Siege of Wolves

When we first heard the tale of the Great Tamworth “Siege of Wolves”, we chalked it up to folklore— until we stumbled upon an 1896 New York Times article in which a Tamworth old-timer told his firsthand account of the battle. It went something like this…

In the fall of 1830, the villagers of Tamworth had grown frustrated by the increasing loss of livestock to a den of wolves that lived on the edge of Great Hill Road— right up the street from where our distillery now stands. As the temperatures dropped that year, the wolves became more numerous, hungry, and fierce, and their attacks on the town livestock became a nightly occurrence. Families laid awake most nights, unable to sleep through the wolfish howls echoing throughout the town.

That is, until a volunteer army of 600 locals took up arms, determined to take back their town. The men sustained attack after attack as a battle raged all night against the wolves in the bitter cold. Ultimately, the villagers prevailed and the wolves retreated deep into the wilderness, never to be seen again.

To reward their bravery, the town elders cracked open a special reserve barrel of fine aged Caribbean Rum, made it extra special with wintergreen, sweet birch and maple spices. The whole village celebrated late into the night howling at the moon!

To commemorate the 1869 Siege of Wolves we created a Spiced Rum of our own, complete with locally foraged spices— and generous amounts of folklore. We infuse a 3-5 year old blended Caribbean Rum with roasted chicory and oolong tea for an improved mouthfeel and body, and mixed in spices including bitter almond, sweet birch, and star anise.