Unique Homes is visiting Barbados to tour new luxury real estate opportunities. This is the third blog from our press trip:

It is said that rum has been produced on the island of Barbados since 1663. A legal deed provides evidence that Tyrell field—today known as Mount Gay—had in its possession the necessary equipment to make rum from 1703. The equipment included stone windmills, a boiling house with seven coppers, one curing house and a still house.

For more than 300 years, Mount Gay Rum has been producing fine spirits for Barbadians and more than 60 countries worldwide. Today, Unique Homes Luxury Media got a special tour of Mount Gay Rum and learned about the rum process and the alcohols served in the country’s popular, local rum shops. 

Between the months of February and June sugar cane is harvested on the island of Barbados. The cane takes 12-18 months to mature and is then taken to the sugar refinery where the fermentation process takes places. During fermentation, juice is squeezed from the cane fibers and boiled. The residue that remains after boiling is molasses—a thick, black syrup that is combined with Barbados water and slowly transformed into alcohol.

The molasses is transported to Mount Gay where a process of distillation, aging and maturation and blending result in four quality rum products. Mount Gay offers two distillation processes: single and double distillation. In a single distillate, alcohol is made through a continuous fractional distillation in a Coffey Still; 97 percent alcohol by volume. During double distillation, pot stills, which are copper stills that date back to the 1700s, are used to produce an alcohol that offers more flavor and is 86 percent alcohol by volume.

The aging and maturation stage takes place next. Here, the distillates are stored away for several years in while-oak barrels. The barrels give the alcohol a smoky flavor and a dark coloration.

Last, the single and double distillates are blended by Mount Gay’s master blender. The blends differ in age, taste and aromas.

Rum and sugar cane are only two products that keep Barbados’ economy booming. The country’s real estate market, tourism board and sporting events also lend to its stability. In our final blog we will report on Barbados’ luxury real estate market. 

—Lauren Varga