Black Seal has a rich, intricate flavour, well balanced and nuanced with butterscotch, vanilla and caramel. Or, as expressed up by the Beverage Tasting Institute when they recently awarded it their highest honour, the Platinum Medal: \'Deep, assertive and highly flavoured. Very fragrant with herbal sharpness. At the finish there is a softness and elegance. A most complex, unusual spirit\'. In the spring of 1806, London wine & spirits merchant James Gosling set out from England aboard the chartered clipper Mercury with 10,000 dollars of merchandise bound for the Virginias. The voyage was a difficult one. Ninety-one consecutive days of calm left the crew and passengers in dire straits and the charter of Mercury was fast running out. The ship eventually made port in St. Georges, Bermuda, where Gosling and his family decided to set up shop rather than press on to America. James Gosling opened a shop on King\'s Parade, St George\'s in December 1806. To this day the company remains the oldest surviving business in Bermuda and is still a family concern. The corks were secured in place with the use of black sealing wax, prompting people to refer to the brand as Black Seal.