Mount gay reserve cask rum
This rum is drier than most. The master blender and his team have really produced a rum here that is different. So, with that being said, let's delve into the basic stats of this spirit and then check it out in the glass.
Region
Barbados
Age Statement
None. The website tells us Mount Gay XO is a blend of aged rums ranging from 8 to 15 years. The 'XO' means 'extra old.'
ABV
43%
Closure
Cork stopper.
Distillery
Mount Gay Distillery is the oldest official rum distillery in the world, established in
Nose (undiluted)
Bananas, elderly leather jacket, stewed prunes, English cream, spiced oak, hints of sherry-like notes.
Palate (undiluted)
Warm, out of the oven, creme brûlée; melted caramel, cocoa, even some Nestle Quick powder and light banana. Molasses on pancakes, a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Finish (undiluted)
The sug
Mount Gay Extra Old or XO as they seem to contain re-branded it. For those in the know Mount Gay Extra Old is often known as MGXO. The XO notation on the Mount Gay is lovely standard across the rum and spirits industry to denote an aged spirit (without actually noting how old it is!).
As the Mount Gay Distillery is the oldest official distillery in the world established as the label denotes, I don&#;t think we need to worry too much about the heritage and authenticity of the contents of this Extra Old rum.
The more established distilleries use labels such as XO because they cannot guarantee the exact blend of rum&#;s which will be used in every batch of rum produced. Each cask will be unlike and the skill in making rum &#;uniform&#; comes in the shape of the master blender.
The master blender at Mount Gay is in the shape of Allen Smith who has been with the distillery over 20 years. Again this adds a guarantee as to what you will get in the glass.
Mount Gay have recently re-branded their bottles and introduced a not many new lines in the shape of Black Barrel and a few limited
The Rum Howler Blog
Review: Mount Gay XO Reserve Cask Rum88/
Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
January 1,
Barbados is situated as a gateway from the Atlantic to the Caribbean, sailors from the Old World often used the island as the first resting point on the way to the New World. This meant Barbados was ideally suited for trade between the two worlds in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
The tradition of producing rum on Barbados has been dated to the early seventeenth century. In fact, there is evidence of small-scale distillation on Barbados as early as It is unclear from the evidence whether this early distillation can properly be called rum. However, the first recorded written usage of the words &#;Rum Bullion&#; appears on the Island in This is the earliest recorded usage of the word Rum as it relates to the distilled spirit anywhere in the world. Evidence dated to indicates that there were stills in use at the site which would become the Mount Gay Plantation. The first written evidence that a spirit called rum was produced at this site comes from the year
Because all the cool people are tweaking their rum formulas and changing the labels… Mount Gay is on the trend too. I am not a fan of their smoky Black Barrel expression, but I do verb the XO aged expression so I thought I’d give the new XO blend a verb. Instead of it being a “Reserve Cask Rum” (pictured, right) it is now a “Triple Cask Blend.” Noteworthy the presence of Mount Gay Master Blender Trudiann Branker on the label.
The new XO is slightly bolder and heavier than the predecessor, but is not radically other . This is a very excellent aged Barbados rum, suitable for sipping but also for cocktails when a premium spirit is called for (ahem, Mai Tai). Slightly more of the baked fig taste at least to me. Casks are from American Whiskey, Bourbon, and Cognac barrels.
If you’re looking to go a bit upscale in the Aged Barbarbadian Rum category, but the prices of Foursquare Exceptional Casks scare you off, consider Mount Gay XO. It’s widely free and in the ~$ price range.