SAILOR JERRY - THE RUM

Latest obsession after my visit to Melbourne especially now it's Winter in Australia is a spiced Rum Hot Toddy. I really think it needs to be made with Sailor Jerry Rum - it's unlike any rum I've tasted before probably as it's on the sweeter side.

Who is Sailor Jerry? If you visit the website http://sailorjerry.com/norman-collins/the-man/ there are some great cocktail / hot toddy recipes as well as history and background behind the man and inspiration of the Sailor Jerry Rum collection.

"Sailor Jerry's" tattoo shop located in Honolulu (fitting as we are heading there in a week),
tucked away on a steamy side street, you'll see the bright red neon glow of "Sailor Jerry's"-the tattoo shop that put ink on the fighting men of the Pacific for nearly 40 years. Apparently there weren't many men like Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins back then or now.  He was the father of old-school tattooing, Sailor Jerry was a true classic in every sense of the word. A tough old sea dog with a shrewd intellect, finishing his Naval stint in the late '20s, Collins decided to settle in the then "remote" island of Oahu, Hawaii. In some ways, his timing could not have been better (or worse, depending on who you ask!). This "last outpost" would soon become the stomping ground for over a million soldiers and sailors, all of whom were ready to live life to the fullest-usually contained within a 48-hour Honolulu shore leave! And so, for the next 40 years, Sailor Jerry had a constant canvas of carousing military men to obsessively perfect his deftly craft.

Here's to you Sailor Jerry!