In 1806, with a ship full of spirits bound for America, Englishman James Gosling ran out of wind and time. With his charter expired, James's ship, the Mercury, put him at the nearest landfall: the island of Bermuda. Knowing a good thing when he saw one, he decided to make the best of an uncertain situation. James opened a shop on the King's Parade, St. George's, in December 1806 and the Gosling Family has been in Bermuda ever since. Today, Gosling Brothers is Bermuda's oldest business and Goslings Black Seal Rum is Bermuda's number one export