018 from urltoken
demont , j . . r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2003 ) . maritime drug smuggling and rum - running . retrieved july 9 , 2018 from urltoken
demont , john .
maritime drug smuggling and rum - running .
in the canadian encyclopedia . historica canada , 1985— . article published march 18 , 2003
john demont .
maritime drug smuggling and rum - running
in the canadian encyclopedia . historica canada , 1985– . article published march 17 , 2003 . urltoken
when private supplies began to run out , the demand for liquor increased , and the age of bootlegging , rum - running and illegal stills began in earnest .
demont , john .
maritime drug smuggling and rum - running
. the canadian encyclopedia . toronto : historica canada , 2003 . web . 18 mar 2003 .
demont , john .
maritime drug smuggling and rum - running
. the canadian encyclopedia . toronto : historica canada , 2003 . web . 18 mar 2003 .
john demont
maritime drug smuggling and rum - running
the canadian encyclopedia . eds . . toronto : historica canada , 2003 . web . 9 jul . 2018 .
phase 1 ) bill mccoy founds rum row . phase 2 ) ? phase 3 ) repeal ! ( and rum smuggling magically ends . )
southern california had its share of violent incidents , but its smaller population and more wide open landscape made rum - running a fairly easy task at first , especially along its miles of undeveloped coastline between ventura and san pedro , southern california’s own “rum row . ”
though rum running continued throughout prohibition , the coast guard made it more difficult to get away with . prior to 1924 , the line where ships would line up outside of u . s . jurisdiction was called a rum row , and stood three miles beyond the maritime limit of the u . s . as rum running became a bigger problem , the u . s . extended the rum row to twelve miles . this made it much harder for ships to sneak into shore past the coast guard , though , of course , not impossible .
fun facts so convinced were they that alcohol was the cause of virtually all crime that some towns actually sold their jails nascar speakeasies got its name because one had to whisper a code word or name through a slot in a locked door to gain admittance the human body produces its own supply of alcohol naturally on a continuous basis , 24 hours a day , seven days a week . therefore , we always have alcohol in our bodies what is rum running history of rum running beginning of time major people st . valentines day massacre impact on todays society major effects technology impacts wood creates to plastic bladders encouraged vehicular modifications inspired a sport today , anyone is able to make and distribute alcohol rum running rum running , or bootlegging , is the illegal business of transporting ( smuggling ) alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law evolution of rum running - cargo ships and speed boats speed boats conditions during the exchange enforcements have become more resilient on drug and alcohol smuggling . nascar micro brewing plastic flasks cargo ships social effects new social values criminals / gangs abuse of substance government effects government officials were outgunned surpassed technology wise courts and jails overflowed economic effects alleviate emotional & financial distress elimination of jobs decrease in sales - dry counties - modern day rum runners - rum running in the media
the rum war at sea , by malcolm willoughby , fredonia books , 2001 .
5 . fraser miles , slow boat on rum row , p . 237 .
source : detroit free press . the sleds were dragged underwater by cables running across the detroit river from ontario to michigan .
rum - running also saw a revival and became a common trade in the u . s . liquor was smuggled in station wagons , trucks , and boats from mexico , europe , canada , and the caribbean .
run the rum in : south florida during prohibition , sally j . ling – 2007
7 . jim stone , my dad , the rum runner , p . 42 .
anything that could conceivably be used to conceal the transport of smaller quantities of alcohol seemingly was . in the book
rum running and the roaring twenties ,
a series of photos actually shows such smuggling devices as :
emily schultz never asked her grandfather , herman , about his rum - running days in detroit . this was an experience that the man , who left school at 14 to support his mother and siblings , had hoped to conceal from relatives .
i chanced upon your article about the rum running sloop “i’m alone” and its demise at the dastardly hands of the uscg cutter dexter . i have a couple of things to add about the dexter aka yp - 63 you may find of interest .
, and similar ships of
rum row
off the pacific coast of the us and mexico .
the term “the real mccoy” came out of this era . it’s attributed to captain william s . mccoy who facilitated a significant portion of the rum - running from ships during prohibition . he would never water down his imports , making his the “real” thing .
, or other ships of rum row . the unnamed cargo is canadian liquor in wooden crates and burlap bags
15 . “rum smuggler suspect forfeits $ 100 , 000 bond , ” washington post , 7 august 1934 .
miles , fraser . slow boat on rum row . madeira park , bc : harbour publishing , 1992 .
the im alone with her new set of sails . built for the rum running trade , she brought untold tons of alcohol to a thrrsty prohibitionist us , until she was illegally sunk on the high seas by an apparently frustrated us coast guard captain . photo credit : urltoken
stone , jim . my dad , the rum runner . waterloo , on : north waterloo academic press , 2002 .
, editor of flat hammock press , is a former coast guard officer and author of many books , including the dictionary of nautical literacy , and bottoms up ! : toasts , tales & traditions of drinking’s long history as a nautical pastime . he teaches the subject of prohibition and the rum war at the u . s . coast guard academy . he is available for lectures , book readings and presentations on rum running .
placid higbee beach was the perfect place to bring in booze . a high sand dune was named signal hill to alert rum runners of a coast guard presence . freighters sat three miles off shore waiting for local boat captains eager to make some extra money . small creeks and hideaways - such as schellengerger’s landing , dennis creek , and hereford inlet – that dotted cape may county made it an excellent location for rum running .
at the very heart of the business of rum running was an invisible but very real line just three miles off the american coast known as the “rum line” . a border which once crossed outside of , the american law no longer held provenance . a border which in many a young , adventurous entrepreneurs eyes , separated the suppliers from the consumers . in the year prior to nationwide prohibition , national imports of scotch totaled a handsome 914 gallons . within the first two years of national temperance those same imports rose to a staggering 386 , 000 gallons per annum – an increase which saw scotch sales alone increase over 400 times and yet scotch didn’t come from the americas . rum running was the reason – and business was good .
it is impossible to catalogue the definitive list of vessels involved in the trade . many vessel owners and operators made opportunistic ( sometimes one–shot ) rum running voyages . this list is the result of ‘best efforts’ and is based on ‘popular knowledge’ and may be amended in the future as more information is discovered .
did any of bill mccoy’s cuban rum end up in cape may county ? we assume so , but have no proof .
- - jim stone ,
my dad the rum runner ,
north waterloo academic press , waterloo ontario . 2002 .
vessels formerly in the rum running traffic , which had been laid up for months and in some cases years , are now being outfitted and rushed back into the illicit traffic . recent official reports from canadian sources indicate during the past month a resumption of activity comparable only to the situation which existed several years ago before the coast guard was organized to effectively combat smuggling . international rum syndicates are quite evidently under the impression that law enforcement will be more lax than formerly ; that penalties meted out for violations of the customs laws will be much lighter and that in general there will be less risk and more profit in liquor running…
the term
rum–running
is more commonly applied to smuggling alcohol over water ;
bootlegging
is applied to smuggling alcohol over land . rum running is frequently viewed with a sentimentality that overlooks the fact that laws were being broken , and that the activity sometimes involved extreme violence and murder . the fact that prohibition was later repealed does not diminish the serious nature of the smuggling or the efforts to interdict it . in the early days alcohol was illegal in canada as well as in the united states . later as prohibition was lifted in canada it was only the smuggling of alcohol into the united states that was illegal .
montauk—our favorite drinking village with a fishing problem—has had a long love affair with the bottle . so when that romance was threatened during prohibition from 1920 to 1933 , long island’s alcohol aficionados took matters into their own hands , spawning one of the most creative black - market rum running operations this side of the atlantic .
rumrunning along the atlantic coast < / p > < p > william mccoy , a florida skipper , pioneered the “rum - running” trade by sailing a schooner loaded with 1500 cases of liquor from nassau in the british colony of the bahamas to savannah and pocketing $ 15 , 000 in profits from just one trip .
new jersey has many distinguished titles and honors , but perhaps the best is being named the largest rum row location during prohibition . rum row is defined as a “line of ships loaded with liquor beyond the maritime limit of the united states” according to wikipedia .
macfarlane , john m . ( 2013 ) vessels owned and operated as rum runners on canada’s pacific coast . urltoken 2013 . urltoken
of mystic , connecticut , is republishing six books which are first - hand accounts of rum running . the books , most of which were first published in the late 1920s and early 1930s and long out - of - print , have been updated for modern readers with added insight , information and many never seen before photographs .
the case of american prohibition is often deployed in the rancorous debates that surround counter - narcotics policy . unfortunately , it is generally deployed ( to my thought , abused ) without an adequate understanding of what prohibition actually looked like . this is especially true of rum - running , which is generally retold something along these lines :
investigators found roughly 26 specialized compartments constructed for smuggling , which led to the discovery of a storage site in north fort myers that hiner used to store cuban cigars and rum . there , agents seized about 27 , 000 assorted cuban cigars and 42 bottles of rum .
