Rum Hunting - Day Three - RemyLand (Part Two)

The blending session was by far the best part of today's events, mainly because we got to ask Allen all the questions we had about the distillery. We had spent an entire morning in a cave, in a field, eating great food, drinking great drinks, but we still hadn't seen anything about how the rum was actually made. It was like a giant tour full of fun and wonderful information, but none of it about the hard facts we actually care about. Every time we had a serious question about the rum and the production methods, those questions were carefully avoided. Now there would be time for time for interrogation. We had the master blender all to ourselves for the next hour and we planned on utilizing that time to the utmost. In front of us were four glasses: white column still, aged column still, white pot still, and aged pot still. Yes, Mount Gay is a blended rum.

As Mr. Allen gave us a quick run down on the four different distillates, David OG and I just peppered him with questions. "What's the percentage of the wash?" "Where are the stills?" "What's the proof off the still for the column?" "What proof do they go into the barrel at?" Some of it was clear cut. Other answers seemed to be a bit fishy, but that may have been because we were like two hard-boiled cops with a suspect in questioning. Mount Gay distills two different rums, albeit both from the same fermented molasses (so it's not quite like blended whisky where there are two different mashbills – malted barley single malt and unmalted grain whisky). The same wash is used for both stills, but the column still manages to get the 6-12% wine up to almost 99% pure alcohol after so much rectification. The other rum is double-distilled on a pot still like single malt whisky and is far more aromatic. Getting to taste the unaged pot still distillate was a revalation! It was incredibly fragrant with hints of menthol and an incredible herbaciousness much like I tasted in the pure molasses. Both rums are aged separately and then blended together to make the various Mount Gay expressions, much like blended whisky and single malt are for something like Johnnie Walker or Dewars. We were given our own quantities to blend with and there was a contest to see who could most accurately recreate the Mount Gay Black Barrel. It was great fun and I learned more about rum in the half-hour we spent in that session than in any other experience so far working in this business.

Here's what doesn't add up for me, however. We were not allowed to see the distillery. No stills, no fermenting molasses, nothing. According to Remy it's being remodeled and the building is considered dangerous for outside visitors at the moment. Yet, there are people working in there? Distilling rum at this moment? Why is the distillery completely separated from the rest of the warehouses and offices? Why is there a chain-link fence with barbed wire surrounding it? Why was there no trace of fermentation anywhere in the air? Not even a whiff! When you go to Glen Garioch you can smell it from five blocks away. At Mount Gay, you wouldn't even know they distilled anything unless you asked. And then when you ask you're told you can't see it. 

The warehouses at Mount Gay are another mysterious component of this puzzle. There can't be more than ten thousand barrels in the warehouse we saw and there are only four warehouses at Mount Gay. That means there are probably around forty-thousand casks aging at the facility. When we asked how many barrels were on site, we were told they couldn't answer that question. "Why not?" we asked. "Because smart people like you will do the math," was the reply. The others in the group scratched their heads. What could that mean? Why would they be so coy and crpytic about basic statistics. David and I smirked, however, because we knew exactly what that meant. The picture was becoming clearer every hour. We had already asked how many cases a year Mount Gay ships globally, so we had the info we needed.

According to one of the Remy people Mount Gay ships about 900,000 cases of rum a year globally, most of it aged rum and not clear (which plays a role). Here's the math.

900,000 cases x 9L (assuming they're all 750ml cases, which they're not because some are 12L) = 8,100,000 liters of alcohol every year for the market. 40,000 barrels x 200L per barrel = 8,000,000 liters. That means in order to meet their global demand Mount Gay must use 100% of its rum on site to fill those bottles. But that's not possible, is it? What about the rum that needs to age? The 10+ year stuff that is slowly maturing and consolidating into fewer and fewer barrels as it evaporates? Where is Mount Gay getting all that extra rum? Look at the picture of the distillery again and tell me if you think that facility (which is "under construction") cranks out enough rum to supply that amount. Unless there's another warehousing facility somewhere, it's just not possible. Maybe in RemyLand this all makes sense.

After taking another break for lunch we went back to the distillery and chose our barrels for K&L. The distillery is releasing a fantastic new expression called Black Barrel - aged first in Jack Daniel's barrels before being transfered over to charred Jim Beam barrels for an extra kick of spice. The samples we tasted were fantastic and we selected two for the store. We have no doubt in our minds that people are going to love them for the price, which ultimately is the real problem here: we love Mount Gay rum! It's fucking outstanding rum! It's not sweetened or altered or colored or manipulated. We tasted right out of the barrel, right into our mouths and this stuff is legit. So if you know you've got the goods, why the vague information about distillation? Have you ever heard of a tour without seeing the actual distillation process? I want everyone to understand right now that my skepticism so far is in no way based on the quality of the booze. Mount Gay rum is probably my favorite rum in the world. Therefore, I'd like to know how it's distilled. Or, more importantly, who's distilling it? I don't really care how it's made because whoever is crafting these selections is a master. I just want to see the actual process!!

Here's the thing: Mount Gay is not the only distillery on Barbados. Who else is making rum on the island, you ask? We might know a bit more tomorrow. 

-David Driscoll