Captain Morgan is a brand of flavored rums (including, in Europe, some rum-flavored "premium spirit drinks") produced by British alcohol conglomerate Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean, Sir Henry Morgan.

History

In 1944 the Seagram Company started manufacturing the Captain Morgan brand of rum. In 1984, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum was introduced to the United States. In 2001 the Captain Morgan brand was sold to Diageo, a multinational drinks company based in London. On 15 April 2005, Captain Morgan Tattoo Black Spiced rum and its claimed 'sweet-to-heat' finish became another addition to the Captain Morgan line. Captain Morgan was, by volume, the second largest brand of spirits in the United States, and the seventh largest worldwide in 2007. , 7.6 million 9-litre cases were sold. Most Captain Morgan rum is sold in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, and Global Travel. In November 2009, the NFL banned a covert ad campaign allegedly put on by Diageo. It was understood that for each NFL player striking the "Captain Morgan" pose on camera during a regular season game, Diageo would donate US$10000 2009 to the Gridiron Greats (a non-profit which helps retired NFL players with various hardships after leaving the game). The league made this announcement following such a celebration by Brent Celek of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2010, two US territories, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands argued over plans for Captain Morgan to move operations to the Virgin Islands for tax reasons. The matter came to a head during a debate in the United States Congress over the USVI's attempt to use tax benefits to lure the company to that territory. In 2014, Diageo Canada filed a trade dress infringement lawsuit against Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc, claiming striking similarities between the Captain Morgan character and Admiral Nelson, and that the similarity would dilute the Captain Morgan trademark. Diageo Canada won the lawsuit in 2017. In 2020, the brand launched a new product called Captain Morgan Tiki. This new pineapple mango flavor rum is available in the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Varieties

In popular culture

Before and after the 2015 SummerSlam event, John Cena used the brand as a nickname for Seth Rollins during WWE's Monday Night Raw. In 2016, Diageo created special limited edition bottles to commemorate Wes Morgan captaining Leicester City F.C. to the 2015–16 Premier League title.