Sales of rum, Bermuda’s national spirit, are improving, although marginally, according to liquor vendors who are looking at their sales in the aftermath of the celebratory Cup Match holiday.

Bacardi brand manager at Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd’s Alvin Harvey said that while the official numbers had not been calculated yet, generally he could say: “Sales slowly built to a crescendo at the end of Cup Match.

“And one of our newer brands, Bacardi Oakheart, doubled sales this year — it was a 100 percent increase. This rum is becoming a favourite of the Bermuda palate.

“Most brands held their own — with the consumer base we have, there’s not much fluctuation. The one we are very happy to have is Oakheart — it’s spicy with vanilla and cinnamon, fairly sweet as well,” and “robust” he said.

“I’m encouraging people to use it in Bacardi rum cakes. The vanilla in it adds more flavour to rum cakes, and also Christmas cakes and puddings.”

Mr Harvey also mentioned the cocktail which uses this rum — Oak and Coke.

Bacardi’s white rum Bacardi Superior, and Bacardi Gold are perennial favourites in Bermuda, and they also held their own over the holiday, while Bacardi’s superior golden sipping rum, Bacardi 8 Anos, saw an increase in sales of about 3.5 percent year-over-year.

Another popular product is Bacardi’s Pineapple Fusion, infused with coconut flavours. This rum is gaining momentum, he said, adding that the flavours of pineapple and coconut make it a great product to use in rum swizzle.

There are a total of 11 Bacardi rum flavours available in Bermuda, with a new one, called Bacardi Mango Fusion, flavoured with mango and infused with orange, resulting in “ ... a fruity, exotic flavour” and due out later this month, will be a hit Mr Harvey predicted.

“Everything is holding their own,” he said.

Andrew Holmes, brand director for Gosling’s export who manages rums for the company, said they had not specifically calculated their numbers for the holiday yet either.

But he did say: “Our sales were good leading into the holiday. This year is always big for us because of the Newport-to-Bermuda yacht race (an event which brings thousands of additional visitors to the island every second year) — so we start on a strong base, and our numbers were good.”

He said: “One product that saw increased sales is Gosling’s Dark ‘n Stormy cocktail (a combination of Gosling’s Black Rum and Gosling’s Ginger Beer) in a can, which was first introduced in 2011, just after the Cup Match holiday of that year. It was designed for going out in the boat, for the golf course.

“We have had two solid Cup Matches with it, and it has been doing very, very well — sales have almost doubled over two years.”

Mr Holmes said of the recent period: “It is a rum swizzle time of year! People make their own swizzle to take into the Cup Match game,” he said, noting that it is the only alcoholic beverage cricket fans are allowed to bring into the cricket grounds — a rule that has been in place since 2010.

People who were making swizzle to take to the game bought Gosling’s Black Seal and Gosling’s Gold Rum, the base rums in the recipe, Mr Holmes explained.

Of the summer’s sales, he said: “Because of the fact you can take swizzle into the game, it helps a little bit.”

Gosling’s Grenadine syrup is another product “we can’t keep on the shelves — because it goes into the swizzle.

“Falernum, (a non-alcoholic simple syrup that originated in Barbados) which we make in our own style in Bermuda, is becoming more popular as a cocktail ingredient — globally so. The main flavours you find in it are almond and lime,” he explained. “It adds a bit more flavour and character to the cocktail than just simple syrup.”

Additionally, Gosling’s produced rum swizzle for the Cup Match Summer Splash events.

“On the Wednesday night at Summer Splash, more than 400 gallons of swizzle were produced in Sheila Gosling’s washing machine — we had her grandsons working with us!” He explained that Mrs Gosling, who has passed away, was well known for making rum swizzle in her old fashioned barrel washing machine for parties, and it is still working well.

“Over Cup Match Summer Splash events more than 600 gallons of swizzle in total were consumed!

“And all the swizzle was mixed in her washing machine!”