PAPA’S PILAR RUM
Key West, Florida produces a beautiful rum under the name of American author Ernest Hemingway and his boat. Hemingway was a Key West resident for many years, and his boat was a common sight in the harbor and around the Caribbean. Hemingway’s world travels had made him a connoisseur of rum, his preferred poison. Years later, a Key West distillery bottled a dark blend under his name that I thoroughly enjoyed on a trip down there, but the branding and packaging made it feel like a cheap booze for tourists, not the $60 blend of amazing rums from all around. I sought to rectify this mistake and give Hemingway’s namesake rum a label worthy of its bold and well-traveled flavors.
The Pilar was Hemingway’s personal pleasurecraft he used to sail around the Gulf of Mexico and visit many locations known for their sugarcane spirits. She was even registered as a wartime vessel during World War II, allowing the author to carry hand grenades and guns in case he encountered a U-boat while drunkenly towing about the Florida Keys. A replica of the Pilar still can be see near Duval Street in Key West, and is the main logomark of the new branding.
PROCESS + SKETCHES