J.Wray&Nephew's DAGGER Dark Jamaica Rum

Just to state my orientation upfront: Being a traditional, I do not like any spiced, flavoured, or otherwise messed with fancy modern rums, and I think Bacardi, Malibu and Cpt. Morgan ruined the rum market in America. I like my rum real rummy. So I don't find many new surprises out there.

When visiting the Mai Kai last month I was priviledged to get invited into the back prep bar and was surveying their ancient Rum collection, when an old style label caught my eye, on a plastic "lightweight pack with built-in pourer" 1.75 liter bottle. It was in simple graphics and colors, yellow and green type, with a gold dagger, galleon and award coins on yellow and black background. The rum looked so dark it was almost black. I begged a taste and it was very close to my favourite, the British Demerara Old Navy, rich and thick, with a nice kick. I immediately procured a bottle for me and one for my mixology advisor Beachbum Berry.

I was happily surprised when the Beachbum expressed his delight at receiving the memento, and to hear that he had been under the impression it had been extinct. Apparently the original Zombie recipe called for it, so did other classics.

Now I am interested to find out if anyone on the West Coast has heard or seen this brand anywhere, to see if it can be had in these parts. The U.S. Wholesale importer is Carriage House Ltd., Springfield, N.J.

Never seen it, never heard of it, but extremely interested.

It sounds great. I'd love to try it if I could ever find it.

-T.J.

I just gave them a call. It's sunday, so no one was there. I left a message, and if I don't hear from them by tuesday, will call again. They're about an hour outside of NYC, 2 hours from where I am. Maybe if things pan out, one of our cityfolk could make a run.

three dagger

Single Dagger

or neither?

eep!

[ Edited by: tikimonkey on 2005-02-13 08:03 ]

or neither?

Neither. -These labels must be from the out of production vintage. Mine is so simple, it is almost industrial looking (together with the plastic gallon container). It certainly is not 3 Dagger 10 year old quality, but it is affordable, hearty stock, good enough for sipping.

Kern from the Mai Tai said that sometimes the distibutor has it, and sometimes not.

Here is another reference to tikimonkey's old bottle.

Aaaah!- The bottle pictured in the "Jean's Dream" recipe:

http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=4349
is much closer to the label I have, but not exactly the same...

So did J.Wray start producing it again? Or are sitting on old stock? Rum archeology, yesss!

Hey Sven,

If you click on these bottles, you can get some great details. Let us know if you find it.
On a side note, I have never seen Appleton Punch either.

Screw the distros, let's just go straight to the source... well, at least the bottling plant/location.

Who's up for a road trip... or air trip... or just trippin'

I've only been able to find their white overproof.

So the next question is, is the overproof usable in any "polynesian inspired" drinks?

As of today, I have tried several times unsuccessfully to contact them. IT appears they have a voicemail, but no one answering phones. Weird.

The mystery continues...does anyone know how to contact J.Wray & Nephew?

On 2005-03-02 21:50, bigbrotiki wrote:
The mystery continues...does anyone know how to contact J.Wray & Nephew?

http://www.appletonrumus.com/contact.asp?

Or maybe try contacting Brown Forman, who own Appleton.

http://www.appletonrumus.com/contact.asp

You can also go to Wray & Nephew's site:
http://www.rum.co.uk/wrayandnephewnews.htm

On the site, they mention:
"For more details on where to buy our products, contact us at [email protected]"

It's worth noting that Wray & Nephew only list the white overproof rum as their only product.

I'd like to know more about this.
Good luck.

Allow me to clarify, I contacted the distros, carriage House.

I hit a dead end. Here's my last exchange with Edward Hamilton from the "Ministry of Rum":

In a message dated 3/25/05 12:23:09 PM, [email protected] writes:

Sorry I don't have any new information though I do plan on going to Jamaica sometime in the next few months.<

Sven answered:
Maybe you can talk to Mr. Wray's nephew's nephews then about Dagger being still available...thou I suspect that it might be the Import and Bottling company who is responsible...

So what about Carriage House? Did anybody ever get through to them? The small print on the bottle's neck actually reads "Imported by and BOTTLED in the U.S.A. for Carriage House Imports, LTD, Springfield., NJ". It is a plastic 1.75 Liter bottle termed "Lightweight Pack with built-in pourer".