2 . fraser miles , slow boat on rum row ( madeira park , bc : harbour publishing , 1992 ) p . 129 .
rum running — the illegal transport of alcoholic beverages ashore across a forbidden border — began before the united states even had a nationwide ban on alcohol . this is because our friends to the north had their own set of prohibition laws throughout the provinces . between 1918 - 1920 , rum runners of the united states brought in enough liquor to help undermine prohibition in canada . when the time came , canadian runners returned the favor , bringing canadian beer and whisky into the united states .
n katie kelley ,
episode 28 rum runner ,
a history of central florida , podcast video , october 1 , 2014 . urltoken
learn how nova scotia fishermen carried alcohol down the coast to mafia boats on rum row—under risk of u . s . coast guard attack .
b kelley , katie .
episode 28 rum runner .
a history of central florida . podcast video , october 1 , 2014 . urltoken
3 . jim stone , my dad , the rum runner ( waterloo , on : north waterloo academic press , 2002 ) p . 19 .
is the autobiography of gertrude lythgoe , a beautiful and enterprising american businesswoman who set up her own wholesale liquor business in nassau , bahamas , and sent shipload after shipload of the finest whiskey to the thirsty america . a woman well before her time , lythgoe earned the respect and admiration of the rum running fraternity and became crowned as the “queen of the bootleggers . ”
mccoy , a non - drinker himself , began running rum from the caribbean to florida shortly after the prohibition began . one encounter with the coast guard shortly thereafter stopped mccoy from completing runs of his own . the innovative mccoy set up a network of smaller ships that would meet his boat just outside u . s . waters and carry his supplies into the country .
this half - hour land and sea documentary reveals how thousands of law abiding citizens of atlantic canada were lured into the alcohol smuggling trade during prohibition in the 1920s and 30s . prohibition was extremely unpopular with many americans and canadians , but for dozens of coastal communities in atlantic canada hard hit by a downturn in the fisheries and still recovering from world war i , it was seen as a golden business opportunity . rum running depicts the larger than life characters and the high stakes role that nova scotia and the french islands of saint pierre and miquelon played during the era . the film explores the social , economic and cultural impact that this illegal activity had on dozens of coastal communities and reveals how the impact of rum running still affects us today .
“prohibition is a time period so unbelievable that most americans today do not understand what , and how , it all happened , ” says robert mckenna , editor of flat hammock press . “it was brought about by a well - organized movement and led to a polarized political and social climate––one not unlike we are experiencing today . the first heroes of this era were the rum - runners , lawbreakers who were viewed as robin hood - like figures . ” mckenna has spent the past five years researching prohibition and rum running , examining period newspaper accounts and u . s . government files , to uncovering the personal journals , photo albums and correspondence of the rum - runners themselves . “for obvious reasons , ” says mckenna , “not much was written about prohibition from the smugglers’ perspective . these six narratives : the real mccoy ; the bahama queen , diary of a rum - runner , confessions of a rum - runner ; rum row , and smugglers of spirits , are mainly all that exists . they are just as gripping and exciting as any adventure novel written then or since . . . and every word is true . ”
san diego , san pedro and santa barbara have become the focal point of the rum runners operating on the pacific coast . . . . it is believed that the bulk of the rum fleet will arrive in southern california waters , literally flooding this part of the state with booze of all descriptions .
the official log book for one of the chief skugaid ' s voyages to rum row , on the document photography table at the bc provincial archives .
the actual rum war at sea was a story of two dueling adaptive networks . until 1924 , the prohibition bureau ran their own ‘dry navy’ of a handful of sub - chasers – this whole enterprise was entirely a disaster , due to poor personnel polices , wholly inadequate imagination , and total ineptitude at sea . in 1924 , the coast guard ( somewhat unhappily ) took on the task . they managed to field a substantial , aggressive , and most importantly highly adaptive force built of everything from speedboats to destroyers . within a few months , they shuttered rum row . soon after , they chased the rum - running networks down to florida ( 1925 - 1927 ) and then across to the great lakes ( 1928 - 1930 . ) the coast guard fought the remnants of the rum - fleet to a stalemate through the early thirties , even after their budgets were cut . the rum trade came back in force one year after repeal , and a recapitalized coast guard fleet ended organized alcohol smuggling in 1936 .
“a huge rum fleet , carrying cargoes valued at several million dollars , is lying off southern california , ” the los angeles times reported in may 1925 .
throughout the prohibition era , there were persistent rumors and newspaper reports that boats—both traditional and the underwater variety—were running rum and other spirits from canada and the caribbean to thirsty american shores . coastal officials investigated these sightings , but also tried to downplay submarine stories , calling them “absurd , ” or reporting that what seemed to be submarine conning towers were , in fact , dorsal fins of dolphin .
rum - running is the inaugural text in a promising series called “stories of our past , ” published by the largest publisher in canada east of toronto , nimbus publishing . it chronicles the period from the early 1920s to the mid - 1930s , when the united states’ rather disastrous experiment with prohibition led to a brisk , profitable ( and dangerous ) smuggling of alcohol from canada and other locales before the act was repealed in 1933 . the atlantic coast stretching from massachusetts down to florida came to be known as rum row . in this geographic area , a line of ships just outside of the twelve - mile jurisdictional limit would off - load cargoes of liquor to faster contact boats in international waters . those contact boats , evading trade within united states jurisdiction , would then bring liquor into america , and criminal organizations would distribute it . an episode in maritime history recently revisited , rum - running is a welcome addition to school library shelves .
repeal , 1933 . franklin delano roosevelt was elected on a platform that included the repeal of that act . he delivered on this promise in the early part of 1933 – the 18 th amendment prohibited ‘intoxicating liquors , ’ while the volstead act defined ‘intoxicating liquors’ as anything 0 . 5 % alcohol by volume . as the 21 st amendment worked its way through the system , the cullen - harrison act reset the volstead definition to 3 . 2 % abv and thereby legalized light beers . this saw a brief drop in liquor traffic , though the trade rebounded quickly . rum - running had almost returned to 1932 levels , at least off of new york , when the 21 st amendment drove rum - running to an absolute low during the case . this lasted for about six months .
silent film , with title cards , of a rum runner voyage from victoria , bc canada , to rum row off the mexican coast , c . 1932 , by richard heurtley reed . courtesy of royal bc museum , bc archives . v1999 : 12 / 001 . 02 grateful acknowledgement is extended to archive staff .
at the time the international limit for authority of a nation was 12 nautical miles from the coast . but us laws said their officials could stop ships suspected of rum running if they were within one hour’s sailing from the coast . this of course caused some confusion , as different ships could travel at different speeds making the “one hour” rule rather nebulous and anywhere from 12 to about 20 miles .
what little of the trade remained had fizzled out by 1936 , with the liquor ships melting back into the nova scotia fishing fleet , or in a few cases , hardening into opium or migrant smugglers . coast guard intelligence ceased tracking suspected rumrunners entirely on account of irrelevance by 1939 . operational life returned to traditional lifesaving missions and routine law - enforcement by 1936 with the end of organized rum - running .
“the steamer mogul , once the pride of san diego ' s rum row , is now on her way home , to vancouver , b . c . , the loser in her long battle with united states customs officers and coast guard . . . . thus has california ' s rum row gasped its last breath . ”
91 year old fisherman charlie tanner tried to join rum runners as a boy . french - owned islands were a crucial stop on the smuggling route to new york .
vancouver , british columbia has a history riddled with controversial decisions , policies , and opportunities . in the 1920s and 30s , if you played your cards right there was money to be made in an enterprise that blurred the lines of legality . when it came to rum - running , legality was based primarily on which side of the border you were standing on and in which directions your money and booze were flowing .
