Today, Mount Gay, the world’s largest running rum distillery, revealed the First Edition of the Single Estate Series. This new annual release celebrates Barbados and embodies the terroir of the birthplace of rum.
Located in St Lucy at the northern tip of Barbados, Mount Gay has called this island home since 1703, celebrating its 320th anniversary this year. In 2015, the distillery acquired 324 acres of the old Mount Gay Estate and, for the first time in centuries, it was a fully vertically integrated operation from cane to bottle.
Since then, the team has harvested Estate sugar canes each year, transformed them into molasses, before fermenting, distilling and aging in St Lucy at the distillery. The Estate distillates were expertly looked after by Master Blender Trudiann Branker until she knew the rum was ready for release.
“The Single Estate Series is as Barbadian as rum could be. Growing Barbadian sugar cane to make Barbadian molasses and bringing every element of the rum production together at our home in St Lucy, the birthplace of rum, was a unique journey,” comments Branker. “This release is a first for us, the first estate rum we’ll launch at Mount Gay. Like any first, it has been a huge adventure for the whole team. We learned to farm sugar cane, we learned 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.”
A Mount Gay Specialty
Single Estate Series 23_01 is a blend of 2016 and 2017 harvests. It is 100% copper pot still and aged in ex-bourbon casks, allowing the flavor of the rum and its unique terroir to shine.
The bottle is eco-designed to be a singular vessel for the dark liquid inside. It is also lightweight and made with 70% recycled glass. The gift box is mono-material and uses as little packaging and ink to ensure that it is 100% recyclable. On each label, consumers and collectors can find and scan a QR code which leads to an online web page where they can unlock the journey of the liquid from cane to rum.
Mount Gay Single Estate Series 23_01 is best enjoyed neat. A truly complex blend, it has light golden hues, and the nose is full of pear, plum, fresh cut flowers, dried fruits, nutmeg and lemon. The palate brings pineapple, sea salt, leather, ripe yellow banana and star anise. This rum opens up over time offering complexity and layers of flavor.
Bottled at 55% ABV, Mount Gay Single Estate Series 23_01 is non-chill filtered in order to preserve the rum’s rich aromas and natural color. The expression will be limited to 1,200 bottles available in the U.S., launching November 2023 in 700 ml sizes for U.S. $400 SRP.
