Mount Gay Rum

In Cape Town there are probably more puns generated around this rum than anywhere else in the world. Let’s start by getting over the name, and how it tastes like bananas in your mouth, and that it’s a noun and not a, well, a “doing” word.

mount gay rum

Before this night, I knew very little about rum, and mostly stuck to whisky and wine. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was neat – if you like whisky, chances are you will like sipping this stuff. At 40% alc. it’s got a kick but it’s incredibly smooth as well. It was Tiki night so we had to at least try some of the cocktails. They all tasted good with flambeed  bananas, lime juice, and pineapple flying everywhere, but my favourite was the Old Fashioned served in a smoked glass.

mount gay rum

The history of the distillery was that two friends (John Gay and John Sober) started making rum in 1703 in Barbados. To give you some idea of how old that is, Saint Petersburg was founded in that year, and if your family had children at the age of 30, there would be 10 generations since then. Yes, your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparent could have already been in their old age when George Washington was inaugurated, and ordered a barrel of Mount Gay when he became big chief. This stuff is that old, and makes them the oldest working rum distillery in the world.

They are still fairly new in South Africa, and most people would go for what they know – they would be choosing wrongly.

If you’re planning on stocking your bar/drinks trolley/office drawer, and you ever plan on sharing then this is a good option. It’s wonderfully smooth sipping neat for whisky and bourbon lovers, and is the obvious choice for cocktail drinkers. Read more about Mount Gay Rum here.

[Note: I was invited to Tiki Tuesdays at the House of Machines as a guest. All opinions are my own.]