Barbados & Mount Gay Rum: The 1703 Distillery That Is the World's Oldest

Barbados is the easternmost island in the Caribbean, a coral atoll that sits alone in the Atlantic, a hundred miles east of the Windward Islands, and it is the island that the English claimed in 1627 and never lost, making it the only Caribbean island that was continuously British from first settlement to independence in 1966. The island is also the birthplace of rum, the spirit that the Caribbean gave the world, and the home of Mount Gay Distilleries, whose oldest surviving deed is dated 1703, making it the oldest commercial rum distillery in the world. According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gay_Rum), the oldest surviving deed for the company is from 1703, making Mount Gay Rum the world's oldest commercial rum distillery, and the distillery is located in the Bridgetown area of Barbados.

The 1703 Deed and the Distillery

The 1703 deed that establishes Mount Gay as the oldest rum distillery in the world is a remarkable document, a record of a transaction that proves the distillery was already operating when the deed was recorded, meaning that rum production on the site predates 1703. The distillery, now located in the parish of Saint Lucy on the northern coast of Barbados, produces rum from molasses, the byproduct of the sugar refining that was the island's chief industry for three centuries. The rum is distilled in copper pot stills and column stills, aged in charred oak barrels, and blended according to a recipe that has been refined over three centuries. [Mount Gay Rum](https://www.mountgayrum.com/) offers historic distillery tours where visitors can see the original landscape and buildings where it all began in 1703, steeped in over 300 years of heritage and expertise.

Bridgetown and the Colonial Port

Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a colonial port whose historic garrison and waterfront represent one of the most complete examples of British colonial architecture in the Caribbean. The city was founded in 1628, a year after the English settlement, and it grew around a natural harbor that became the naval and commercial hub of the British Windward Islands. The Garrison, a complex of military buildings dating from the 1700s and 1800s, was the headquarters of the British Navy in the Caribbean, and George Washington stayed there in 1751, the only trip the future president ever made outside the territory that would become the United States. The Parliament of Barbados, established in 1639, is the third-oldest legislature in the Americas, and the island's system of government, continuous and uninterrupted since the seventeenth century, is one of the oldest democracies in the Western Hemisphere.

The Rum and the Sailing Tradition

Mount Gay rum is closely tied to the sailing tradition of Barbados, an island where the trade winds and the deep harbor made it a natural home for yachtsmen. The distillery has sponsored sailing regattas for decades, and the Mount Gay Rum Race, held in venues around the world, is one of the oldest sailing traditions in the sport. The connection is not accidental: rum was the sailor's drink, and the Royal Navy issued a daily rum ration, the tot, to every sailor until 1970, a tradition that began in the Caribbean in the 1600s. The pink sand beaches of the east coast, the coral reefs of the west, and the rolling green interior of sugarcane fields all belong to an island that is, in area, only twenty-one miles long and fourteen miles wide, yet has produced one of the world's great spirits and one of the Caribbean's most enduring cultures.

A Mimosa for the Distillery

A morning in Barbados, with the smell of sugarcane and the trade winds off the Atlantic, calls for a sparkling drink that can honor the island's rum heritage while lifting the tropical air. A [classic Champagne mimosa](/recipes/classic-champagne-mimosa) is the natural match, the orange juice a bright companion to the rum tradition and the bubbles a nod to the island's festive spirit. A [peach bellini mimosa](/recipes/peach-bellini-mimosa) is equally lovely, its stone-fruit sweetness a gentle companion to the pink sand beaches of the east coast.

**Reference Links:**

- Mount Gay Rum (1703 oldest deed, world's oldest commercial rum distillery, Bridgetown): [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gay_Rum)

- Mount Gay Rum Distillery Tours (1703, 300 years of heritage, Barbados): [Mount Gay Rum](https://www.mountgayrum.com/distillery/)