Once upon a time, rum was something you either drank with coke or tipped in to a punchbowl before a party, feeling like maybe you should be attending one of your parents’ swinging sixties shindigs rather than a get-together hosted in the 21st century. Much like gin, rum copped an unfair reputation for far too long: but now, thanks to Mount Gay, that’s all about to change.
Mount Gay is produced in the Caribbean, on the island of Barbados, and boasts the title of the oldest continually-produced spirit in the world (yep, really – a legal deed from 1703 confirms it). Brewed with sugar cane molasses and pure, Caribbean water, it’s been a favourite of rum drinkers for some time now; but Mount Gay is about to make its way to the very top of the shelf with its recent 1703 Master Select edition.
The 1703 Master Select is a blend of some of Mount Gay’s oldest, rarest, and finest rums: meaning the bottle you buy will contain a mixture of single- and double-distilled ten- to thirty-year old rums, each hand-chosen by Mount Gay Master Blender Allan Smith. With only 12,000 individually-numbered bottles released each year, these are some seriously limited edition blends: while there will be another edition made available next year, the selection of rums chosen will be different, so each bottle really is a once-off.
If you’re looking for more of an entry-level bottle, don’t despair. The Mount Gay XO and the Mount Gay Black Barrel are equally delicious and equally drinkable, at a slightly lower price point. Whatever your tipple, rest assured that this is not something you want to throw a shot of in to your coke and forget about: try it neat, like whiskey or bourbon, or serve over ice with a squeeze of lime. Cheers!
See more about Mount Gay rum at their website.
