the sydney rum club made a much anticipated return last Monday, at Surry Hills' latest Caribbean restaurant and rum bar Jonkanoo, featuring a tasting of the full line of Mount Gay rums including their latest release, Mount Gay Black Barrel.
Black Barrel was launched in Australia around this time last year and to some of my international friends' dismay, only recently in the UK.
The rum is a blend of double pot and column distillates, aged in oak and finished in charred bourbon oak barrels. Based on the name I think you can guess just how charred those barrels are, right? Pretty damn charred would be my guess.
Depending on the level of charring of the barrel, it will impart different flavours to the spirit resting inside. A lot of the time barrels are only lightly toasted or charred instead of the very heavy charring used for Mount Gay Black Barrel. The Mount Gay rums were presented to us by Suntory's Luke Hanzlicek, who gave insight into Mount Gay's rum production and the local culture on Barbados, where the rum is from.
Prior to the rum tasting we had Black Barrel rum mixed with ginger beer and lime with complimentary Caribbean tapas prepared for us by the chef, giving us a good idea of all the delicious things on the menu you can get at Jonkanoo. The joint offers a nice chilled out atmosphere with a pleasant rustic deco, great tunes and most importantly great food and drinks.
Now that Tom Bulmer, the director of the local Rum Club, is back in Australia more permanently after a busy year of work trips around the country and overseas, we should expect a lot more rummy goodness our way with the next rum session coming up this October. Be sure to join the Facebook group in order to not miss out on any Rum Club updates; RSVP essential for most events as the seats are limited and will no doubt go fast!
relevant articles:
Mount Gay Rum - The Oldest Rum Brand in the World
Mount Gay 1703 - The Superlative of Rum
Mount Gay Rum Club