“rum smuggling and gun fights on the shores of palos verdes , ” by dennis piotrowski and monique sugimoto , palos verdes peninsula news , may 29 , 2014 , page 1 .
in addition to smuggling , homemade booze also became a growing phenomenon , and the newspapers began to fill with accounts of arrests of moonshiners as well as bootleggers and rum - runners .
prohibition was unpopular with many americans and canadians , but for dozens of coastal communities in atlantic canada hard hit by a fisheries downturn and recovering from world war i , it was seen as a golden business opportunity . the program depicts the high stakes role that nova scotia and the french islands of st - pierre - miquelon played during the era and explores how the social , economic , and cultural impacts of rum running affects us today . ( 22 minutes )
in the south bay , the palos verdes peninsula became a favorite landing spot for rum running ships who would bring their illicit cargo up from mexico or down from vancouver , canada . ( these days , smugglers in the area are more likely to be carrying illegal immigrants or large quantities of marijuana . ) that area of the peninsula was much less developed than it is today , and its shoreline had lots of remote nooks and crannies suitable for such covert activities .
lawlor goes into considerable detail on how a typical smuggling operation was run , including descriptions of how various vessels were refitted for their new role in smuggling , forms of radio communication , and ingenious diversionary or escape tactics used if boats were caught . she devotes a chapter each to rum running in nova scotia , new brunswick , and prince edward island , identifying the primary movers and shakers in the rum running trade ( everyone from royal navy captains to “booze czars” operating out of hotels to enterprising businessmen ) . she then moves on to detail the ongoing efforts to fight smuggling , such as the canadian preventive service working at cracking down on illicit trade with less effectiveness than the us coast guard . the aftermath of prohibition is also briefly treated , showing how the legal repercussions of millions of dollars of unpaid tariffs by the smugglers are counterbalanced by the government’s not - altogether sterling behaviour in reaping taxes for which refunds are impossible to claim .
perhaps new jersey’s hero was bill mccoy who sailed his schooner up from nassau and cuba loaded with cuban rum that he did not dilute – from this came the term “the real mccoy . “
locally , brothers frank and tony cornero were rumored to be among the organized crime figures involved in the run - running activities . tony cornero would later turn up as the owner of the rex , the notorious gambling ship that operated off the south bay coast during the 1930s . ( link )
law - abiding people in the united states know it only by hear - say ; but there is a basis to the hearsay and the romance is certain . not only the police records of rum ships captured inside the three - mile limit , not only the evidence of one ' s nose and eyes in almost any city of the states , but also the visible and unmistakable evidence of the goodly schooners that hang about just off the three - mile line tell the tale . off atlantic highlands , just south of new york city , or off block island , just east of long island , the rum - running ships from the west indies are as familiar a sight as coastwise freighters .
two fort myers men have been indicted on federal charges that they illegally imported cuban merchandise ? including cigars , cigarettes , coffee and rum ? into the united states as part of a sailboat smuggling venture .
while this article is slanted on the side of those who were rum runners or liked to drink , the coast guard of cape may was much respected , and certainly did its share of catching rum runners . in 1925 , the coast guard caught a cache of liquor valued at $ 100 , 000 . among this haul were cordials , champagne , and whiskey , all found hidden in a former sub chaser .
before there were red states and blue states , there were dry states and wet states––those that banned the sale and transportation of alcohol , and those where such activities were legal . in 1919 , it was the dry states , not the popular vote , which secured approval of the 18 th amendment to the u . s . constitution , prohibiting the manufacture , sale or importation of alcohol . an act to enforce prohibition was then twice passed by a two - thirds vote of the house and senate in order to override the veto of president woodrow wilson . beginning january 16 , 1920 , america was officially dry . an early result of prohibition was the development of a new industry known as rum running , the smuggling of liquor from other countries or nearby islands . at the outset , rum running was primarily the pursuit of individuals , chiefly mariners and fishermen . for these men , most of whom were not hardened criminals , there was high adventure , money to be made , a degree of romance , and a strong sense of fraternity .
for the runners themselves however , it was the final 3 mile stretch within the american border known as the “rum row” that would require all their ingenuity and bravado if supply was to get through . consisting predominantly of caribbean rum , english gin and scotch whisky , the british bahamian port of nassau ( ironically the historic pirate capital of the old world ) quickly became a primary stocking port - of - call where runners could negotiate their purchases in liquor before heading for the rum row . with nassau located just 26 miles due east of miami and a straight shot north to the entire eastern seaboard , it was perfectly located to access anywhere on the american east coast from florida to maine . this busy new trade route established between nassau and the major rum row market off new jersey , became known to all merchants as “the great whiskey way” .
while rum - runners on the pacific coast worked directly from canada , on the atlantic side of the continent they used convenient foreign ports where alcohol could be received for transshipment into the us . the bahamas , cuba , british honduras ( belize ) and bermuda all served as conduits for booze from britain and canada . nassau , the capital of the bahamas , boomed in the early years of prohibition . daniel okrent points out that in the two years before america went dry , 914 gallons of scotch entered the bahamas ; by 1922 that amount had jumped to 386 , 000 gallons . another historian estimates that as much as ten million quarts of liquor passed through nassau in a year . of course , so much liquor was not meant for bahamians . as quickly as it could be transferred to the rum - running vessels it was on its way again , up the coast to “rum row , ” the off - shore marketplace between boston and atlantic city .
liquor distilled in british columbia made it to the thirsty in the pacific northwest through puget sound . with its expansive and various beaches , puget sound was the stage of restless races between coast guards and rum runners .
finally , rum row by robert carse provides wonderful descriptions of the fleets that anchored off the population areas of all coasts , the characters that manned them , and the thrilling and dangerous times on ship and shore .
as a teaser , i submit the following account of the post - repeal suppression campaign , excerpted from my forthcoming dissertation . i also include two animated infographics of capture records and intel reports , respectively . i hope that it will challenge standard conceptions of the rum war , and entice the reader to read further . for further reading , i recommend the standard coast guard account , rum war at sea , by cdr malcolm willoughby .
[ 12 ] lawlor , rum - running . 93 . ‘the customs revenue went down between $ 70 and $ 90m in two years’ – it is unclear whether this is per year or total , but i assumed the former . since the 1930 us dollar was 2 . 07 canadian dollars , dividing by two accounts for the currency conversion . depending on the estimate , this could be cut in half once more if the $ 75 - 90m was an aggregate number . either way , there was some non - trivial sum of smuggling losses .
agents discovered the austrian - flagged boat had numerous hidden compartments constructed for smuggling . they concealed 364 boxes of cuban cigars , 45 bottles of cuban rum , 30 pounds of cuban coffee and 100 cartons of cuban cigarettes .
the rum trade arrived at the perfect time for the small villages of atlantic canada , which were suffering through a cyclical downturn in the fishery . clement hiltz , like so many other young , adventurous men from lunenburg , found it easy to choose between an act that was illegal , but very lucrative , and another season of harvesting cod off the frigid banks of newfoundland . recalls the 90 - year - old , who still lives in lunenburg :
i could make more money running one load of booze than i could in a year on the fishing boats .
the combination of a recapitalized patrol fleet , robust intelligence capabilities , and a burgeoning air fleet formed the final model of the rum war . the commandant explained this fusion of sea , air and intelligence in a 1934 tactics bulletin :
but rumrunners persisted . sightings of liquor - laden ships off southern california continued into the late 1920s . only the repeal of prohibition in 1933 brought an end to the lucrative trade and the 13 - year war against rum row .
in 2013 , a couple years after moving from ontario to new york , schultz resumed writing and imagined a greater role for elsie moss , alfred’s widow , who turns to rum - running herself in a bid for financial security . the characters on these pages are hustlers , and deception emerges as a dominant theme because of how common it was then to break the law . crossing the line is literally and figuratively emphasized by border crossings and the building of the ambassador bridge , which occurred from 1927 until 1929 , a time when civilians and officials alike were disillusioned with prohibition .
in this episode of a history of central florida we spoke with dr . leonard lempel , dr . mark long , and john beale about a rum runner which can be seen along with many other artifacts at the halifax historical museum .
the smugglers risked not only arrest but their very lives . on march 21 , 1929 , a u . s . coast guard cutter sparked a cross - border dispute by firing upon and sinking the lunenburg - registered i ' m alone , which was carrying 2 , 800 cases of liquor while in international waters . one of the smugglers drowned . two years later , american authorities shot a lunenburg skipper , william cluett , who later died , while capturing the nova scotia rum - runner josephine k . at the entrance to new york harbour . and , in 1933 , a canadian agent named john
machine gun
kelly killed a lunenburg man when he opened fire on a small boat unloading booze outside that town ' s harbour .
it was scary out there ,
says hiltz , who took part in six different rum - running voyages before quitting to return to the fishing boats .
i don ' t know who we were more worried about : the coast guard cutters or the gangsters on rum row who wanted to hijack our load .
is the first - hand account of james barbican , a scotsman , who , like many of his countrymen , was out of work following his service fighting the great war . barbican , the pen name of eric sherbrooke walker , found a job , and made a great deal of money , smuggling liquor to the united states . walker later used his rum - running profits to open the treetops hotel in kenya , africa , best - known for being the place where princess elizabeth spent the night of february 5th , 1952 . during the night her father george vi , died and she became queen elizabeth ii .
