Barbados is an island in the Lesser Antilles, the archipelago that marks the eastern edge of the Caribbean. Grapevines do not grow well in Barbados' hot, humid climate, so wine is not produced there. The island does produce rum, however – in respectable quantities given its small size. Three well-known international rum brands originate here: Mount Gay, Cockspur and Doorly's. The coconut-flavored, rum-based liqueur 'Malibu' is also produced on the island.
Barbados measures just 21 miles (34km) from north to south and slightly less from east to west. The easternmost of the Lesser Antilles, it lies a full 100 miles (160km) further into the Atlantic than its neighbors Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent. Early Spanish and Portuguese navigators in the 15th and 16th Centuries showed little interest in the small, remote island, so Barbados was not actively colonized until the early 17th Century. The first English settlers arrived in 1627, and the island remained under British rule until 1966.
The colony's first large-scale product was tobacco, a crop naturally well suited to the Caribbean's tropical climate. Most of this was shipped to England, where tobacco consumption was rapidly increasing – despite King James I's view of smoking as 'a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs'. Before long, however, the colonies in what is now the eastern United States began producing large volumes of tobacco, creating significant economies of scale. Barbados was unable to compete, and turned to another high-value crop: sugar cane.
Barbados played a major part in the British West Indies' sugar production, which had reached 25,000 tons by the turn of the 18th Century – more than all of the Dutch-owned and French-owned Caribbean islands combined. With such vast quantities of sugar cane being grown in a small space, rum naturally evolved as a valuable by-product. It remains an important part of the island’s culture and economy today.
Most rum is made from molasses, a thick, black, sweet syrup whose name comes from the Latin mel, meaning 'honey' (via Portuguese melaco). Molasses is made by repeatedly boiling cane juice in order to extract sugar crystals. It is a primary by-product of sugar production; as Barbados' sugar industry grew, so did its rum production capacity. Most Barbadian rums are golden rather than clear ('white'), indicating that they have been aged in wooden barrels to add aromatic complexity. For more information on how rum is made, see Rum.
Mount Gay was one of Barbados's first commercial rums, and is the world's oldest rum brand, as evidenced by company deeds that date back to 1703. The name Mount Gay was created in 1801 as a combination of Mount Gilboa (the company's first plantation) and John Gay Alleyne (its long-standing manager, who died that year). Cockspur joined the Barbadian rum market in 1884 and remains a popular brand today. It is made at the West Indies Rum Distillery, which draws its water from a coral-filtered aquifer. Malibu is also produced there.
The quality of Barbados's rum was recognized not only in Britain but also in the United States. The nation's first President, George Washington, ordered a barrel for his inauguration ceremony in 1789.
