Premium and limited-release rums on the rise, says distiller
Australian consumers are becoming more educated and interested in the rum-making process and increasingly appreciate its complex flavour profiles. That’s according to Matteo Fabbris, Mount Gay Australia’s brand manager.
“We’ve seen a demand in the rum category for more premium and limited-release bottles, as well as a change in the way that rum is being consumed and thought about by consumers,” says Fabbris.
“Rum is now a spirit that is very much enjoyed the way whisky is enjoyed – neat or on the rocks, or additionally with a simple squeeze of lime,” he continued.
As a consequence, Mount Gay Rum, the world’s oldest rum and continually produced spirit in the world, has announced the release of a new annual limited-edition expression, the Mount Gay 1703 Master Select. This adds to two existing expressions, Mount Gay Black Barrel and Mount Gay XO.
The rum producer describes 1703 Master Select as:
“An annual limited-edition release hand-picked and created by Master Blender Allen Smith. Each 1703 Master Select features a blend of Mount Gay’s rarest and finest single and double distilled rums from Mount Gay’s oldest reserves – ranging from 10 to 30-year-old rums. Due to the scarcity of barrels necessary for this level of maturation, Mount Gay releases only 12,000 individually numbered bottles a year, with every new edition having slight nuances in terms of tasting notes dependant on the Master Blenders selection.”
Meanwhile they say “Mount Gay Black Barrel is a small batch, handcrafted blend made of matured double pot distillates and aged column distillates. In a process called finishing, the blended rum is then matured for a second time in deeply charred Bourbon oak barrels which releases spicy aromas that are at once balanced, and bold.”
Completing the lineup is Mount Gay XO, “a reserve cask, handcrafted rum. An opulent blend of the finest spirits aged for 8 to 15 years. Extra Old blends significantly older barrels of mainly double pot distillates that have rounded these crisper notes into a subtler balance.”
Mount Gay also revealed their plans to release more extremely rare and exclusive bottles of rum, all distilled at their home on the Caribbean island of Barbados.
