An Ode to Prohibition Era's Frolickers

SinShip Spirits was launched in 2017 in San Diego County. It is owned and operated by a husband and wife team. Their first product was their SinShip Charon the Ferryman Silver Rum which is extremely clean and has floral/tropical fruit notes upfront and then transitions into earthy, spicy notes on the back end. It is so smooth that it can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks with a squeeze of lime/orange. It also makes an amazing mojito and daiquiri. Their SinShip 1930 Smoked Rum is the first peat-smoked rum produced anywhere in the world. They hand smoke oak chips in smokers using peat moss that they import from Ireland and then allow the rum to rest on the peat-smoked oak. Burnt caramel notes upfront are followed by tobacco, oak, and cherry notes and it finishes with that peaty smokiness. It is best enjoyed neat but also makes an excellent old fashioned and smoky Mai Tai.

They will be coming out with a ready-to-drink canned cocktail in late September 2020. The SinShip Tiki Zombie Cocktail will use aged rum, real fruit juices, and handcrafted falernum, grenadine, and cinnamon-infused syrup. They use whole cloves, sliced ginger. almonds and lime zest to craft their falernum. It is an elevated experience for a canned cocktail. They plan to have a series of Tiki cocktails in the future.

They will also be introducing an overproof 151 rum early next year. Their SinShip Dunderfunk Rum will be a fusion of Guyana and Jamaican styles. They will ferment demerara sugar and hit the fermentation with dunder. The result will be a high ester rum, that is extremely flavorful with a ton of aroma. This will work great in all of those Tiki cocktail recipes that call for overproof rum.

During Prohibition, organized crime placed 8 ships in international waters off the coast of Southern California. They offered free water taxi service out to them and illegal gambling, booze, extravagant dinners with live music and dancing.

A-list celebrities of the day, Charley Chaplain, Mae West, and Douglass Fairbanks frequented the floating pleasure ships. Due to the illegal activities onboard, the local media nicknamed them the Sin Ships. On August 30, 1930, the Sin Ship Monfalcone caught fire and burned to its waterline with around 300 revelers on board. Luckily the Sin Ship Monte Carlo was about 1 mile away, sent water taxis, and saved everyone on board. They named their SinShip 1930 Smoked Rum after the Sin Ship Monfalcone.

California has a rich history of underground rum-running tunnels, corrupt police and prosecutors allowing mobsters immunity, but the most exciting, lurid, debaucherous history lies within the hulls of the California Sin Ships. Come with us on a journey to rediscover the rum and spirits of California’s past.