The simple, wicked-tasty mix of Gosling’s Black Seal rum and ginger beer, sometimes flanked by a wedge of lime, is as easy to make in the comfort of your kitchen as it is to order at any old bar.
But don’t you dare take its name in vain. Seriously, you might get sued.
When Gosling’s, which also functions as a wine and spirits importer for the tiny Atlantic territory of Bermuda, started exporting its rums in the 1980s, the company trademarked its signature cocktail. Yes, that’s a thing. (Recipes can also be patented, but that’s a whole other, trickier endeavour.)
To be clear: a trademark protects the name of a cocktail, not its ingredients.
So while Gosling’s can’t prevent bars from mixing an alternative rum with ginger beer, they can legally sue your establishment for calling the bastard mixture a Dark ‘N’ Stormy.
With so much emphasis placed on creativity and mutual support (It’s called sharing, people) in today’s cocktail bars, summoning the law to protect a two-ingredient drink might seem a tad overzealous.
But there’s history to consider. Founded and family-run since 1806, Gosling’s is the oldest business in Bermuda. It’s been mixing rum with island-brewed ginger beer since the mid-1800s, so I guess it’s understandable that the company is protective of its mixological property. Black Seal rum and the Dark ‘N’ Stormy (which is Bermuda’s official national cocktail) are legit cultural treasures.
“We’ve trademarked the name. It’s not about discouraging other rums from mixing with ginger beer,” explains Emily Foster, Gosling’s Canadian brand ambassador and an eighth-generation family member.
“Our cocktail is very much experience-based, and that’s something we’re proud of. We wanted to keep that consistency worldwide.”
Given the popularity of the Dark ‘N’ Stormy and the profusion of other (cheaper) rums on the market, how does Gosling’s police the good name of its lawful creation? Pretty politely. Usually the company just asks a bar to change the name or contents of an offending D&S pretender.
As thoroughly weird as a trademarked cocktail might seem, the Dark ‘N’ Stormy isn’t alone. Rum brand Pusser’s famously sued a tiki bar in New York for naming itself after the brand’s addictive pineapple-orange-coconut drink, the Painkiller. The Sazerac Company owns the right to the classic drink of that name, decreeing it can only be mixed with the eponymous rye or with Buffalo Trace bourbon, also under the Sazerac brand umbrella. Ironically, the classic New Orleans cocktail was originally made with cognac (and bourbon, strictly speaking, does not belong in a Sazerac). Oh, corporate interest.
While intellectual property is certainly worth protecting, it’s useful to remember that a cocktail is just a drink – and sometimes a drink tastes just as sweet (or sour, or spicy) by any name.
What we’re drinking tonight
Monymusk Classic Gold Rum
In the wide world of sugar cane spirits, rib-sticking and authoritative Jamaican pot-still rums occupy a stratum of their own. Though the Clarendon (aka Monymusk) Distillery has been modernized with a column still plant, the national pot-still tradition perseveres. This rum is a blend of both styles. Usually, a non-age-statement rum labelled “gold” means “mix me with coke,” but Monymusk, with its rich, oily baseline courtesy of a portion of pot-still spirit, can be enjoyed neat or in assertively rummy cocktails like an island-spiced old-fashioned or a gingery toddy – ’tis almost the season, after all.
Price $37.50/750 ml
Availability LCBO 459040
drinks@nowtoronto.com | @S_Parns
