Vintage Brandy and Lord Nelson

If there were camphor and myrrh mixed in I would consider it impotable.

If there's been a dead body in it, I'd consider it impotable. Opinions may vary.

Well, "write the legend," as they say.

And the body would keep me from even trying any, but, if I were a real lush, and I really needed a fix of my addiction, then I would try two methods to make it potable again. After draining it away from the corpse, first, I would chill the stuff down to freezing or below, that would take the camphor and myrrh out of solution. I would strain the brandy through fine cloth, and I might try some at this point. If it were impotable still, then I would redistill it at as low a temperature as practical. That would make it a different brandy, but it might still have some of the quality of the original.

This question reminded me of a scene from the Disney version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, when Kirk Douglas starts drinking the alcohol out of the professor's specimen jars. Reason I bring that up is because it was a comedic nod to a very real truism: sailors would drink anything if it got them drunk.

Anyway, back on topic -- It's always struck me as a strange legend. Why brandy and not rum? Something I've always wondered. Wasting good brandy on a corpse, even a very distinguished corpse, seems like one hell of a party foul. At the time, brandy was a high ticket import item, and usually procured from smugglers who were running it from France. Rum, on the other hand, was in easy supply, cheap, and equally useful as a preservative.

That being a long way of saying, you might futz with the legend a bit, and have them use grog, without the added spices of camphor and myrrh.

mrsmig said:

I've read that the preservative was actually rum, and that sailors taking a nip from the cask very nearly drained it - hence the addition of brandy.

Trying to find that anecdote led me to this charming turn of phrase: sucking the monkey.

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That makes sense, and it explains the presence of camphor and myrrh, which would make the stuff taste horrible, and the smells might stay with the guilty, making them easy to capture and flog.

Curiosity - camphor is roughly mothballs, am I right?
Any info on smell of myrhh?

Incidentally meths (methanol) is purple because of additives to make it nasty to drink.

The smell of camphor is characteristic, however, it resembles that of Rosemary. She is strong, penetrating, not unpleasant for some people, intolerable for many others. It is persistent, that is to say that it remains long attached to objects that have been in contact with camphor, as for example on the hands when it has manipulated this substance.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120224165238AAIuaym
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-camphor.htm#didyouknowout


Even if you’ve never smelled myrrh, a gum resin obtained from Commiphora myrrha trees native to Yemen and Somalia, its aroma contains so many familiar hints that it is not likely to seem exotic. Strange, maybe, but not completely foreign. Imagine the scent of raw mushrooms and black licorice, then add a bit of smoldering damp wood and bakery exhaust fumes. For some people it is also reminiscent of cool church stones, since myrrh is often used in liturgical incense blends.http://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/myrrh-oil.asp
http://boisdejasmin.com/2012/01/myrrh-sensual-haunting-perfume-note.html

King Neptune said:

And the body would keep me from even trying any, but, if I were a real lush, and I really needed a fix of my addiction, then I would try two methods to make it potable again. After draining it away from the corpse, first, I would chill the stuff down to freezing or below, that would take the camphor and myrrh out of solution. I would strain the brandy through fine cloth, and I might try some at this point. If it were impotable still, then I would redistill it at as low a temperature as practical. That would make it a different brandy, but it might still have some of the quality of the original.

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Neither of those options would be available to a sailor on a British Man-o-War, I'd imagine.

Twick said:

Neither of those options would be available to a sailor on a British Man-o-War, I'd imagine.

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That is true. They must have drunk badly tainted brandy.

Taylor Harbin said:

I have an idea, an absurd idea. It's about time-traveling tourists who sneak aboard HMS Victory after the battle of Trafalger in 1805 to steal the brandy used to hold the body of Horatio Nelson.

Only problem is, I don't know anything about alcohol, or the time period. Wikipedia says they used a combination of brandy, camphor, and myrrh. So, would this be desirable as a drinking beverage or not? Apparently it was to the common sailor, but would it appeal to a high-brow connoisseur?

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I've already seen the drinking of what was in the barel Nelson was preserve in as a myth, this seems to agree: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nelson/gallery8/

mrsmig said:

I've read that the preservative was actually rum, and that sailors taking a nip from the cask very nearly drained it - hence the addition of brandy.

Trying to find that anecdote led me to this charming turn of phrase: sucking the monkey.

Click to expand...

This is what I've heard, but I have no idea if it's true or not.

King Neptune said:

The smell of camphor is characteristic, however, it resembles that of Rosemary. She is strong, penetrating, not unpleasant for some people, intolerable for many others. It is persistent, that is to say that it remains long attached to objects that have been in contact with camphor, as for example on the hands when it has manipulated this substance.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120224165238AAIuaym
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-camphor.htm#didyouknowout


Even if you’ve never smelled myrrh, a gum resin obtained from Commiphora myrrha trees native to Yemen and Somalia, its aroma contains so many familiar hints that it is not likely to seem exotic. Strange, maybe, but not completely foreign. Imagine the scent of raw mushrooms and black licorice, then add a bit of smoldering damp wood and bakery exhaust fumes. For some people it is also reminiscent of cool church stones, since myrrh is often used in liturgical incense blends.http://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/myrrh-oil.asp
http://boisdejasmin.com/2012/01/myrrh-sensual-haunting-perfume-note.html

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Thank, that's interesting. Does make me wonder why myrhh was so valued though........ Presumably as much for preservative qualities as scent. All this is making me think of retsina by the way - tried once, never forgotten.....

Weirdmage said:

I've already seen the drinking of what was in the barel Nelson was preserve in as a myth, this seems to agree: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nelson/gallery8/

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The myth is more powerful than fact.

Bolero said:

Thank, that's interesting. Does make me wonder why myrhh was so valued though........ Presumably as much for preservative qualities as scent. All this is making me think of retsina by the way - tried once, never forgotten.....

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People like the strangest smells. There are things that people use as perfumes that would serve better as insect repellant. But a little bit of a nasty smell can be pleasant. For example, skunk a mile or two away smells wonderful, but part of that is the knowledge that it it much better to keep skunks a couple of miles away.

King Neptune said:

People like the strangest smells. There are things that people use as perfumes that would serve better as insect repellant. But a little bit of a nasty smell can be pleasant. For example, skunk a mile or two away smells wonderful, but part of that is the knowledge that it it much better to keep skunks a couple of miles away.

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