the fact was , in the midst of the roaring twenties , americans wanted alcohol - - strong alcohol , and lots of it . and no matter how illegal or dangerous it was , bootleggers and rum runners were determined to satisfy the demand .
sandwich town would become a major hub for the illegal alcohol trade . this was all done in spite of the fact that ontario had its own prohibition law entitled the temperance act . by 1928 in the windsor and detroit area there would be as many as 25 , 000 speakeasies , blind pigs , and clubs . while windsor was home to the shadier elements associated with rum running it would also become popular destination for many americans that wished to cross the border simply looking for a good time . windsor was perfectly situated to take full advantage of the criminal and civilian enterprises that would spring up during the prohibition era .
the chief skugaid , riding low in the water with a full load of liquor cases in her two holds . her actual length is 86 feet . no date , from
slow boat on rum row
by fraser miles , harbour publishing , 1992
what started as a small display on prohibition in new jersey at the new jersey maritime museum on dock road , beach haven , has grown and grown . a video is constantly running , bottles are filled with a caramel colored liquid – real or not , we aren’t telling – and photos show that people from cape may to north jersey were not impressed or impeded by prohibition .
starting on a winter night in 1927 , when rum - runner alfred moss appears to have sunk in the detroit river with a carload of scotch and cash , men walking on water tracks the fallout of this loss on a diverse cast that includes a deviant lutheran reverend , an american - born daughter of a chinese gangster , and an earnest teenage rum - runner . but the novel rewrites history with alfred faking his death and assuming new identities to seduce and swindle his way around prohibition - era america .
in 1920 british columbia ended its policy of wartime prohibition , at the same time that the united states enacted the 18 th amendment to the american constitution . this constitutional amendment “completely bann [ ed ] the manufacture , sale , importation , and transportation of alcoholic beverages” in the united states . 1 thus arose an opportunity for canadians to lend a hand to their thirsty neighbours to the south , while making some money at the same time . this opportunity was seized in cities throughout canada , including vancouver , in the form of rum - running . henry reifel , and later his two sons , emerged as a major player in this enterprise .
another place we were searching the water tap was where the rum came out . you turn the hot water tap and rum would come out of a big tank in the wall . they had some good caches ; they were ingenious really . then lots of times you’d come along at night and you’d stop a car and there’d be a keg in the trunk or in the backseat . there was a bootlegger in every community . sold it out of his house , out of his barn , out of his field . everywhere . just as soon as we found one hide they made a better one . and there was no stigma to being a bootlegger and handling contraband rum . everybody did it . there was nothing morally wrong . . . they weren’t criminals , eh ?
the innovation of americans to get what they want is evident in the resourcefulness used to obtain alcohol during prohibition . this era saw the rise of the speakeasy , home distiller , bootlegger , rum - runner , and many of the gangster myths associated with it .
the liquor smuggling business included a complicated system of transport , communication , and legal manoeuvring . the primary rum - running operations out of vancouver did not take place over land borders , but instead used marine transport . this maritime smuggling operation took place primarily on the coast of the western united states , with a lot of action taking place on the coast of california , on what became known as “rum row . ” 2 since exporting liquor from canada was not illegal , yet importing it into the united states was , ships would leave vancouver with stated destinations that were not actually the intended destinations of their loads . 3 one option of transport ships was to “short circuit” in which a destination was never reached , but instead the ship would unload somewhere and wait the appropriate amount of time before returning to port . 4 another option was reaching a port other than in the united states , receiving documentation , but not unloading the ship’s cargo there . this would allow the cargo to reach its american destination , but appear to have been delivered elsewhere . 5 when united states pressure caused canada to formally change law to more strictly ensure that cargo was actually unloaded at the ships’ destinations , rum - runners began choosing ports such as tahiti , where they knew officials would continue to sign off on the cargo without actually receiving any , after which the liquor would be delivered to the united states as originally intended . 6 ‘mother ships , ’ as they were referred to by rum - runners , carrying large loads of alcohol would leave port and dock far off the coast . smaller ships would then come and offload the liquor . in addition to moving faster than the heavy ‘mother ships , ’ the small transport ships reduced the risk of losing large loads of alcohol should anything happen to the transport ship on route to shore . 7 the malahat was a ‘mother ship’ for a vancouver based rum - running corporation , and is indicative of the type of ship used in such operations . 8 the smugglers used coded transmissions and communications to prevent being intercepted , and had to constantly adapt their methods to keep ahead of attempts from authorities to break their codes . 9
the one man who could be trusted was captain william mccoy , who is credited for establishing rum row . his schooner “arethusa” was open for business 24 hours a day for anyone with the balls to paddle out to her . while other rum runners would water down their goods , mccoy was known for his fair prices , selling real , quality goods like johnny walker red and bacardi brought from two small french - owned islands off the coast of newfoundland . his product , so the legend goes , became known as “the real mccoy . ”
the books describe , in various forms , how rum - runners employed vessels of all descriptions , from fishing schooners , rust - streaked tramp steamers , luxury yachts , even retired navy ships , and set out from ports in europe , the bahamas , bermuda , cuba , jamaica , even the french islands of st . pierre and miquelon , loaded with scotch , rye , gin , bourbon , champagne and brandy , and headed for the major cities of the united states . this flotilla , known as “rum row , ” rode at anchor outside the limits of u . s . law enforcement , their holds wide open , ready , willing and able to do business with anyone who would come out to buy their liquor . intrepid individuals in small craft would come out from the beaches , inlets and bays to these floating liquor stores and offload case after case . “the profits were enormous , and cash was thick , ” says mckenna . “business went on around the clock ; with times being so busy that the deck of a rum - runner could look like the floor of the new york stock exchange . ” and as to risks , there simply weren’t any . the limit of u . s . jurisdiction was three miles . the coast guard was powerless to do anything and the crews of the rum running vessels would taunt the enforcement officials by offering them bottles of liquor , and serenading them with songs like “how dry i am” and “what do you do with a drunken sailor . ”
there were many rum rows along the american seaboard , all of them hovering in close proximity to the great ports with their big populations . the heaviest concentration of ships anchored off new jersey and long island , handy to the approaches to the great port of new york .
the booze ban officially went into effect on january 16 , 1920 , and literally the following day montauk’s waters were populated with trafficking ships from nova scotia , england , and cuba , smuggling everything from canadian whiskey to jamaican rum . the boats would lurk 12 miles offshore , just past us territorial waters , in a line - up that became known as rum row . because of its harbors , bays , and inlets , along with its proximity to new york city , the east end was the perfect location for this kind of illegal activity .
then on march 20 , the coast guard ship walcott lucked into spotting the notorious vessel which had so long eluded them . several miles off the louisiana coast , ( the distance disputed but apparently just inside us waters ) the american cutter uss walcott hailed the im alone . the american ordered randell to stop , which was refused , and the schooner headed further into the gulf with the wolcott in pursuit two hours later and very safely in international waters , the us captain was allowed aboard the schooner where he and randelll talked . randell advising the american that the schooner was now outside us jurisdiction and had also not broken the rum running treaty between the us and britain and would not surrender .
in the 1920’s a nova scotia registered schooner , the i’m alone became very well - known to us authorities as a rum runner . the ship , captained by an experienced newfoundland captain was able to escape and frustrate the us coast guard chasers time and time again for six years
within a year the saint - pierre waterfront was transformed into a bustling metropolis with cargoes of scotch arriving from scotland , irish whiskey from ireland , champagne from france , rum from demerara , and rye and bourbon from canada . while vessels waited to take on a load their crews took advantage of the several bars on shore to drink and gamble . the demand for warehouse space soon outstripped the supply and every available building on the island was commandeered for storage . so many jobs were available loading and unloading the crates of liquor and working on the launches that carried the booze down to rum row that the locals abandoned the fishery altogether . eventually the fish - packing plant had to close ; it became a liquor storehouse instead . in 1923 more than a thousand vessels left saint - pierre for rum row carrying six million bottles of hooch .
leading the list of books is the real mccoy , the story of rum - runner bill mccoy , the florida boatbuilder turned national hero whose quality liquor and fair dealing perpetuated the phrase , “it’s the real mccoy . ” for nearly four years mccoy slaked the thirst of the nation while leading authorities on a merry chase . he pioneered new smuggling methods , founded the notorious rum row , and built a bootlegging empire that made millions of dollars . in all his dealings mccoy remained personable and trustworthy and true to his standard that the liquor he carried be the best .
in the end the reifels escaped their legal issues with the united states short $ 700 000 , but without criminal charges . the reifel’s may have lost some money , a large amount especially in the 1930s , however it did not prevent them from funding or operating many prominent and well - known establishments throughout vancouver and the lower mainland . these include such places as the commodore ballroom , the vogue and studio theatres , the multi - million dollar mansion casa mia , and the george c . reifel migratory bird sanctuary . the legacy of the reifel’s and their ventures in rum - running , provide insight into vancouver’s diverse past as well as an era of hazy legality , fast flowing booze , and great opportunity .


