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Rum is produced more or less throughout the Caribbean due to the main crop being sugar cane but is widely believed that the spirit has its origins in Barbados. The oldest rum distillery in the world is Mount Gay in Bridgetown where it has been produced for over 300 years. Originally the product of several separately owned plantations, the land was bought by William Sandiford in the early 18th century and consolidated it in one 280acre plantation, which he named Mount Gilboa. In 1747 the plantation was passed onto Sandiford’s son, the ironically named John Sober, an absentee landlord who appointed his good friend Sir John Gay Alleyne as the manager. Sir John did such sterling work that, after his death in 1801, the plantation was renamed in his honour.
Although the Sober family have long gone (the plantation is now managed by the Remy Cointreau Group, with an interest still held by the entrepreneurial Ward family who bought the business from Sober in the early 1900s) the methods of production are pretty much as they always have been. A visit to the distillery is both educational and pleasant, beginning with a short audio-visual show in a ‘traditional Barbadian rum shop’, which explains the history of Mount Gay. This is followed by a 30 to 40 minute tour of the facility (depending on questions asked) and ends in the beautiful distillery garden where you are invited to the bar for a ‘tasting’. The barman will advise you on ways to most appreciate fine rum and, if you wish, you can hang on and enjoy cocktails and Bajan food at the friendly in-house restaurant.
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