This week on August 16th, our National Rum Day is celebrated far and wide on many horizons. The picturesque island of Barbados, in the Southern Caribbean near the Northern coast of Venezuela, proudly proclaims itself as the birthplace of this distilled alcoholic beverage, discovered in the 1600s by African slaves on Caribbean sugarcane plantations, who learned that molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining, can be fermented into alcohol. In 1703, Mount Gay Rum was founded. British exploration and burgeoning economic trade routes catapulted rum to distant shores. The Royal Navy of Britain chose rum as its daily drink ration for many decades and rum’s role in the American colonies was profound. In the centuries since, Mount Gay Rum has built an increasingly popular following around the globe, remaining the oldest active rum distillery in the world. Its on-going success is rooted in Barbados’ ideal terroir, a year-round tropical climate and sailors’ passion to journey great distances, while carrying and sharing Mount Gay Rum’s delights along the way. Using pure coral-filtered water and the best Barbadian molasses, Mount Gay’s distinctive character and flavor profile is further refined by a double-distilling process; it uses copper pot stills and matured oak barrels, today overseen by the venerable expertise of master blender Allen Smith, who says: “We’ve been producing our rums on the same site and drawing our water from the same well as the past 300-plus years.”
According to Visit Barbados tourism office: “Rum is the essence of this Caribbean nation’s culture. It ignites the gossip in our bars and sometimes even binds our business deals. It is celebrated by every sector of our society, from farm workers to property tycoons. Barbados rum is the best rum in the world and it’s the spirit of our island culture and history.”
Rum connoisseurs often prefer to drink rum straight — on ice with perhaps a twist of lime — much as you would pour a tumbler of brandy or glass of Scotch whisky. For extra hoopla, here are 4 rum cocktails to conjure happy thoughts of palm trees, white sand beaches and turquoise sea. Cheers!
RUM OLD-FASHIONED
Ingredients: 2 ounces Mount Gay XO or 2 ounces Mount Gay Black Barrel; .25 ounce simple syrup; 3 dashes bitters of choice.
Recipe: Stir all ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Strain into a rocks glass containing large ice cubes. Garnish with a slice of orange peel.
PEAR MOJITO
Ingredients: 1.5 ounces Mount Gay Black Barrel; .75 ounce lime juice; .75 ounce simple syrup; 1 ounce Ambient pear puree; fresh mint leaves; club soda.
Recipe: In a highball glass, lightly press mint leaves with muddler. Add rest of the ingredients except the club soda. Add ice, transfer to a shaker and shake. Add the club soda and pour back in highball glass. Garnish with additional mint leaves.
BLACK BARREL GETAWAY
Ingredients: 2 ounces Mount Gay Black Barrel; 6 blackberries; juice of 1/2 lemon; .5 ounce simple syrup; 2 dashes Cardamom Bitters; 2 dashes Angostura Bitters.
Recipe: Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake, then strain over fresh ice in rocks glass. Garnish with a sprig of lavender.
KILLNG ME SOFTLY
Ingredients: 2 ounces Mount Gay Black Barrel; .5 ounce Campari; .5 ounce pineapple juice; .5 ounce orange juice; 1 ounce coconut rum cream; .5 ounce Falernum (a sweet syrup).
Recipe: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Quickly shake and strain over crushed ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a flower or other festive fruit flourish.
Mount Gay Rum’s stylish visitor center in Barbados features interactive tastings and cocktail lessons. Its golden amber-colored Eclipse — with aromatic notes of mocha, ripe banana, sweet almond and vanilla — tastes slightly smoky via the toasted Kentucky oak barrels in which it is aged. Its small-batch Black Barrel — with more complex notes of spice and fruit — is bolder, yet balanced with an oaky vanilla and sweet caramel taste. The highly regarded and carefully finessed XO (for Extra Old) blend is matured for 8 to 15 years — resulting in notes of ripe banana, toast, vanilla, pastry and warm spice — delivering a sharper yet still rounded taste, rich with an oaky finish. Finally, Mount Gay Rum’s 1703 Old Cask Selection, its exemplary blend of the distillery’s oldest reserves, serves up a red-gold-bronze color, inviting oaky and caramel notes and brilliant round taste, a harmonious flavor balance of caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and leather with a slightly spicy tingling to the lips. Nuanced and lovely.
For further travel inspiration and ideas, go to Visit Barbados. Consider attending a foodie favorite: The Barbados Food and Rum Festival — held this year from October 18th to 21st.
Closer to home, a quick Google or Twitter search this week turns up plenty of National Rum Day celebrations at U.S. restaurants, bars and festivals.