rowse honey ltd is a united kingdom honey manufacturer .

its products are stocked by major supermarket chains and other stores .

they also supply kellogg 's with honey for use in breakfast cereals .

other products include lemon curd and maple syrup .

rowse honey

rowse honey - hithercroft road rowse honey was established in 1954 by tony rowse in ewelme . he moved it to a purpose - built factory in wallingford in 1971 , and the chairmanship passed to his son richard rowse . rowse honey - a family history
rowse clear honey is the perfect all - rounder from breakfast to baking , in our traditional rowse hexagonal jar .
“rowse honey is the uk brand leader in honey and pure maple syrups . ”
rowse organic clear honey is from organic agriculture and certified by the soil association .
the rowse product selection not only includes 30 types of honey but also maple syrup .
rowse relaunched our brand with a new - look logo and packaging . rowse also launched supahoney – a blend of manuka honey and clear honey , the perfect winter warmer .
rowse pure honey and lemon lozenges with vitamin c are delicious and convenient to carry around .
rowse started in 1938 when a chap called tony rowse started beekeeping at his home in ewelme , oxfordshire . he enjoyed it so much he decided to try and make a living from his hobby . and so , rowse honey was born .
tony loved beekeeping so much he turned his hobby into a business and rowse honey was born .
tony rowse began beekeeping in a shed in ewelme , oxfordshire in 1938 and he formed the rowse honey company in the village in 1954 , in 1971 it became a limited company .
rowse greek honey is herbal and earthy , and has bold notes of liquorice , aniseed and malt .
rowse launched manuka honey into british supermarkets , making it accessible to all for the very first time .
rowse clear squeezy honey is the uk ' s best - selling honey , the perfect all - rounder from breakfast to baking .
rowse light & mild honey has a milder taste , making it the perfect choice for those who prefer a lighter honey flavour .
rowse orange blossom honey has a warm amber colour . this honey is zesty , with a soft citrus aroma and floral notes .
rowse acacia honey is light in colour , fruity and has a typical waxy flavour and vanilla back notes .
rowse honey limited . free business summary taken from official companies house information . free alerts . registered as 01024018
rowse honey with a hint of cinnamon , the perfect way to add sweetness and flavour at the same time .
rowse supahoney™ is deliciously sweet and subtly herbal , and contains a blend of 5 + npa manuka honey and clear honey . natural winter defence
rowse clear organic honey is deliciously sweet and fruity - we source it only from apiaries accredited by the soil association .
rowse australian honey is rich and fruity , with naturally occurring notes of toffee , rum & raisin and christmas pudding .
“in 2003 rowse decided to replace all of its separate systems with a single integrated solution . ”
rowse was sold to valeo foods who specialise in wholesome , nutritious and fun family food brands .
rowse new zealand clover is light in colour , this is a velvety and glossy set honey , with a buttery flavour .
rowse wildflower honey is sweet and rich in flavour , and is made by bees who forage on the nectar of wildflowers .
following the original redesign of rowse honey by brandopus in 2010 , the brand saw a significant uplift in sales . now the nation’s best - selling spread and leading honey brand , it was time to create an iconic new presentation for rowse that would underpin their status as the foremost experts in honey , and which would help educate consumers about the different usage occasions that rowse honey has to offer .
pure & natural clear honey ; pure & natural set honey ; organic set honey ; organic clear honey ; fairtrade clear honey and light & mild honey .
our brands have histories stretching back over 150 years , including jacob ' s , rowse & balconi .
brandopus has unveiled a bold , iconic redesign of rowse honey . the work continues the five - year relationship between agency and brand , and comes shortly after the grocer revealed that rowse has toppled marmite as britain’s best - selling spread .
rowse npa manuka honey is guaranteed 100 % pure and authentic . we blend our 5 + manuka with clear honey to create supahoney™ , the perfect winter warmer .
rowse cut comb in acacia honey contains a chunk of honeycomb in clear acacia honey . it ' s made by bees feeding from the nectar of acacia flowers .
john bennett , engineering manager of rowse honey , said : “various types of honey are processed at rowse , so we decided to replace the original bulk storage system with separate vessels that could handle a number of processes simultaneously . this would provide us with greater flexibility and individual product control .
rowse set honey is well rounded , velvety , rich and has a naturally occurring buttery flavour with distinct fruity back notes . perfect for spreading !
kirstie jamieson , marketing director at rowse honey says of the new look , “rowse honey has enjoyed amazing success over the last 5 years and it is critical that we maintain the brand momentum . our continued partnership with brandopus is integral to this to increase consumer understanding of the many exciting and varied uses for honey . ”
the nearest competition in the uk market is the gales brand marketed by food giant nestle . the rowse honey company was established in oxfordshire in 1954 by the rowse family with only small premises and a handful of staff to manage beehives ( it was little more than a cottage industry ) .
in 2003 rowse decided to replace all of its separate systems with a single integrated solution . this allowed a common set of data to be easily accessed and shared throughout the company . after evaluating a number of systems in depth , rowse chose an erp ( enterprise resource planning ) solution from index that addressed all of rowse’s core requirements and integrated all of the various elements of the business .
rowse organic set honey is well rounded , with a melt - in - the - mouth , buttery feel and fresh back notes . certified by the soil association .
this ad was homemade by our very own rowse staff . like it ? get it on national television by voting for it here urltoken
in september 2006 wellness foods ( backed by swiss - based private equity firm lydian capital whose investors include irish horseracing tycoons john magnier and jp mcmanus ) purchased the rowse honey company for an estimated £70–75m . wellness foods , which was founded in 2005 , added rowse to its portfolio of healthy food brands .
the company became limited in 1971 to form rowse honey company ltd . in 1987 , tony rowse , the founder , passed responsibility for the business to his son richard and the company moved to a new factory ( 30 , 000ft² ) in wallingford , which now refines and processes more than 30 types of honey from all over the world .
try your hand at oh - so - cute animal toast with banana , blueberries , almonds and deliciously spreadable rowse set honey . we ' d love to see snaps !
modernghana can authoritatively report that some ghanaian distributors and sale agents of the world acclaimed , rowse natural honey from the uk , have been faking the originally made natural product .
the term “raw” isn’t recognised in the eu honey regulations and we believe the term is misleading , therefore it is not used by rowse in its labelling , marketing or website .
rowse 5 + npa manuka honey is guaranteed 100 % pure and authentic . we measure our manuka honey using the npa activity rating system - the higher the npa rating , the higher the non - peroxide activity .
rowse 10 + npa manuka honey is guaranteed 100 % pure and authentic . we measure our manuka honey using the npa activity rating system - the higher the npa rating , the higher the non - peroxide activity .
rowse 15 + npa manuka honey is guaranteed 100 % pure and authentic . we measure our manuka honey using the npa activity rating system - the higher the npa rating , the higher the non - peroxide activity .
if you’re a journalist that wants to write about rowse , or if you need information about honey , bees or beekeeping , please contact rowsehoney @ urltoken and we’ll be able to help you .
the staff at rowse honey have written , acted and filmed six of their ads . why not like your favourite ad and help it be the one that appears on the tv in april .
a sample of the product , ( pictured ) which is currently in the possession of modernghana , has apparently been diluted with pure white sugar being sold out as the original rowse organic natural honey .
