Government has set a target of increasing rum exports’ earnings to US$1 billion.

The announcement came on Tuesday from Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn as Mount Gay, the world’s oldest rum distillery, unveiled the Cognac Cask Expression, the eighth edition in the company’s Master Blender collection.

While acknowledging to the DAILY NATION that the target was ambitious, Straughn said: “We have to be pragmatic about partnerships in rum and other industries.”

He told an audience which witnessed the product launch at Mount Gay’s St Lucy distillery that Barbados currently exports US$1 million in rum.

“We want to push that to $1 billion,” he added.

The minister commended the company for its innovation.

“There is a history here which we want to leverage to the benefit of Barbados,” he said.

Straughn envisaged Barbadian investment in mini-distilleries and ordinary Barbadians allowed to participate. He said the partnership with Mount Gay, which is owned by Remy Martin of France, would require education of Barbadians.

Straughn noted that he met with the principals of Remy Martin in France in December last year.

The Cognac Cask Expression is the first Mount Gay rum to be entirely aged in ex-Cognac French oak barrels sourced from the House of Remy Martin, the company said in a statement.

Master blender Trudiann Branker, creator of the edition, said: “By aging rum completely in Cognac casks, we’ve allowed the interaction between the rum and the cask to bring forward a unique profile. The French oak imparts notes of dried fruits, vanilla and oak, while the tropical climate of Barbados enhances the fruit-forward character of the rum.”

Mount Gay’s managing director, Antoine Couvreur, said the Cognac Cask Expression would be available from June 2 in the United States, Britain, Europe, Barbados, the Caribbean and selected markets in Asia. Only 6 276 bottles will be available. (HH)

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