20 personalities decipher the last 10 years, and provide food for thought for the next 10.
How has rum evolved over the last ten years?
Over the last decade, our consumers have become more curious and more demanding. Where once rum might have been seen only as an ingredient for cocktails, I’m pleased to see that we’re making progress in the industry. Rum is now admired as a spirit to be enjoyed in its own right, forging its own category.
How do you see rum aging and its evolution?
As we innovate and evolve over time, I believe our consumers do too. Mount Gay is more than just a rum, and I see consumers becoming increasingly aware of this reality. The subtle differences between Barbados and the other Caribbean islands, and the impact of each island’s culture and rum-making style on its liquids. Using Mount Gay’s Single Estate series as an example, we showed the world our ingredients and processes, from the earth to the sip, which is very important to us.
What news would you like to share with us?
In 2015, Mount Gay purchased 324 acres (131 hectares) of what were the historic Mount Gay and Oxford estates. For the first time since the 19th century, Mount Gay is a fully integrated operation, from cane to bottle. On the Mount Gay estate, our own sugar cane cultivars are developed to illustrate and reflect the specific terroir of the oldest rum estate in the world.
The Single Estate Series is therefore as Barbadian as rum can be. Barbados sugar cane was transformed into Barbados molasses, then into Barbados rum. It all happened in St Lucy, the northern parish of Barbados, between our estate and our distillery, our home and the birthplace of rum. From the harvesting and processing of our sugar cane into molasses, through fermentation and distillation in copper stills, the Mount Gay estate distillates have been nurtured by myself as master blender and the Mount Gay team over the last few years to present the first in this series.
For Mount Gay, this is a special place because we can connect all the elements of the rum-making process. From the aging room and its laboratory, I could look out of the window and see the fields of sugar cane that would one day be turned into rum and aged where I was. This link between all the elements is very special and remarkable.
What is your source of inspiration for these rums?
As we gain knowledge and expertise, we deepen our research and development. As with the Master Blender and Single Estate collections, we’ve really sought to understand rum in all its infinite possibilities, whether it’s being able to combine old and new distillations with different types of wood, or understanding the multi-layered differences that can result from molasses fermentation.