1 . this promotion is only open to residents of the uk who are aged 18 or over . so that we are completely fair , anyone professionally connected to rowse honey is not allowed to enter .
the eu honey regulations don’t allow honey packers to heat honey to pasteurization temperatures as this may destroy the natural enzymes that have to be present to be lawfully declared as honey .
the upgrade of the rowse facility has not ended with the new processing and storage vessels . the company has also purchased a homogeniser as well as other equipment from cps .
this is nice tasting honey . my favorite though is the dark almost black buckwheat honey .
the company was also impressed with the flexibility of the system and chose to specify a number of enhancements to exactly match the system to the unique processes within honey manufacture . the system operates in multiple currencies to handle rowse’s purchase of honey from all over the world .
in early 2007 rowse honey installed seven processing vessels from carlisle process systems ( cps has now been sold to tetra pak ) to improve production versatility for the company’s range of branded and own - label honeys . the continued growth of the company along with ongoing product innovation meant rowse required a new processing line to handle the increased demand for honey , while maintaining the extremely high product quality required by customers , which include all the major uk supermarkets .
all our honeys arrive at rowse in their natural state and we gently warm them through to filter out bee wax or hive parts . the honey we pack into our bottles and jars is pure and natural and never pasteurized .
at rowse honey , we adhere to strict standards that are set within the honey industry and local legislation at all times . before rowse accepts any honey , it must undergo a number of tests in both its home country and in the uk . every batch is also independently tested in an accredited laboratory . the honey we buy is not released for sale until it passes these stringent tests which include screening for a comprehensive list of pesticide residues , as well as necessary standards of traceability , transparency and authenticity like sugar syrup adulteration checks and antibiotic residue testing .
honey is a thick , golden liquid produced by honey bees , using the nectar of plants .
sourwood honey is the best i’ve ever had . i’m looking forward to trying the acacia honey .
fake natural honey sold in ghana . . . watch out for sugar mixed with natural honey !
rowse travels the world to find naturally delicious honeys and their expertise is in knowing where to look for the best nectar sources . it ' s their nature to try and please every taste , so they gather honey from 16 different countries to provide a huge range of honey varieties .
i love acacia honey . however , to me , black forest honey is the best ! but each type of honey is so unique , there really cannot be a “best” honey , could there ?
in 1938 , our founder tony rowse started beekeeping in a small shed in ewelme , oxfordshire as a hobby and he loved it so much he formed the rowse honey company . before long , tony was sourcing honey from beekeepers all over the uk , then from all over the world . in the 1980s , we had grown so big we moved to wallingford , oxfordshire ( close to ewelme ) and tony handed over the reins to his son richard . years later , we are very proud to be the nation ' s favourite honey !
rowse clear squeezy honey is the uk’s best - selling honey , the perfect all - rounder from breakfast to baking . with its medium to warm amber colour , this honey has a flavour reminding of mild caramel and distinctive fruity back notes . brilliant for breakfast ! delicious on porridge , granola , yoghurt , pancakes , waffles & fruit , or to sweeten drinks .
yes , acacia honey is truly the best in the world . have eaten hungarian acacia honey and loved it .
by far yemen sidr honey is the best honey i ever tried . much better than manuka honey . however , it is worth trying both if you can afford it 😉
we also launched our campaign for real manuka . there is some manuka out on the market that isn’t the real deal . but with rowse , you can be sure it is genuine – read our manuka pledge here .
in the boardroom of britain ' s biggest honey packer , rowse - based in the oxfordshire town of wallingford , at the heart of britain ' s
honey valley
- operations director brian butcher says that for legitimate blenders ,
the trouble is there are so many places in the world where people are selling dodgy honey . once you spot a problem area , it moves elsewhere .
you know what makes me smile and what can a make a day for a stay at home mummy like me ? having a box of yummy cupcakes along with a jar of honey delivered ! rowse honey have a new campaign out which part of that was sending out yummy treats to some mummy bloggers ; these guys know how to make good friends .
this citrusy supahoney™ is a blend of 5 + npa manuka honey , clear honey and natural lemon oil . natural winter defence
i have to say that acacia is one of the best tasting honey… i just had some romanian acacia honey… . delicious .
acacia honey sourced from robeinia pseudo acacia , is really best in taste and in benifits i have tasted acacia honey of ashmir india . it was really ing of honey , , , ,
four of the seven vessels installed by cps are used for storing various types of honey ; two are for processing seed honey and one buffer vessel is being used for processing sauce on the hot product line . in addition to the standard equipment requirements , cps was required to design the vessels for a very small footprint as additional space at the rowse premises was limited .
we have continued to source the best quality and most delicious honeys from england and beyond for over 70 years . you could say we know a quite bit about honey ! millions of honey lovers across the country trust rowse to top their toast every morning . straight from the bees to your porridge bowl , it’s a delicious and natural way to wake up your breakfast .
this type of honey is sold in europe as acacia honey , but in the united states it is sold as american acacia or locust honey . this type of honey comes from the “false acacia” or black locust tree ( robinia pseudoacacia ) and seldom from acacia species at all . also , many confuse it with the honey locust ( gleditsia triacanthos ) , which does not produce honey .
rowse honey has built up a specialist team of sensory panellists who approve all honeys to specific recipes depending on taste profiles and the natural colour of the honey . some honeys can be fruity as well as sweet , others can be slightly smoky , or taste of butterscotch , candy floss or toffee . we carefully choose different types of honey to achieve a final product that is consistent in flavour , colour , aroma and texture all year round .
in 2002 rowse invested in a sidel rotary filler / capper monobloc for their pet plastic container line for liquid honey from f jahn and company ltd . the sidel rotary filler is equipped with a ‘bottom - up’ filling system and anti - drip devices to ensure a clean fill with no contamination of the container rim .
no , our honey is gently heated below pasteurisation temperatures simply to remove any debris from the hives . our honey is classfied unpasteurised .
rowse honey specially selects honeys from all over the world , from sources including south america , europe , australia , new zealand and asia , to produce a pure and natural honey that is consistent in flavour , colour , aroma and texture all year round . we do this by working with our supply base and bee keepers to follow the harvest and secure the correct quality honey . eu legislation stipulates we can only purchase honey from approved countries and also states we label it with either eu , non - eu , or both origins .
i’ve never tried acacia honey but after reading your comments , i’m ordering some today . leather bark honey from tasmania , is also pretty good .
plus , as the uk’s favourite honey brand , it goes without saying that we love honey bees and we believe it’s everyone’s responsibility to give something back to the wonderful creatures that do so much for us . did you know that bees pollinate one third of the fruit and veg that you eat ? click the link at the top right of this page to read about the work that rowse do to save the bees .
rowse , in 1993 , expanded its raw material warehousing by 10 , 000ft² and in 2001 added a new 20 , 000ft² finished goods warehouse and new offices . the company which has remained in the family until recently now employs over 100 people and has a turnover of over £35m .
through the years , rowse had evolved a number of different systems to address different aspects of the company’s business . in the main , these systems were not integrated , so data often had to be entered more than once . the systems also relied heavily on manual processes and paperwork .
since its formation in 2010 , valeo foods has successfully completed multiple acquisitions across ireland , the uk and continental europe , adding to our portfolio of market leading products and brands that includes jacob ' s , rowse and balconi , whose histories stretch back over a century and a half .
meanwhile , another phenomenon has been adding to the turbulence in the global honey market - ultrafiltered or
uf
honey . first noticed in the us , it is honey with almost everything taken out , including the impurities .
rowse breakfast honeys are 100 % pure and natural - just like nature intended : with nothing added and none of the natural goodness taken away . they are perfect for waking up your breakfast , naturally and come in glass jars and squeezy bottles , as well as set and clear varieties .
how many of you have ever tasted acacia honey ? do you think it is the best honey in the world ? if not , what is the best honey in the world , in your opinion ? leave a comment below .
hi karyn : that’s interesting about your hating honey until you tried a kind you really liked . my sister used to hate honey – now she uses it each day in her cup of tea . she really loves creamed honey 🙂
china challenges all attempts to brand its exporters as honey launderers , or its industry as the sole source of contaminated honey .
it is just not fair to immediately classify as chinese honey anything containing chloramphenicol ,
it says .
a detailed official statement to the guardian throws the chloramphenicol allegations back at other honey producers :
antibiotic in honey is a global problem , not just a problem to china ,
it says , adding that the industry organisation apimondia convened a world conference in germany two years ago to discuss this problem , after a survey of the international honey industry reported that
sulfonamides were found in canadian honey , tetracycline and streptomycin in american , mexican and argentine honey , miticides and insecticides in american honey and chloramphenicol in chinese and european honey .
if the look of these cakes have you craving some honey goodness why not try out this homemade honey cake recipe from the diary of a frugal family .
hi constantin : glad to meet a fellow honey lover . what an excellent thing you are doing – taking care of bees so they make more honey ! ! i agree with what you say about the organic honey – bees must be fed honey and not sugar over the winter . keep up the great work !
honey has been used by many different cultures all over the world for as long there have been people to collect it from honey bees . early humans discovered how good honey was as a natural fuel and it has remained popular ever since .
beverly thank you for you insight concerning acacia honey . i got some imported from sweden . i’ve eaten probably about every kind of honey there is . i used to think tupelo or sage was the best . this acacia blossom honey mild has to be on top of my 60 plus years of honey eating . thanks again
christopher : you will simply love acacia honey . haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like it ; unless , of course , they just don’t like honey . enjoy 🙂
archaeologists have found jars of crystallised honey in tombs in egypt , and scrolls of papyrus detailing how to use honey to heal wounds . even thousands of years later , scientists have analysed the quality of the honey and have found that it is still an effective anti - bacterial ointment . the ancient egyptians would even sacrifice honey to the nile god and ramses iii once offered 14 , 000 kg of honey to the river .
