Mount Gay
The Single Estate Series
Over the past few years, the stock of premium rum in the world of dark spirits has been on the rise.
With good cause too, after all rum has been around for over three centuries now; expertise has been refined, and technology harmonised with tradition. Accelerated by the Caribbean climate, the “speedy” ageing process of rum leads to more complex flavour profiles developing at a younger age. Harnessed correctly, sophisticated rum bottlings can have intricacies comparable to a whisky three times that age.
Located at St Lucy in the northern tip of Barbados, it was 320 years ago that the world’s longest running rum distillery opened for business. Since then Mount Gay rum have been building their reputation for cultivating aged rums, combining the generous climate and West Indian terroir to produce Award Winning rums. In 2015 they reacquired large plots of the original Mount Gay Estate, giving them access to 324 acres of land to curate their own sugarcane and create their own molasses all while embracing the heritage of their origin.
Even with their extensive, centuries-old legacy, the release of Single Estate Series 23_01 is a production first for Mount Gay. Normally when making rum, the molasses used is a byproduct of the sugar making process. But for this release, Mount Gay opted to grow their own cane and create a special Barbadian molasses, giving them full control of the flavour, from seed to glass.
In keeping with this natural theme, the release has an eco-focused approach, helping to minimise their climatic impact; the climate on which rum production relies. The bottle is made from 70% recycled glass and all presentation packaging is 100% recyclable.
“This release is a first for us, the first estate rum we launch at Mount Gay. Like any first, it has been a huge adventure for the whole team. We learnt to farm sugar cane, we learnt to mill sugar cane. We created Barbadian molasses that, for the first time, was not a byproduct of making sugar, it was the product focus. The Single Estate Series rum speaks to this quality of molasses, and of Barbados rum making.”
_ Trudiann Branker, Master Blender, Mount Gay
Inside the bottle Single Estate Series 23_01 the liquid comprises of a precise blend of 2016 and 2017 harvests, non-chill filtered, distilled in 100% copper stills and aged in ex-bourbon casks.
A new annual release, one Mount Gay Single Estate Edition will be launched each year to celebrate Barbados, the birthplace of rum. The Single Estate Series 23_01 release (RRP £345) is limited to 4,002 bottles and available at Hedonism, Master of Malt and select premium spirit retailers worldwide.
