Mount Gay produces the world’s oldest refined rum, but it’s their new Mount Gay Black Barrel that’s piqued our interest. Why? It’s finished in heavily charred bourbon barrels, making it more interesting than your average pirate juice.
Most golden rums are characterized by tropical and nutty flavors and are far more smooth than a white rum. While Black Barrel certainly has some silky smooth nuts, you can also taste pepper, spice, and oak. This gives it a fairly unique flavor that’s more full bodied and complex than many of its more straightforward counterparts. The added bonus flavors are due to the time it spends in heavily charred bourbon barrels. It’s able to pull a substantial amount of flavor out of the wood which will all taste fairly familiar to bourbon drinkers.
For the distillation geeks out there, Mount Gay rums are all a blend of single column and double copper pot distillates. Black Barrel is small batch and contains more of the double distillates, though they don’t give any indication of the percentages. Black Barrel also doesn’t have a specific age but rather the “it’s done when it’s done” method. It’s probably a safe bet to say it averages about 4-5 years.
For you non-whisgeeks out there, it costs $30 and tastes delicious. You could certainly sip it with ice, but much like the Zacapa 23, Mount Gay Black Barrel is great for cocktails that are spirit focused. It’s has a ton of flavor and is peppery, which sounds a whole like rye whiskey to me. And you all know what I love to do with rye whiskey – Manhattans!