Drinks firm Goslings yesterday launched a $10,000 limited-edition rum specially created to mark the America’s Cup.

The Auld Trophy rum — made from the company’s oldest barrels dating back nearly 50 years — includes a handmade crystal and silver decanter in the shape of the famous trophy known as the “Auld Mug”.

The launch took place at the America’s Cup Village in Dockyard last night, when Malcolm Gosling, president and CEO of Gosling-Castle Partners, revealed that the company had already received several orders, including from one buyer who had ordered two.

“This is such a special event and we are so fortunate that Bermuda was selected to host the America’s Cup,” Mr Gosling said.

“We felt it was almost our duty to come out with something as special as we could ever hope to produce. By all accounts we achieved that with this product.”

Mr Gosling said that “of course, we couldn’t put this rarest of rums in just another fancy bottle.

“We wanted something that was outrageously different and I said ‘spare no expense’.”

Goslings is an official partner of the America’s Cup. The rum, produced in a limited run of 166 bottles to mark the years since the America’s Cup was first contested in 1851, comes in a handcrafted wooden case, complete with an American walnut framed hinged glass door etched with the AC logo and a map of Bermuda.

The cases were also handmade in England, by Morans Wood Components, with each involving the work of 20 craftsmen who spent 14 hours on each case.

The case also includes a black burr walnut slide out drawer designed to hold the rum bottle and a leather bound commemorative book cradled in a marine blue leather cushion.

The decanter was created by famous UK glassware company Dartington Crystal, where the decanters were handblown and hand-finished before being fitted with sterling silver handles by TR Sterling, of Essex, makers of trophies for Wimbledon and Formula 1.

Each handle was individually made to fit the 166 decanters.

Mr Gosling said the extraordinary nature of the event for Bermuda meant that the firm had to pull out all the stops to create a top-notch souvenir.

He said: “We knew this was huge. I mean, seamanship and rum have gone hand in hand for centuries. And our Black Seal Rum has become the de facto rum of sailors worldwide.

“So we decided then and there to create something truly exceptional.”

Each bottle chest carries a serial number as well as a solid glass stopper for the decanter.

Mr Gosling said: “The America’s Cup sailing in Bermuda is no ordinary event — and this is no ordinary souvenir.”

Last night he added that one of the $10,000 bottles would be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Bermuda Sloop Foundation and the Endeavour Programme, while a portion of the proceeds from the entire batch will also go to the same two charities.

For more information on the cases, which will be sold only in Bermuda, contact Tracy Westhaver at Gosling’s on 298-7348