honey is a by - product of bees so suitability is down to individual preference .
i just had organic romanian acacia honey on my pancakes . i came across your blog when i googled for this ‘new’ honey to me . i was skeptical when i saw this pale coloured honey on the supermarket shelf but now i’m glad i bought it . i’d been drinking coffee without sugar because i don’t want to take too much sugar , but will definately try with this honey . also will replace the sugar i used for the pancake batter with this honey too . thanks for the infos about this honey !
hi , acacia honey , linden honey and forest flower honey from romania are the best . it’s a 2000 years old tradition in the region and the people still use traditional methods to extract the honey . no processing . the best advantage is that romania still has virgin forests and a very fertile soil making this landscape paradise for bees and beekeepers . i am romanian but live abroad and i always bring honey from back home… as silly as it may seem to travel 14 hours with jars of honey : ) ) )
of all the honey i’ve tasted , i’d have to say that acacia honey is right up there in terms of what really makes me happy 🙂 what is the best honey in the world ? many consider it to be just that ! read all about this amazing honey below and see if it tempts you to run out and buy a jar .
honey never really goes off as it contains a high amount of natural sugar . we print best before dates on all our packaging and recommend that the honey is consumed before this date . we also recommended that you keep you honey in a cupboard at room temperature .
raw honey organic . the best i have ever bought it is solid like hard butter .
the existing tanks at the rowse facility were not deemed robust enough to cope with the increased production volume . it was vital that the cps vessels were designed and manufactured to handle the heavy duty processing required . bennett added : “the quality of the vessels and mixers was obvious from first sight and they have been working very well since then . ”
you can never say your honey is a particular kind of honey or is free of pesticides until you look at the honey under a microscope . i am a bee keeper and i have no idea where my bees go since they will travel three to five miles to forge .
acacia for sure is one of the best , all pure honeys are just amazing . have u ever tried , ziziphus mauritiana honey its also very good . good writing about acacia honey .
i first had it in my other’s hometown in italy and it was instant love ! this is my favorite honey to use although any honey that the carfagani family makes is truly delicious .
hi maureen : thanks for the website . i’m happy that you’re excited to try the different kinds of honey . there are many varietals and they are all unique . enjoy your honey 🙂
hi mirjana : thanks for your insightful comments about honey . the honey from croatian island of hvar sounds amazing and very therapeutic . i’d love to try it someday . thanks for stopping by !
i absolutely love acacia honey , i just got a beautiful honeycomb in the mail today that i bought as a christmas present . is it the best honey in the world ? in my opinion , it’s a close second , outranked only by the buttery goodness of the amazing tupelo honey !
i grew up with this honey and sooo missed it . it will be in my kitchen always
my cousin just sent me a couple jars of acacia honey with sprigs of mountain pine in them from italy . haven’t tasted it yet . raw mesquite honey is my fav at the moment .
hi xuxa : thanks for explaining a bit about hungarian acacia vs bulgarian acacia honey . many people have a favorite acacia based on their personal criteria . in any event , acacia honey is awesome 🙂
russell : that’s the kind i am currently using for my honey / vinegar / tea tonics . it is “creamed” raw honey , and yes , it looks like butter . it’s very good ! !
this honey is a great tasting honey , it has a pure natural taste i use mine on my toast and cornflakes and its very delicious , in fact it is exactly as described by the manufacture .
raw acacia honey is one of my favourite . it’s pure , fragrant and very healthy . rich in anti - inflammatory properties and can be used for skincare as well as just eating however , only raw acacia honey has health the benefits . i think hungarian acacia honey is the best of all ! 🙂
hi alberto : love and respect beekeepers around the globe ! ! appreciate your input about acacia honey .
hi slary : what a neat present to receive – a jar of honey . enjoy it ! !
it’s not the healthiest ( multifloral honey is ) but it’s good for cooking and it is the slowest to crystalize . if you live in europe you can buy acacia honey from www . numacalca . ro
acacia honey is tied for my favorite with sunflower ! ! i hated honey my whole life until i tried acacia . now that i’ve moved back to the u . s . i’m searching for it !
you got a nice jar of acacia honey ? you fortunate thing 🙂 enjoy every drop of it .
there are so many varieties of honey from all over the world . some honeys are from a single flower or blossom and others are blended from different sources . depending on where the honey is from and which nectar was used by the bees , the honey will have a different colour , taste and texture .
during the two - year eu ban , the disappearance of legal chinese honey caused upheaval . for years it had been a basic ingredient in blended honeys because of its sweetness and cheapness ; now packers worldwide switched to argentine , mexican and east - european honey . yet chloramphenicol - tainted honey kept turning up .
i have a very important question to ask , does this honey come from the bee or not ? i’m asking this because my wife has a severe allergic reaction to the natural honey . thanks in advance !
hi abdul : i going to have to agree with you . each honey is so unique and people’s taste are too . it’s impossible to say what honey is the best . but acacia honey , in my opinion , is right up there at the top ( lol ) . thanks so much for stopping by .
hi laura : not silly at all to travel 14 hours with jars of honey ! ! it’s wonderful to find a great acacia honey where you know the origin and that tastes amazing . enjoy your honey and i hope you don’t run out . if you do that’s a good reason to make a trip back home 🙂
thanks for all the information , i know more about honey now than i did 30 minutes ago . .
where can i buy acacia honey ? i’m a starving prisoner in north korea and will be free in approximately nine years time – i have never tasted honey so am looking forward to this taste when i have completed my interment at kaechon concentration camp . do you recommend an outlet in north korea where honey can be purchased .
so , as you can see , acacia honey has quite an impressive “resume” . but , my friend , the only way to find out if it’s the best honey in the world , is to taste it . 🙂
hello maria : thanks for sharing your experience with acacia honey . i have never sucked honey from the flower , but i would absolutely love to try it ! the fried flowers are excellent , too , i’m sure 🙂
i’ve just been given two bottles of organic raw acacia honey bought in the america . this honey apparently comes from india , the himalayas certified by ecocert . it’s bottled in the united states . tow things i find strange about it , one that its called acacia honey these trees do not grow in the himalayas , not even real acacia grows there but certainly not “false acacia” which is what is used to make acacia honey . secondly it doesn’t taste anything like acacia honey , slightly bland with a strange slightly bitter after taste like citrus oil almost . im wondering what and where this honey really comes from ? ! it’s mildly granulated honey and quite dark , two other characteristics completely unlike acacia honey ? ! anyone know ? buyer beware ! it says collected from the wild but certainly as far as i know there aren’t commercialy available quantities of this in the wild even to be selling all over the world ? the honey there is incredibly difficult to collect for domestic use never mind export .
all honey coming into the uk is checked on entry by port health authority including random testing and must meet or exceed the compositional standards for honey as defined in the uk and european regulations . we carefully test every batch of our incoming supplies of all honeys to ensure their purity before we pack them into jars to give our consumers the best pure and natural honey . these checks include necessary standards of traceability , transparency , authenticity . we are very clear in the raw material specification that all the honey must comply with the honey regulations of 2015 .
anton : the characteristics you describe are very strange indeed for acacia honey because this type of honey is very light in color and does not granulate very easily . you may try to contact them ( see if they have a webpage ) and ask questions about their honey . please report back as i’m interested in what they say .
interestingly enough , there is quite a bit of confusion about where this honey actually comes from . acacia honey is from the black locust tree , ( also called “false” acacia ) native to north america . this tree is also found in europe , and in this region , it is called acacia , although the honey does not come from true acacias . in fact , in america , this honey is sometimes labeled black locust or american acacia .
according to butcher , who is also chairman of the honey association , a trade body , the british importers and packers who actually put most of the honey into the jars are on top of the problem .
now we test everything and we stick with suppliers we know and trust . when they found contaminated moldovan honey , every honey packer in the uk knew about it within the day . we are confident nothing will get through .
this product - as distinct from the
fine - filtered honey
marketed in britain by companies such as gales - is , according to most honey experts , not honey at all . instead it is
a sweetener derived from honey
- honey that has been diluted with gallons of water , heated up to a high temperature , passed through an ultra - fine ceramic or carbon filter , and then evaporated down to a syrup again . in the process , every trace of impurity - including , some believe , traces of chloramphenicol - are removed .
in many ways , this makes honey similar to wine or whisky – even small changes in climate , time of year , rainfall and temperature can produce differences in the honey at the end of the process . in wine , this is known as ‘terroir’ and we can think of honey in much the same way . different ‘terroir’ produces different honey and because the season and weather is always changing , no two honeys will ever be quite the same .
