Acqua di Cuba Santa Maria Novella

The Miss Fortune had been anchored for a week in the small bay with crystal-clear water. A small, uninhabited island north of Trinidad. The captain lay on the bridge deck under a sunshade, watching his crew.
Most of them were at the nearby beach. A group was playing a ball game with a coconut. Not particularly unusual. However, it had been an hour and there had not yet been a fight, which was very unusual. The captain turned back to his drink, something with citrus fruits and honey. With a makeshift little umbrella. Cute, in a way.
Cries from the beach drew his attention back to his crew. Finally, he thought, it’s about time. But it was the cheerful shouts of the kitchen crew, who were splashing around in waist-deep water. The cook O'Connel, a grumpy Irishman, was also there. Now he even dove under and shortly after reemerged, gasping and laughing. O'Connel had only come close to water in the last 10 years when boiling potatoes. That’s how he smelled, and that’s how the food tasted.
Something was definitely not right here, and the captain knew exactly when it had started…

On the voyage from Cuba, they had run out of rum. Inexcusable for the purser, who was promptly keelhauled. After that, they still had no rum (and no purser anymore), but the mood temporarily improved. Of course, that didn’t last long, and after a few days, the crew was on the verge of mutiny, so irritable that they could have massacred each other at any moment.
In the mess, the atmosphere was as thick as the air. Luckily, they hadn’t run out of tobacco as well; otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted this long. Then the one-eyed Pete remembered a crate they had plundered on their last voyage. It contained small clay bottles. In his desperation, he took one and eagerly poured the contents down his throat. After he stopped coughing and gagging, he hurled the bottle against the port wall, where it shattered. Instantly, the room was filled with a sweet and spicy scent, and a smile crept onto the unwashed faces of the pirates present. The one-eyed Pete still looked a bit green in the face, but everyone agreed that his breath had improved significantly.
The mood among the crew improved instantly. They were so thrilled by the scent that they cleaned the entire ship with the remaining bottles, all the decks, the sails, and even the cannons. A miracle; it was December 24th. And so they had been here for a week now, and the rum was forgotten…

The captain was, of course, aware that this couldn’t go on. This is not a pirate's life; they needed to set sail for plundering, raiding, and burning soon. But not today, he thought, maybe tomorrow…

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Acqua di Cuba is once again a fine creation from Santa Maria Novella. Fresh-lemony start and then immediately a lot of cardamom and honey. It’s a rather spicy forest honey with comb/wax and not overly sweet at all. With additional spices (cloves, anise, allspice?), it somewhat resembles honey cake, but before the impression becomes too culinary, a good portion of tobacco adds spiciness. As it develops, not much changes; sage provides a hint of freshness, and it becomes a bit sweeter, with the wax note becoming stronger. The longevity is quite good, 8-10 hours.

Even without rum, a great scent for pirates and pirate ladies, thanks to Anne “Toppine” Bonny!