Paul's Spirited Travel
Barbados Rum Experience Recap - Part 1
On October 31st, 2022, a group of enthusiasts, educators, and spirit industry professionals gathered on the island of Barbados at the Radisson Aquatica Resort for the second annual Barbados Rum Experience. The 2021 event was limited in several ways due to COVID protocols and restrictions that involved rules like mandatory masking, social distancing (which limited the number of participants), and a 9 p.m. curfew. These rules were necessary considering the pandemic, and now that they had been lifted, participants were excited to enjoy the event to its full potential. The schedule for the 2022 event was by far the most intense of any rum education endeavor I have ever attended, with three days devoted to seminars, two days dedicated to visiting three distilleries, and one bonus day of activities.
The first day of the event began with Dr. Richard Drayton guiding participants through the geographical history and, over time, cultural development of the Caribbean, and particularly how this information pertains to the uniqueness of the island of Barbados. Barbados geographically is well known for its coral limestone foundation, which naturally filters the water, and how that contributes to the rums produced, blended, and bottled on the island. Next, Dr. Frederick Smith, author of Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History, taught us about the history of rum on the island and the escapism it provided the inhabitants when the island was colonized and slaves worked the land. Our third speaker of the day was Dr. Lennox Honeychurch, who shared with us the story of the Codrington family and their rise to power in Barbados and the Carolina colonies, which in different ways tied directly to the first two speakers of the day. His presentation was based on his forthcoming book on the family and provided us with a look back on the social and political obstacles during that time in the island’s history. Our final speaker of the day was Richard Seale, distiller, blender, and CEO of the Foursquare Rum Distillery. His seminar, entitled “Back to the Roots,” began with discussing Richard Ligon’s 17th century records of rum being produced on the island with both cane juice and molasses on a single estate. He then guided the audience through the rise of the sugar and rum industries on the island, their consolidations, decline, and modern production using sugar cane juice from cane grown on the island.
The second day of the experience had participants divided up into four tour groups, each group visiting a different distillery or having free time. My group visited Mount Gay Rum Distillery in the morning and St. Nicholas Abbey in the afternoon. Fairly close together on the island, the two distilleries were roughly an hour away from our hotel and provided us with a juxtaposition of two different ways of producing rum. Visiting the Mount Gay distillery in a lot of ways was like visiting hallowed ground, rich in history, an operational museum, and with staff whose passion for all aspects of rum production shined through. Estate Rum Manager, Maggie Campbell, shared a great deal of information about the distillery, the cane being grown on the estate, and all of the environmental factors that go into creating their rum. We were then led on a tour of the distillery, including molasses storage, fermentation, their historical pot and column stills, and a recently reactivated Coffey column still that had been out of operation since 1976. Our group gathered in one of the aging warehouses and sampled two rums: an 11 year old column (61.9% ABV) and a 10 year old pot still rum (61.3% ABV). The flavor differences between the two rums demonstrated the building blocks that Master Blender, Trudiann Branker, uses to create rums for the modern market with an eye towards creating rums that future Master Blenders will be able to create new products with for years to come. Currently, the distillery’s property houses 44,000 barrels, and they are currently constructing a new storage facility for 20,000 more barrels. When visiting distilleries of this size and scope, there is never enough time, and our group moved on to St. Nicholas Abbey.
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After enjoying a buffet lunch on the property of St. Nicholas Abbey, we began our tour at the tasting room, where we learned about the portfolio of products the distillery maintains from owner Larry Warren. After we finished our tasting, we walked to the historical steam sugar mill that is used to create the sugar cane juice that is evaporated down into the sugar cane syrup they use for rum production. Next was a visit with “Anabelle,”, their pot still, which produces all of the estate rums. Beside the still, we viewed the 40 barrels of rum the distillery manages at any given time. As we walked the gorgeous estate, we made our way up to the train station. The St. Nicholas Abbey train began operation in 2018 and provides riders a view of the island’s wildlife, fauna, and historical sites, it terminates on Cherry Tree Hill, which provides a gorgeous view of the island. With the help of some volunteers, the train is turned around, and our narrated tour continues until we return to the estate. Our tour of the plantation lands concluded in the great house and gift shop, where participants could purchase the many offerings of the distillery, amongst other souvenirs. This destination has a lot to offer visitors, and one could easily spend most of the day exploring different parts of the property.
Day three of the Barbados Rum Distillery found us back in the meeting room for a full day of seminars. Dr. Richard Drayton began the day by taking us on a historical deep dive into the history of sugar production and how rum evolved from it. His seminar spanned centuries and integrated it all into our modern rum industry and the evolving story of spirit. The Mount Gay Rum distillery’s agricultural manager, Jacklyn Broomes, then spoke with us about the importance of sugar cane to the island and the various varietals the company uses to make its rum, as well as the molasses they source for their products. Our third seminar was led by Dr. Frederick Smith, who discussed the factors of how rum was used in colonial society, not only amongst the planter class, but also amongst the slaves that the sugar and rum industries were built upon, as well as the rebellions it helped ferment. To study the rum history of Barbados, the Caribbean, and the colonies, it must be acknowledged that enslaved labor was essential to the growth of the sugar and rum industries during the Age of Exploration. This part of the spirits’ legacy should not be taken for granted, but instead acknowledged and given its due, like many other commodities and industries that were created during that time. Our final seminar of the day was a panel discussion led by Ian Burrell and four of our speakers. Collectively, they had a lively discussion covering everything from mythbusting rum marketing, historical and modern fact checking, the sticky subject of rum categorization, and the importance of the Barbados Geographical Indication, not only to Barbados, but also to its presence in the global market. (to be continued next month)