The Sheriff Cocktail

9th January 2023

A Sheriff’s duty and obligation was to protect his county, his colony, or his settlement, he was the keeper of peace and bringer of justice, but the duty of a sheriff dates back far before the wild American Cowboy era of the 1860s.

The word Sheriff comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘Shire-Reeve’. The first person to take on this role is believed to have served in 871, in the time of King Alfred the Great of England, he would have been responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing the King’s Orders.

The role and duties of a Sheriff were also defined in 1215 when King John of England signed the Magna Carta, but it wouldn’t be until 1614, that the first Sheriff’s Office was established in St. Mary’s County in America.

The first American Sheriff is believed to have been Captain William Stone, receiving the role in 1634 for the Shire of Northampton in the colony of Virginia, with the first elected Sheriff being William Waters in 1652 in the same location.

The citizens of Montgomery County would get the chance to elect a Sheriff every four years, with Clement Bell being elected as the first Sheriff of Montgomery County after the Independence of the United States of America, the people of Montgomery County would depend on their Sheriffs for security and peace until the early 1920′s when the Maryland State Police and Montgomery County Police Departments were formed.

The Sheriff has been immortalized on the silver screen for decades, associated strongly with the 1860s through to the 1890s along with the fantasized version of the lawless cowboys, but the Sheriff is still a position that operates today, with just over 3,000 Sheriffs upholding the law and protecting their towns and cities today.

The Sparkling Wine

A Slovenian Winery with a passion for living life and sharing those moments with loved ones over a glass of bubbly.

Vina Magdič – Extra Brut Cuvee – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Yeasty, biscuits, bread, pastry, soft lemon, green fruits, yellow fruits and an icing sugar pastry circus experience on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Rich with yeasty, biscuity notes, hints of milk chocolate, hazelnut, walnut, flaky pastry, notes of crisp green fruits and yellow citrus on the palate.”

Bronze Medal in the Pastries Delight Category at the Glass of Bubbly 2022

The Rum – 1812

Crafted by Portsmouth Distillery Co, we have their exceptional 3-year-old Rum, aged in Bourbon casks, less than 100 metres from the sea in Fort Cumberland.

I reached out to a member of the team, Dich Oatley, their Sales Director, to ask him a couple of questions:

What Is The Connection With Fort Cumberland And Portsmouth Distillery?

“Fort Cumberland is our home. It is all about our branding and backstory (hence the label). The main three botanicals for our Fort Gin grow within the wall of the Fort – gorse flower, elderflower and sea radish. With the naval heritage of the site and the two co-founders being ex-Navy of 24 and 26 years respectively, the link is unmistakable.

As the walls of the Fort are 6-8 foot thick and with 8-10 feet of soil on the roof, makes it a perfect place to be aging Rum in casks, as the temperature and humidity of the ageing rooms are constant all year round no matter what the weather.” – Dich Oatley

1812 – 3-Year-Old Rum – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “The aroma hits you with caramel, toffee, citrus, orange peel, walnut, peanut and nuttiness with tropical notes to complete the aroma.”

Flavour – “Smooth overripe bananas, ripe pineapple, hints of caramel and a nuttiness on the palate.”

What Inspired Your Label Design?

“The shape of the label is the exact shape of our home at the ancient monument that is 18th Century Fort Cumberland, surrounded by the sea and centuries of naval history. The 3-year-old Rum is called ‘1812’ because that is the year that our home Fort Cumberland was completed.” – Dich Oatley