by Marlon Madden
Barbados’ oldest rum producer, Mount GayDistilleries Ltd., has added to its limited edition master blender collection.
Master Blender with the company Trudiann Branker recently introduced the Andean Oak Cask rum, which has been aged for 14 years.
She told Today’s BUSINESS that the inspiration for her latest master blend came out of research and development planning and finding out there was no record of rum being aged in an Andean oak barrel, which is found in the Andean region in Colombia.
“After a few years we realised this was a winner,” Branker declared of the limited edition 48 per cent alcohol volume rum.
“Our master blender collection is how we show our innovation side of things. It is how we show you that not only are we the oldest most knowledgeable rum distillery in the world, but we also are pioneers and we are innovators at what we do. We really showcase this through the master blender collection,” she said.
The Mount Gay Andean Oak Cask is a single batch of rum that is distilled twice in a traditional copper pot still, aged for 14 years in ex-Bourbon casks and finished for 11 months in virgin Andean oak casks.
It is the fourth in the Mount Gay master blender collection series. The other three are the XO: Peat Smoke Expression, the Pot Still Rum and the Port Cask Expression.
The company, which boasts of producing rum for over 300 years, is famous for its Mount Gay Black Barrel, Eclipse, Silver and XO brands, as well as several discontinued special releases.
Branker said the Andean Oak Cask was special for two main reasons – it being a 14-year-old pot still rum and the fact that it was aged in Andean oak barrel.
“It is extremely difficult to mature rum to 14 years in Barbados and still have enough rum to share. On top of that it was an opportunity for us to work with virgin oak cask which is not something you see in our traditional rums that we have access here to everyday.
“For Andean oak we were not only able to design a cask but go through the process of understanding what happens when rum matures in this new cask type, that we had no information about and we could find no literature on rum being aged in before. So this was really an exercise for us in innovation, knowledge building and going on a new journey with our rum for the first time,” she explained.
Branker treated her specially invited guests to a toast of the newly released spirit, of which there are only 2,760 worldwide. There are only 215 bottles available in Barbados, one being sold for around $400.
Informing that the rum was best enjoyed without ice (neat), Branker told her guests: “Something about the master blender collection is that we never add flavouring, we never add sugar, we never add caramel, we never chill filter. This comes strictly from the maturation process that happened here in Barbados”.
The rum tantalises the taste buds as it releases a potpourri of spices and fruity and floral flavours including a hint of vanilla, nutmeg and citrus.
Branker, who has been in the rum business for about 15 years, over seven of which have been with the Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd., has been a master blender with the company for close to three years.
She is responsible for three of the master blender collections so far – the Pot Still Rum, the Port Cask Expression and now the Andean Oak Cask. Branker has also done the relaunch of all the Mount Gay traditional rums. She said she aimed to add a new limited edition to the master blender collection every year.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb
