19 CRIMES

From the late 1700's to the late 1800's approximately 162,000 men and women were transported via prison ships to a faraway island for a violation of one of 19 Crimes. Australia, thus was born. 19 Crimes celebrates Australia’s infamous origin, and the stories of these men and women convicts-turned-colonists. Felons, running roughshod over London town, were menacing good people, wreaking havoc and, caught by the scores, clogging every jail in the kingdom. This created a civic dilemma of colossal proportions. Meanwhile, two oceans away, a newly claimed and virgin continent beckoned. Yet the voyage was endless and brutal, the rewards meagre to nil. The savagely elegant solution: punishment by transportation. A list of 19 Crimes was drawn. Conviction meant a long and often dangerous journey to a distant and unknown land.

THE STORY OF MARY BRYANT

Mary Bryant was an English convict who gained notoriety for her daring escape from Australia in 1791. Convicted of theft, she was sentenced to transportation to the British penal colony of New South Wales. Along with a group of fellow convicts, including her husband, William Bryant, Mary orchestrated an audacious escape by stealing a small boat. They embarked on a perilous journey, navigating over 3,200 miles across the Indian Ocean to reach Timor, then a Dutch colony. Their remarkable feat captured public imagination and led to Mary Bryant becoming a legendary figure in Australian colonial history.

A LIQUID ODE TO OUR PAST

A liquid ode to our past, 19 Crimes is inspired by those who, beginning in 1788, were transported to Australia for a life of hard labour. Many did not survive the journey. For the sea-beaten people who made it ashore, a new world awaited. As pioneers in a harsh frontier colony, they forged fresh pathways and built new lives from their chequered pasts, brick by brick. This spiced rum honours the history they wrote and the culture they built. The 19 Crimes brand celebrates the resilience and defiance of those who faced adversity in the past. The rum itself likely offers a blend of spices and flavours, providing a unique drinking experience while also sparking curiosity about the vanished figures it commemorates.