Raglan Roper and Chris Blackwell enjoy a good cigar.

By Steven Knipp
steve@caymannetnews.com

An exclusive invitation-only cocktail party was held at the exclusive new Cotton Tree resort in West Bay on Thursday evening, 5 March, to announce that the Tortuga Rum Company has been named exclusive distributor for Blackwell Rums in the Cayman Islands.

The Jamaican produced variety of Blackwell Rums, are the inspiration of Chris Blackwell, the noted founder of Island Records and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in music-industry history. Among other things, Mr Blackwell is credited as the pivotal promoter of Bob Marley and being the single person most responsible with bringing reggae to the wider world beyond the Caribbean. Other artists on Mr Blackwell’s label included Robert Palmer, Cat Stevens, Tom Waits and U2.

Mr Hamaty, Founder and Managing Director of Tortuga Rum Company, said:

“We are very pleased that the Tortuga Rum Company has been selected to distribute Blackwell Rums in the Cayman Islands.”

Mr Blackwell is also associated with Island Outpost, an exclusive operator or stylish, top-tier resorts in Jamaica and the Bahamas. The best known of these is Goldeneye, the previous home of author Ian Fleming, of the famous famed James Bond books, all of which were written while living at the estate in Jamaica.

Mr Blackwell is currently concentrating on developing this property into a community of villas and beach cottages— each with their own private access to the sea.

The family owned Tortuga Rum Company, is the largest duty-free and retail liquor business in the Cayman Islands. The company is also noted for its renown Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes, just named 2009 Best Cruise Souvenir by Porthole Cruise magazine for the fifth consecutive year.

Cotton Tree, Grand Cayman, is a new boutique resort consisting of four modern Caymanian cottages situated at the northernmost post of Grand Cayman, near to Barkers National Park. Owned and founded by Heather Lockington it was designed and built by MJM Design Studio, and Le Habitat Construction.