Mount Gay Distilleries expands capacity with new rum ageing bond

he world’s oldest commercial rum distillery on Friday opened its fifth rum ageing bond, increasing storage capacity by nearly 50 per cent.

 

The new bond at Mount Gay Distilleries in St Lucy will house an additional 18 000 barrels, pushing the distillery’s total capacity to  64 000 barrels, master blender Trudiann Branker said.

‘

She said: “Prior to having this bond, our capacity was roughly 44 000 barrels. Now, with this bond, we can hold about 64 000. So it’s really an investment in the future because most of the rums that we age here will not be for today’s consumption but will be for the next five years, ten years, 15 years.

 

“It’s really about making sure that we’re able to have the reserves that we need to be able to satisfy the demand specifically for our more premium offerings.

 

She continued: “We talked about innovation in a big way when we opened the bond and in order to be able to satisfy the innovation pipeline, you need maturing rums. Building this bond allows us to have these different styles of rum here to be able to further innovate and really occupy that premium space in your rum industry.”

 

Antoine Couvreur, managing director of Mount Gay Distilleries, which has been fully owned for the last ten years by French spirits giant Rémy Cointreau, said the new bond was a significant development for the rum industry in Barbados.

 

He said: “This bond looks to the future, meeting the rising global demand for premium aged rum, as the category grows at a remarkable rate. Our investments here, including the development of this state-of-the-art bond, featuring a special underground cellar like no other in Barbados, and our ongoing commitment to sustainable rum production, are all part of a long-term strategy to ensure that Mount Gay leads at the forefront of this movement.”

 

Speaking at the launch, Minister of Business Senator Lisa Cummins encouraged the island’s rum producers to keep pressing ahead in their efforts to attain a geographical indicator (GI) for their products.

 

Noting that this has been a long-standing priority, she said: “I believe that the time has long come and maybe even long past its accomplishment date for us to have crossed this hurdle and I’m looking forward to the work which I know is underway with you in the industry and also with other government agencies to be able to bring it to fruition.”

A GI functions like a trademark, safeguarding authenticity by legally enforcing the product’s origin and production standards. For Barbados to secure a GI, all of the inputs to make rum and spirits would have to be locally sourced, and all of the products produced by the rum industry would have to be aged here.