It's NOT all good?! Dept: Preacher disses Mount Gay

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Capn Jimbo
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It's NOT all good?! Dept: Preacher disses Mount Gay

Post by Capn Jimbo »

It's all so predictable...


Any rum drinker with any brain cells remaining is well aware that the Shillery of Rum has long been the home of the "...it's all good" Preacher, who has long claimed that the best rum "...is the one in my glass". But not any more.

Recently one of the beta monkeys who enjoyed Mount Gay's rushed to market "Black Barrel" posed a good question:
"I've recently been enjoying Mount Gay's special small batch offering, Black Barrel. Nice stuff! But its "claim to fame", that "wow" factor that makes it so "special", appears to be that it is aged (or at least finished) in charred oak ex-bourbon barrels."
Noting that since most rum is finished in used bourbon barrels, he asked a legitimate question, "What makes MGBB so different?". Another monkey had the correct answer, which was that Black Barrel finishes this NAS in heavily RE-charred used bourbon barrels. This is called an "alligator char", which intends to leave open cracks and thus, to expose deeper new wood.

This answer is absolutely correct and in fact, does add barrel effect by exposing new wood, and also does a nice job of smoothing. Not covered is that this is Mount Gay's attempt to spiff up a young rum, and is a direct consequence of reacting to the massive USVI rum subsidies. To Mount Gay's credit, this technique works at least to some extent.


Not according to the Preacher!

What?! In contradiction to his long established "...it's all good" mantra, the Preacher actually criticized Mount Gay for the first time in my memory. His petulant pronouncement?
"Almost every rum is aged in used whisky, and more recently bourbon, barrels. I think you'll find the biggest differences are the marketing behind these various rums and the coloring which much more effect on the spirit than most marketers or distillers will admit. "
(Emphasis added)

Such criticism is way out of character, and in this case is just plain wrong. While marketing and coloring has no real effect beyond the visual, Mount Gay's heavy re-charring is actually a very competent and effective technique that quickly adds oak flavors, while also smoothing the product. In sum, the Preacher's spew is unjustified. I mean - really - WTF is going on here?

My take...

The Prophet's posturing is exactly that. Now that he has rolled out his own miniscule line of bulk rums, does this give him cause to attempt to devalue Mount Gay's Black Barrel, in deference to his own Jamaican Black and other colored rums? You decide.

Odder yet is the fact that his line is not a whit different in terms of either marketing or coloring, In years past - before his entry - he praised Z-23 and claimed it was their recharring of barrels that was in large part, responsible for their profile. But now that he's trying to push his own "black" and other rums, he now contradicts himself by implying that Mount Gay's heavy recharring does little.

As always the best way to refute the Prophet is to simply examine his previous positions for contradictions. It's all so predictable...
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