🥃 Angostura 1919
Blended Trinidad rum from House of Angostura with no age statement: up to 8 years in ex-bourbon casks per Difford's Guide; 40% ABV; the name comes from casks marked “1919” that survived the 1932 fire.
Angostura 1919 is a blend of Trinidadian rum from House of Angostura; on the producer's website it is called Grand Reserve 1919. The label carries no age statement; according to Difford's Guide, the rum is matured for up to eight years in American oak casks that held bourbon. It is bottled at 40% ABV.
The name is linked to the 1932 fire, which destroyed the government rum warehouse of Trinidad and Tobago. According to Difford's Guide, master blender Joseph Bento Fernandes bought the surviving casks and found among them some especially good ones marked “1919”; he used them as the basis for a new blend. In its history the producer writes that those casks held 13-year-old rum. Angostura later acquired the Fernandes brand and distillery.
Why this matters to you. The number 1919 is neither a bottling year nor the age of the rum, but a name taken from the legend. Compare it with Angostura 7 Year Old: the strength is the same, but that version states a minimum age. Angostura 1824 is also named after a date, the year of Dr Siegert's bitters. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.
Facts
| Alcohol (% vol.) | 40% ABV |
|---|---|
| Raw material | rums from fermented molasses, Angostura distillery |
| Cask type | American oak casks that held bourbon |
| Minimum maturation | no age statement; up to 8 years per Difford's Guide |
| Year founded | blend by J. B. Fernandes after the 1932 fire |
| EU category | 1 — rum |
| Legal basis | Reg. (EU) 2019/787, Annex I, category 1 (rum) |
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Angostura 1919 → packed in → 🍷 Oak barrel ← packed in ← 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Packed in
- 🍷 Oak barrel, 🥃 Ex-bourbon barrel
- Made from
- 🥃 Sugar cane and molasses
- What it contains
- 🍷 Ethanol
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Part of
- 🥃 House of Angostura, 🥃 Rum
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Kraken Rum, 🥃 Angostura 1824, 🥃 Angostura 1824, 🥃 Angostura 3 Year Old, 🥃 Angostura 3 Year Old
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that Angostura 1919 was bottled in 1919?
No. The name comes from casks marked “1919” found after the 1932 fire; the current rum, according to Difford's Guide, is blended to recall that blend.
How long is Angostura 1919 aged?
There is no age statement; according to Difford's Guide, up to eight years in bourbon casks.
Who created 1919?
Master blender Joseph Bento Fernandes; Angostura later acquired the brand and the distillery.
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🍷 Ethanol — The alcohol formed during fermentation that makes you drunk.
- 🍷 Oak barrel — A wooden barrel of oak staves in which wine matures and breathes.
- 🥃 Kraken Rum — Kraken black spiced rum: molasses base from Trinidad, cinnamon, ginger and clove; 40% ABV (a 47% version exists); owned by Proximo Spirits.
- 🥃 Angostura 3 Year Old — White rum from House of Angostura in Trinidad: aged in oak for up to three years, filtered twice through charcoal; 37.5% ABV; Difford's Guide lists it as Reserva 3 Year Old White.
Similar
🥃 Angostura 5 Year Old · 🥃 Angostura 7 Year Old · 🥃 Angostura 1824 · 🥃 Angostura 3 Year Old · 🥃 Mount Gay XO · 🥃 Brugal Extra Viejo
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
Sources
- Difford's Guide: Angostura 1919 Trinidadian Rum (40 %; NAS, up to 8 years in American oak ex-bourbon casks; 1932 fire, J. B. Fernandes, 1919 casks)
- ANGOSTURA: Premium Rums (3-year-old up to 3 years, twice charcoal-filtered; 5-Year-Old min. 5 years bourbon oak; 7-Year-Old light, medium and heavy rums; Founders Reserve 1824; Grand Reserve 1919, 1932 fire)
- Regulation (EU) 2019/787 on spirit drinks (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019), Annex I, category 1 (rum: molasses or cane juice, min. 37.5 % ABV)
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)