What if the contents are some "old stock" that's been sitting in their tanks for years and which they are now trying to get rid off in cheap wholesale bottles, thinking dark heavy rum is unpopular these days?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2005-03-25 20:13 ]

For those of you that live in Los Angeles I may have some good news concerning Dagger, my friends at Vendome are interested in tracking this rum down and getting it in there store for sale. I will probably drop by there this weekend with the info you all have provided here in an effort to help them get Dagger in stock. I will update you all when I here back from them.
TT

Sven,
I think Kern is going to have to kill you. I thought he said Dagger was a secret ingredient at the Mai Kai. I just saw this thread and I now fear for your life. Besides if California buys up all the left over stock of Three Daggers, Kern will have no trouble getting a posse of Florida locals together to hunt you down. Consider yourself warned.... also, if you do find some extra stock please send me a bottle.
KG

For those of you still looking for a bottle of One Dagger, keep saving those pennies. Only $320 for a fifth.

See http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6256357111&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1

JTD

hi all - i'm new to this site, as i was looking for info on a bottle of wray & nephew three dagger rum (10 y/o) I came across, and i thought someone might know how much its worth? near as i can tell, it has to be at least 50 years old, it has a state of illinois tax seal on it, unopened. thought about putting it on ebay but since i have no idea as to what its worth i thought i'd try to fnd out first.

any info would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

Here are some so-so pics I pulled from a recent e-Bay auction for a Dagger Rum booklet of about 30 pages or so. Maybe the person who won it will share info with us at some point, but here is the cover, production process diagram, and a couple of authentic Dagger Rum recipes to peruse:

I recently won this item. It is a postcard record for Dagger rum. I will rip the record soon and post it as well.

Well, it took me a while, but here it is... sort of:

Dagger Rum Postcard record

Why sort of? Well, my stupid $25 USB turntable has a preset stop point for the center of the record and this record goes beyond it. That is why it abruptly stops!

Pretty cool, thanks for posting it Swanky.

"Welcome to Jamaica!"

kevin

Swank, any way to fool the program into making a first half and a second half then splicing them in an mp3 editor?

That was cool! 5 bottles duty free!!!!!

I wish I could. The turntable cuts off when the arm gets to a certain point, like some old turntables auto return the arm...

Mmmmm 5 bottles of 3 Dagger Rum Punch!

HOW TO ENJOY DAGGER:

It was one of those crazy sunsets over the Silverlake tonight....

....where you ask yourself "How do they come up with this stuff !!?"

The Grifffith Observatory looked liked it was about to lift off...
So it seemed like the right moment to break into "the leftovers"

They gotta go at some point! Also in the mix:
Some Cuban tobacco, some Guyana joy juice...

..the Lemon Hart being just as much a taste of history now as the Dagger. :(

Hmm, wonder what's happening over the hill in Hollywood:

Whatever it may be, I am perfectly content sittin' on my porch and staring at my lights:

:) :) :)

Saw it here at the beach also, Sven.

Great pics Big-bro! Looks like it was a wonderful evening.

:)

Fantastic buildup Sven! Can you send me the empty Dagger bottle so I can just smell it? :) I'll pay for the shipping!!

Yes Sven, that was quite a sunset! Made even more enjoyable with a few epic rums to sip on...boy, I love LA! :)

Outstanding Tom!!!

Alas...I have to come clean.

That's the original bottle but not the original rum.

Looks damn good on the shelf, though.

Anyone reading this may be interested in the thread on Kohala Bay, which is the descendant of Dagger Punch. It includes info on where to find it and also some suggested substitutions ...

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=45641&forum=10&start=0

While searching online for Dagger related info a while back, I came across this ad from a 1953 issue of Cosmopolitan:

I have been looking in vain for one of these ever since…until just recently.

Here it is next to an empty bottle for comparison:

I just need to get my bottle re-filled and I'll be all ready to go!

Awesome!

Very nice Tom!

Very cool. How did you find it?

Such a great glass. Excellent find. Too bad it wasn't a set of 8!

I found it on eBay. I was searching through vintage glassware and spotted it. I actually have more than one, but not a complete set of 8. I'll keep looking, though!

The taste of that wonderful rum is now just a memory.....

Quick update: I just acquired three more Cloke & Dagger glasses on Evil Bay and now have a complete set of 8!

Patience pays off.

Congratulations Tom. It's quite an unusual glass so you wouldn't expect to see them much at all but it just goes to show if you keep your eyes open you never know what you might find.

Here's another interesting old bottle that I found a picture of to add to the gallery.

Here's some Dagger recipes from a pamphlet I picked up the other day...