Review: Mount Gay 1703 XO Reserve Cask Rum 88/100
Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
January 1, 2020

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 1637. 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 1651. This is the earliest recorded usage of the word Rum as it relates to the distilled spirit anywhere in the world. Evidence dated to 1667 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 1703. This makes Mount Gay the earliest recorded commercial producer of rum in the world. To highlight their unique place in history Mount Gay includes the year 1703 on every bottle of rum which they currently produce.

Mount Gay 1703 XO Rum is produced in a using a combination of both column and traditional copper pot stills. The rum is matured in American oak barrels which were previously used to age whiskey or  Kentucky bourbon. This is a blended spirit consisting of a wide range of rums of various ages some reputed to be as old as 15 years.

Mount Gay 1703 XO is bottled at 43 % alcohol by volume.