Gay mount

Travel Distilled tells the story of Mount Gay Rum, from its origins in Barbados in the 18th century to its current status as one of the world’s finest rums.

Mount Gay, the world’s oldest rum producer, has a rich history that spans over three centuries.

The proprietary yeast strain is based off a captured wild yeast, which Mount Gay’s team then bred for consistency.

You’ll know a Mount Gay fan when you see them.

Mount Gay has been closely linked to the world of sailing for decades, as symbolized by its red (often worn-out pink) logo-bearing hat. The brand was also perhaps Barbados’s most well known export until Rihanna took over the world.

Whether you’re familiar with Mount Gay or not, here’s everything you need to know about a brand that’s been distilling rum for more than three centuries.

It’s the oldest commercial rum company in the world.

The spirits world loves its superlatives, and Mount Gay can claim one of the most coveted.

You can’t buy one — at least not directly from Mount Gay. The only way to get one is to race in one of the scores of regattas that the brand sponsors every year.

The new distiller is a glass-ceiling-breaking powerhouse.

Mount Gay’s current master distiller, Trudiann Branker, is the first woman to run things in the distillery’s history.

The water drawn from this well is still used for the distillate and dilution.

There’s a virtuous Caribbean circle.

Barbados is one of the most densely populated island nations in the world.

The Mount Gay Visitor Centre, located at the distillery, offers tours and tastings, allowing visitors to experience the brand’s history and craftsmanship firsthand.

Mount Gay Rum: Legacy and Impact

Today, Mount Gay is recognized as one of the world’s finest rum producers, with a legacy that spans over 300 years. However, the brand remained committed to its traditions and quality, which helped it maintain its status as a premium rum producer.

The distillery uses a combination of traditional double column, Spanish and Scottish double retort copper pot, and recently re-commissioned Irish Coffey stills. The distillery uses two types of fermentation: controlled and open-air using wild indigenous yeast, which adds another layer of flavor.

There are four different types of stills used to make Mount Gay rum, depending on the final flavor profile they wish to achieve.

A spot called Mount Alleyne existed on the island at the time, so they settled on his middle name. The XO (extra old), an excellent price-to-quality expression, is a blend of rums that see from eight to 15 years in barrels. The one major exception is Rhun Agricole, distilled from sugarcane juice, in the French carribean, most notibly the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Molasses is very different than the sugar that you might use to sweeten your coffee or tea. Nearly two centuries later, the Ward family was the last to live on the distillery grounds before the company was sold to Rémy Cointreau in 1989.

Water and geology are essential.

From a geological perspective, Barbados is different from volcanically formed Caribbean islands.

Next up is the “Eclipse,” a rum aged up to two years in ex-bourbon barrels. Finally, there’s the 1703, a blend that varies from year to year and might include 30-year-old rums.

Always be aging.

Like all tropically produced spirits, Mount Gay ages nearly three times as quickly as spirits barrel-aged in cooler climates.

Here's the basics...

Mount is a reverse consent event where you participate as a Top (Cowboy) or Bottom (Bronco). Barbados is actually the product of accumulated and uplifted coral limestone. Hundreds of years ago, Mount Gay could rely on the molasses from local sugar cane for all of its needs, but that’s no longer the case as there simply isn’t enough available land anymore.

Though the distillery’s first Coffey still only dates to the 1970s, other column designs were added to the mix around the time of American Prohibition. So, although the distillery relies on sugarcane sourced from around the Caribbean, it only imports varieties that are native to Barbados.

One such variety in use is BT7782, which translates to bred in Barbados, selected for growth in Trinidad in 1977, and assigned the number 82 during research.

Stills matter.

The distillery currently features four different types of stills: small Spanish and Scottish pot stills, a Coffey column still, which was introduced in the 1970s, and the most recent addition, an Irish column still.

Broncos may retire for the night and become a Cowboy if they want. 

RANCH HANDS =Cowboy Fluffers Ranch Hands are positioned in a pen at the entrance to the corral and may be blindfolded or not, they are there to service cowboys in need of a fluff either orally or with their hands. Ranch Hands may retire for the night and become a Cowboy if they want. .

WRANGLERS = Event Volunteers Wranglers are our event volunteers and assist Broncos in maintaining safety, leading Broncos in and out of the corral, and keeping the corral tidy. Wranglers may be a Cowboy at any time so long as they are not needed. 

SCHEDULE: Friday & Saturday Night

5pm REGISTRATION OPENS
6:45 WRANGLER MEETING (IN THE CORRAL)
7:30 BRONCO MEETING (IN THE CORRAL)
7:45 COWBOY & RANCH HAND MEETING (AT REGISTRATION)
8pm MARCH OF THE COWBOYS
MOUNT 8pm - MIDNIGHT