Mount Gay 1703 Master Select is named for the year the distillery was first documented — making it the oldest commercial rum distillery in the world. This prestige expression draws from the distillery's most precious reserves, blending pot and column still rums aged between ten and thirty years to create a spirit of extraordinary sophistication.
The selection and blending is overseen by Master Blender Trudiann Branker, who tastes hundreds of individual casks to identify those worthy of the 1703 designation. The tropical Barbadian climate means that thirty-year-old casks have undergone an extraordinary transformation — the angel's share has claimed the majority of the original spirit, concentrating what remains into liquid of intense flavour and complexity.
On the nose, expect extraordinary refinement with aged fruit, polished leather, antique oak, dark honey, crystallised orange, sandalwood, and pipe tobacco. The palate is layered and ethereal with dried tropical fruit, dark chocolate, espresso, vanilla bean, and fine leather. The finish is extraordinarily long.
This is a contemplative rum in the truest sense. Neat, in a Glencairn glass, with nothing else. A masterpiece from Barbados.
