Black Barrel (or Why We Went to Barbados)

David - you said you picked out a few barrels while at Mount Gay's warehouse in Barbados. What are you planning to bring back from the Caribbean?

Good question!

Sorry about not explaining further on this subject. As you know, I got so sidetracked with all the vagaries and the supersleuthing that I completely forgot to inform you all about Black Barrel and what's to come at K&L.

Mount Gay is launching a new rum that will complement their Eclipse and Extra Old portfolio. There is indeed a hole in between these two rums and Remy was smart to fill it. The Mount Gay Eclipse is the mixer. It's a fine rum, it does the trick, but it's nothing special. The Extra Old is the next step up, but it's too good to mix. It's a sipping rum and to me it doesn't mix all that well anyway (as I discovered after ordering an XO with ginger at the tasting room's bar - I left that one on the counter). The Eclipse will run you $16 or so depending on where you buy it. We sell the XO for $35. In between those two there is room for another rum – a $25 expression that offers more punch than the Eclipse, but less richness and weight than the XO. Enter Black Barrel.

Here's the deal with the new Mount Gay release: it's been aged in Tennessee Whiskey barrels (something the distillery normally doesn't use), then married into a final blend before being put back into Bourbon barrels (they're using Jack and Beam) for an extra finishing spell. The result is a spicy, aromatic, round, and charismatic rum that mixes beautifully into a number of cocktails (as David and I discovered after losing the Black Barrel cocktail competition soundly – we're not bitter about that, by the way). We made a few drinks with it while trying to put together a final recipe. A Daiquiri (delicious), a Sidecar (delicious), and finally the Trinidad Sour (amazing). The rum has the goods. The quality is there, the label is well-designed, and the price is perfect. They really did their homework and they're set to release what should be a very successful product. Normally I'll find fault with something (usually the label), but I really love the Barbados map as the backdrop – it gives the rum a very powerful sense of place.

We were invited to Barbados as the very first retailer to select our own cask of Black Barrel. So basically we were choosing the Bourbon barrel that the rum was finished in for a number of months (remember that months offer more intense maturation in the hot Caribbean heat). There were about thirty to choose from and we found two that were different enough from one another to justify getting both, but still mainstream enough to offer a variety of utilities.

In the end I went for barrel number 1140, which had a wonderfully rich nose full of sugar cane and potent vanilla. Round, supple, and easy – a sure-fire winner for those interested in rum, but unsure of what they want. David OG took barrel 1098, which was much spicier and more extravagant on the palate, giving the more adventurous drinkers something exciting. With spring on the horizon and summer coming soon after, these should be two very popular bottles at K&L. I think we'll be blowing through barrels of this stuff if we can continue to get access. Rum doesn't last in my house, unlike the Bourbon and single malt bottles that I nip from every once in a while. Rum gets poured into a glass of ice. It doesn't get measured. It just gets dumped. Then some ginger beer. Maybe some tonic. Maybe some fruit juice for a punch. It's so refreshing and fun, plus it pairs with the type of food I usually eat. Black Barrel is versatile, tasty, and inexpensive. That's the triple crown of mass consumption.

So that's the rundown. Black Barrel is coming and two barrels of Black Barrel will be barreling into our own barrel program very soon. More on this subject as the arrival time draws nearer!

-David Driscoll