Drinks will be chilled in 30-45 minutes and will be kept cold for several hours, especially if kept in the shade. In terms of presentation it is a two horse race between Seale’s odd ball offering and Mount Gay’s more contemporary approach. The rum is blended to 43% ABV using water from the estate’s well and bottled on the island for distribution. Before publishing reviews on staples such as Appleton Reserve (8 Year Old) and R L Seale’s 10 Year Old I felt I had to have a good feel for those kind of rum’s.

It is my go to to enthousiast people about rum or to give to people who have only experienced the diplomaticos or don papa’s. If you’ve ever spent time around a marina, chances are you’re familiar with Mount Gay, a rum that strives to maintain a deep relationship with the sailing community. Small batches of the column still distilled rum have been aged for six years in Madeira casks, imparting plenty of honeyed orchard fruit notes to the rum from Barbados.

The team at Mount Gay strongly suspects production was going on even earlier, and has recently uncovered a deed from 1654 that might seal the case. MGXO is smooth, complex rum which is definitely best enjoyed without cola (if you want a Bajan mixer Cockspur Fine Rum has no equal).

In my book, it's a bit better than the old XO, but to be fair, it's a very long time since i had that one. And I really don't understand why so many fellow travelers haven't noticed the the drop-off in quality.

However, in my scoring I found personally found a little extra something in the Captain Bligh XO (not even a Bajan but very similar in style). After resting in a combination of American whiskey, bourbon and Cognac casks, it's then blended and bottled at 43% ABV. Mount Gay rum has won numerous awards over the years, including the prestigious Grand Prix d'Honneur at the International Rum Conference.

During 2014, we saw the company get purchased by Remy Cointreau, and many people wondered how the brand would change. Much like the Jamaican and Demerara rum’s you get a very definite feel about these Bajan style rum’s. Nearly two centuries later, the Ward family was the last to live on the distillery grounds before the company was sold to Rémy Cointreau in 1989.After the liquid settles, the light astringency of the alcohol weaves with notes of fresh banana, Crème Brule, raisins, Ceylon tea, and toasted tobacco leaf. I trust I will gain an even higher appreciation for this rum after sampling more rums of similar quality. Mount Gay Extra Old (often written "OX") is a blend of rums aged between 8 and 15 years in American bourbon barrels. This expression from Mount Gay's Master Blender Collection brings together rum distilled in a column still aged entirely in tawny Port casks with rums from pot stills initially aged in American whiskey casks before being finished in tawny Port casks too! The rum from the distillery is full bodied and rich with classic notes of brown sugar, tropical fruit and a hint of chocolate.