THE STORY OF KILL DEVIL

In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of the East Indies. He landed in San Salvador and proclaimed it the "West Indies". On his second visit in 1493 Columbus brought sugarcane to the islands where it thrived in the tropical climate. Almost immediately vast colonies of sugar cane plantations were established and the boiled cane cooled into the much coveted crystalized sugar. The dark sticky juice that was left over was molasses. When left to ferment in the hot tropical sun, molasses ferments into a crude liquid we now call rum. By 1650 rum was being widely produced and was known as KILL DEVIL, because it was thought to be "a cure for all Satan's ills".