Mount Gay 1703 XO Triple Cask Blend

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 43% | Colouring: Yes

Special Features:

Mount Gay XO Triple Cask Blend brings together the influence of three different cask types. The selected rums mature separately for between five and seventeen years in American whiskey, bourbon and Cognac casks before Master Blender Trudiann Branker blends them. The blend combines spirits from traditional column stills and copper double-retort pot stills.

Maturation in Barbados's tropical climate encourages the development of concentrated flavours. In XO, pronounced oak and dry spice notes combine with a rich, creamy mouthfeel. Mount Gay adds no sugar to its rums.

The rum is offered at 43% alcohol in a 0.7-litre bottle with gift packaging. It can be enjoyed neat or over ice.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: Vanilla, oak and dry spice notes sit alongside one another on the nose. Ripe banana completes the aromatic picture.
• Palate: Salted caramel and baked figs meet cloves, dark chocolate and pronounced oak on the palate. The mouthfeel is rounded, smooth and richly creamy.
• Finish: The long finish is rounded and smooth, with delicate leather notes lingering.

Distillery/Bottler:

Mount Gay is based in the parish of St. Lucy in northern Barbados. A deed dated 20 February 1703 records a still house already present on the sugar cane estate. The name honours Sir John Gay Alleyne. The XO range was created in 1991 under Master Blender Jerry Edwards; today, Trudiann Branker is responsible for selecting and blending the rums.

Mount Gay uses molasses from Barbados and the Caribbean, together with water from its own well, which has been in use since 1703. The distillery follows two fermentation processes: for subsequent column distillation, it uses closed fermentation with a proprietary yeast strain. For pot still spirits, fermentation begins in open vessels, where local yeasts from the surrounding environment also contribute.

Facts: