‘Warm the Hearts of Even the Saltiest Sea Dogs’: Shrewsbury Gin Invites Veteran Sailors to Sample Charles Darwin-Inspired Navy Strength Release

(Photo: Shrewsbury Gin)

Between 1831 and 1836, renowned naturalist Charles Darwin hammered out his theory of evolution during a globetrotting voyage on the HMS Beagle.

Centuries later, a gin brand in his hometown of Shrewsbury, England, is toasting its “most famous son” with a blisteringly high-ABV navy strength release. Infused with local honey before aging three months in oak barrels, the 114-proof Beagle Edition gin promises a blast to the past.

Commemorating the launch, Shrewsbury Gin invited local Royal Navy veterans to sample the release. Though Beagle Gin primarily pays homage to Charles Darwin, the concept of sea-faring English spirits owes its legacy to “tot,” a small daily dose of gin or rum given to sailors in the Royal Navy. The tradition was practiced until the 1970s, when veterans Colin Hopkisson, Terry Weston and Graham Meredith were still in service.

“Gin and rum would have been stored in barrels for the sailors’ rations, called a tot, which is where the term ‘tot’ comes from,” Shrewsbury Gin curator Darren Tomkins said. “The ‘tot’ tended to be stored alongside the gunpowder. It had to be just over 57% ABV because that’s when the liquid becomes flammable. So, if it spilled, the fuses and gunpowder would still fire.”

The practice eventually stirred up a spirited commotion in the English House of Commons, inspiring the so-called “Great Rum Debate” of 1970. Within months, tot was officially banned, though some still celebrate Black Tot Day (July 31) in its honor.

Brands like Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin and Perry’s Tot Navy Strength pay homage to that legacy. On its label, Beagle Edition Gin depicts an image of the HMS Beagle setting sail for the Galapagos, accompanied by the bold claim that it can “warm the hearts of even the saltiest sea dogs.”

Others have taken the concept of a Darwin-inspired gin in different directions. Last year, Cambridge Distillery unveiled “Americas Herbarium,” a spirit inspired by Darwin’s botanical discoveries across South America. Made using juniper, cinnamon leaf, barberry, wild strawberry and Baccharis magellanica (a hardy evergreen shrub), the gin billed itself as a “harmonious blend of past and present.”

Shrewsbury Gin curator Colin Hopskinn says that the brand’s new Beagle Edition is just as authentic a slice of history.

“There are a lot of distilleries doing navy gin and a lot doing aged gin, but very few doing barrel-aged strength. Our Beagle edition, developed with Henstone Distillery, in Oswestry, is a proper navy-strength barrel-aged gin,” Hopskinn said. “It’s aged for three months in an oak barrel and bottled at 57% alcohol proof, so it’s a very good approximation of what navy gins would have been like in the day when Darwin was on his voyage of discovery.”

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