the cosy - sounding world of honey - redolent of toasted crumpets and jars with flowery labels in country shops - has been going through turbulent times . when northumbrian honey farmer willie robson blew the whistle on a fellow beekeeper , richard brodie , for potting argentine honey and passing it off as scottish borders honey , the court case that resulted last week before berwick - on - tweed magistrates exposed some of the tough realities of an intensely competitive international business .
our organic honey comes from approved supply bases all over the world . as we pack the honey in the uk the certifying body that we choose to use is the soil association . this is why the statement regarding their approved apiaries is present on our label . this statement applies to organic honey from any country , hence all organic honey must meet the same strict standards . any company that exports honey will be certified by an organic body . ( the body that they use does not necessarily have to be from the country the honey is from ) . we then have to supply the certifying body details to the soil association , who check the standards being used meet their requirements . if they do , we are authorised to use the honey with the soil association logo . we are audited by the soil association on a regular basis and checking that the certifying bodies are approved by them forms part of this audit . in addition to the soil association standards we also test organic honey on delivery to us in the same way that we test non - organic honey . this ensures that it is fully compliant to the uk honey regulations .
the honey association ' s technical adviser is peter martin , an expert on pollen analysis whose hobby is learning mandarin chinese and who keeps a freezer full of honey samples from all over the world in his kitchen . martin has travelled three times to visit chinese honey farms and is struggling to master the language because , he says , he believes the future for safe honey lies in persuading the chinese to produce it , not just telling the chinese to keep their honey to themselves . martin has never found chloramphenicol in any samples sent to him for analysis by british packers .
the different flowers that honeybees visit can affect the colour , flavour and even aroma of the honey produced . clever beekeepers can control the types of flowers that bees visit and , in turn , effect the type of honey produced .
i have read in some sources that this honey does not actually come from the acacia tree , but instead from the black locust . is this true ? is this the same for north american as well as european acacia honey ?
one reason that brodie ' s scam rang food - safety bells is that argentine honey has come under scrutiny in recent times . for while brodie represented small - time honey laundering , argentina is among a number of nations suspected by eu and other industry sources of having laundered on a larger scale honey that is not their own in recent years .
i am from tennessee and my grandfather always made honey . i am now an expat in the middle east which has tons of honey . i bought acacia in hopes i could get a flavor like home and it tastes just like his .
in the export market there was a dramatic increase in honey on offer from vietnam , for instance , where the bees had gone into such an overdrive that a country not known as a significant honey exporter had thousands of tons for sale . and there was something else . thomas heck , a director of the leading british honey importer kimpton brothers , recalls being offered a container - load of vietnamese honey two years ago .
standard vietnamese honey is dark , but this was white ,
he said .
it wasn ' t from one of our usual suppliers . we turned it down .
thanks for your post . i´m beekeeper in spain and acacia honey is not well - known . only in north spain there are some small production , but in those years with too much rain in june , beehives can not collect a single drop of acacia - robinia nectar . most of spanish population don´t know this honey and only take other local honey . thanks
as you mentioned , there is much confusion over where this honey comes from . the black locust tree is sometimes referred to as “pseudo acacia” . or”false acacia” . even though this tree is native to the united states , you can find it in europe , too . most honey labeled acacia honey is from this tree , even though it isn’t technically an acacia .
hi john : i’d love to taste yemen sidr honey as i heard it was very , very good . i like manuka honey more for skin care and other medical applications . i rarely eat it because it tastes too strong for my liking .
hi david : please do let us know of your results with honey after a month . i appreciate your stopping by 🙂
bruce boynton , chief executive of america ' s national honey board , told the guardian :
i am not aware of chloramphenicol - contaminated honey entering the us any more . now it looks like they have found a way to remove the contamination . at least some of the stuff coming in from china appears to be something other than honey .
in a test by the board earlier this year , nine out of 69 samples taken from american supermarket shelves proved to be uf honey .
hello ! i am a diabetic and since you mentioned this honey is good for diabetics i wonder if you know how many grams of sugar is in this honey compared to others ? … . and does it not raise the blood sugar in diabetics ?
thanks for sharing your experience with acacia honey . it is definitely on the top of my list as one of the very best honeys ! a bowl of nuts , yogurt , fruit and honey is one of my favorite all time treats , yummy 🙂
a very nice tasting honey but when they arrived they were all crstalised a natural thing i suppose but no matter how i tried to heat the jars in hot water they would never clear . a very good honey and cheaper to buy in bulk a jar of this honey in supermarkets is about £3 . 60 each so multiply that by six . good value ! ! ! ! !
we all know that honey is made by bees , after collecting nectar from flowers . but did you know that different nectars produce different types of honey ? which is lucky for us , because this means that we get loads of different flavours to try !
i just got back from the big island of hawaii again . they have a very special honey there . the ohia lehua blossom is by far the best most sweetest honey i have ever had . there are red , yellow , orange , pink and white lehua blossoms . the ohia bush grows right out of the lava rock . you can see them everywhere when hiking at volcano’s national park . i would recommend this honey to anyone who loves raw organic honey . i got my jar at big island bee’s .
hiya tina : glad you found acacia honey . i wouldn’t be without it because i love it so much and use it for so many things ! i’m sure you’ll feel that way after you’ve had a chance to experiment with it . honey is awesome 🙂
when a beekeeper keeps a hive in an area where bees have access to only one type of flower , the honey produced is known as ‘monofloral’ honey . the best thing about this is that the honey takes on the unique and complex characteristics of the source flower , which is why different beekeepers like to try all sorts of flowering plants for their bees . eucalyptus , clover , blueberry , avocado , sage , cactus – all of these have been used in honey - making and all make honeys that taste different .
dear susan : a good resource is the honey locator on the urltoken website . it will show where and what kinds of honey is sold throughout the us . just put your state in and you should be able to navigate from there . hope this helps !
i have tried the acacia honey but tried the lagnese the packed bottle one and im so much in love with that honey : ) for me its the best one comparably to other i have tasted . . i wish though i could try your original one 🙂
i have tried clover , blackberry and wheat honey . the acacia has to be the best flavor , no bitter after taste . it has a per oxidative affect and great for wound healing , gums , teeth . over night sensation . i recommend acacia honey .
i love this honey . the first time i had it was at a friend’s . he added some to a fruit salad and it was delicious . it is very sweet , but not as sweet as orange blossom honey . i like it drizzled over ricotta cheese .
i tried it from marks and spencer and i thought that the best honey i have ever tasted . i had no idea that it was any thing special till i tried it . the taste wow i . that why i looked it up on the web to see what and where it came from . i started eating honey when i was in macedonia . some times honey has a tang that i am not keen on . but this honey is from another world , this is the champaign of honeys . the best i have ever tasted
honey bees are one of the few insects that do not hibernate in winter , instead they stay awake in their hive . in the summer months when there are lots of flowers around , they make honey so that they’ll have something to eat in winter , when there are no flowers to forage from . nectar from flowers is the base of all honey – it contains about 80 % water , along with complex sugars . if left in its natural state , nectar would ferment , so in order to store the sugars to use during the winter , bees evaporate much of the water content , which converts the nectar into honey . they take the honey and cap it off in a beeswax cell , sealing it into the honeycomb so they can eat it later . bees always make more honey than they need , so there is enough for us to have some too . beekeepers always make sure that they leave enough honey for the bees to survive the winter months .
said employbees were also sent off to latitude festival to entertain families with waggle dancing , observation bee hives and of course , honey sandwiches .
the comb to be seen through the jar . because of its mild flavor , it can easily be blended with other types of honey .
i am a huge honey addict and acacia honey is one of my fav . i like to mix it with cinammon and obtain a sort of pungent , brown paste . you cannnot eat too much of it , but i just love it . it also has medicinal properties .
singapore suddenly discovered a penchant for beekeeping - surprising in a country which , according to bee culture magazine ,
has no bees
in the commercial sense . overnight in early 2002 , just as chinese honey was banned by the eu , singapore became the world ' s fourth biggest honey exporter and the tonnage of honey sold to australia , which in 2001 had been zero , leaped to nearly 1 , 500 tonnes .
i have hated honey all my life . i’ve just been to tesco for a few bits’n’pieces , including some whisky ‘cos i’ve got a cold starting ( i think ) – it’s not hayfever . wandering past the honey , i figured nothing ventured… . . anyway , after a good five minutes looking at the vast number of different varieties available ( whatever happened to runny , solid or with honeycomb only ? ) , i thought i’d give the acacia honey a try ( it was on offer ) . it is absolutely scrummy ! one hot toddy with honey , whisky ( of course ) and lemon & ginger tea consumed and another one on the way . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…… acacia honey ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !