Maison Ferrand, the French producer of Cognacs, gin, rums and other spirits recently released the Plantation Pineapple Rum ‘Stiggins’ Fancy. The Rum is named after Reverend Stiggins, a religious hypocrite from ‘The Pickwick Papers’, he often preached temperance between sips of his favourite pineapple rum.

Pineapple rum sounds like something that might have been released to fill a gap between mango rum and star fruit rum. But it dates back to the late 1700s or earlier.

It was a thing distillers used to do,” said David Wondrich, the cocktail historian who played a part in the new product. “It was done in the islands. They’d soak pineapple in the barrel; it gave the rum a sweetness and richness. It was not wildly popular, but you’d see it.”

The idea to bring it back came when Alexandre Gabriel, Ferrand’s president and owner, asked Mr. Wondrich, if he had “any other bright ideas,” as Mr. Wondrich put it.

Mr. Gabriel  was inspired by old recipes and his own expertise. He steeped the flesh of pineapples in his Plantation Original Dark Rum, an aged rum. Seeking more aroma and flavour, he distilled the pineapple rind with his Plantation 3 Stars White Rum. The two rums were blended and left in a barrel to age together.

Mr. Gabriel intended the new liquor never-to-be-repeated, something to show off as a novelty. But when he poured some out at the 2014 Tales of the Cocktail, the annual liquor convention in New Orleans, he received such a strong response. After several demands for more, he eventually decided to release it commercially, with a suggested retail price of $30.

The rum’s subtlety appealed to bartenders. It is a rum with pineapple notes, rather than a pineapple-y rum. The rum seems to lend itself well to classic cocktails.