To Make Better Rum, The Focus Of This Sugar Mill Is Molasses

Forbes

21-03-2025

All rum is distilled from sugarcane, and most rum is distilled from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production. Most distilleries, however, have little direct control over how the cane is cultivated and how the molasses is made. The reasons are mostly economic — the land that's needed to grow the cane has become more expensive, and the crop itself has become a money loser for many Caribbean islands. Sugarcane doesn't have a long shelf life, so it must be processed soon after harvesting. That means distilleries also outsource the production of molasses, either to domestic plants or, often, to other countries, including Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
Molasses can be an afterthought at the sugar mills that produce it, and that can affect the quality of the rum from which it's made. Barbados-based Mount Gay is looking to change that narrative. With its Single Estate rum series, which launched in 2023, the brand is now making rum from cane grown on its own estate, in Mount Gay's own sugar mill — which means the focus is on making quality molasses rather than quality cane sugar. In some ways, it's a return to the way things were done in Barbados in the 18th century (Mount Gay has been making rum since 1703), where estates grew and processed their own cane on their own land, though the goals of production have changed.
The idea of terroir in molasses may seem far-fetched to some. But I've tasted molasses from the Mount Gay Estate alongside samples from elsewhere in the Caribbean and even elsewhere in Barbados, and there really is a difference. That distinctive flavor transfers to the rum, as well — Single Estate is clearly a member of the extended Mount Gay family, but its richness, depth and complexity still stand out from the rest of the line. Alas, Mount Gay doesn't grow enough cane to use in all its rums, and Single Estate is still limited to a few thousand bottles per year. But it's a pretty cool start.
Mount Gay Rum master blender Trudiann Branker
Photo courtesy Mount Gay/Remy Cointreau
Trudiann Branker, Mount Gay's master blender, has been a part of the Single Estate project since its parent company, Remy Cointreau, reacquired the plantation on which cane had been grown in 2014 (it had been sold off in the 1970s). Below, she answers a lot of my questions about what the heck they're doing in St. Lucy, where the plantation, sugar mill and distillery are located.
TS: What are the differences between a mill that processes sugarcane and one that processes molasses?
TB: At Mount Gay, we chose to build our own mill so we could process our Estate sugarcane specifically for molasses production and have full control over the extraction process. In a typical sugarcane mill, the main goal is to produce sugar, with molasses as the byproduct. For us, it's the opposite—molasses is the end goal, and sugar is the byproduct. This approach lets us produce high-quality Grade A molasses, whereas most sugar mills produce Grade C, or blackstrap molasses. By prioritizing molasses, we can ensure the quality is of highest standard for rum-making.
TS: How does the terroir one gets from cane juice survive the processing that turns it into molasses?
TB: Not only does it survive, it thrives, and we don't only believe it, we can actually show it and taste it. By controlling our milling process and focusing on extracting molasses from our own estate sugarcane, we can fine-tune the process to maintain the characteristics of our terroir. Unlike the typical lower-grade molasses, our Grade A molasses really captures those unique, terroir-driven flavors and scope of aromas found through every stage of rum creation.
TS: What characteristics do you look for in molasses?
TB: We're looking for molasses with a higher sugar content, which benefits the fermentation stage, but we also want molasses that expresses the unique characteristics of our terroir. Our molasses carry more grassy, fresh, and floral notes. You can really tell the difference when comparing our Estate-produced molasses to imported molasses from the Caribbean or even other Barbadian molasses. The flavors reflect the terroir of the Mount Gay Estate and make for a special rum with more distinctive character.
TS: What was the process of figuring out which types of cane to grow in order to get the best molasses?
TB: Diversity on the Estate has always been important, and it's a long-standing practice for sugarcane estates to grow a variety of cultivars. This approach helps guard against crop loss from disease and lets us explore different flavours and aromas from each type. We're still early in the process, but we can already see differences in the molasses coming from various cultivars. The ability to produce Grade A molasses gives us an opportunity to highlight flavours we wouldn't typically find in imported molasses or the more common Grade C blackstrap.
Part of the Mount Gay estate, where sugarcane is again being grown and milled after a decades-long hiatus.
Photo courtesy Mount Gay/Remy Cointreau
TS: Are the varietals of sugarcane grown on the Mount Gay estate native to Barbados? And are they the same varietals that would have been grown there 300 years ago?
TB: There is a constant breeding and selection process that takes place annually, that has resulted in adaptable, disease resistant and higher yielding varieties according to local industry needs. On island, you may now find varieties in commercial production that were bred in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and one from the 00's. It is advisable that an estate plants no more than 25% of its acreage in any one variety, so that in the event of a major disease or occurrence that is variety specific, the producer will have other varieties to fall back upon and safeguard at least a portion of his/ her harvest.
Another point to note, is that 300 years ago, planting and harvesting methods were vastly different, relying primarily on manual labor. The sugar cane would have been softer at this time. With the introduction of mechanical harvesters to Barbados in the late 60's and early 70's, the sugar cane was bred to be more "robust" to withstand the power of the harvesters.
All varieties grown at the Mount Gay estate were bred in Barbados at the West Indies Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station (WICSCBS) located at Groves, St. George. The WICSCBS is one of the two oldest (Java being the other one) sugar cane breeding institutions in the world, with a continuous breeding program since the rediscovery of seedlings in Barbados in 1888.
After the breeding process, new sugar cane varieties are sent to the Agronomy Research Department, also located at Groves, St. George. This department's research is primarily aimed at varietal evaluation and selection according to industry needs, a process that can take up to 13 years for one cycle to be completed, and a new sugar cane variety released.
TS: How different is Single Estate from, say, Mount Gay XO, from your vantage point?
TB: The Single Estate Series is the perfect illustration of Mount Gay's terroir. The molasses used for Single Estate Series comes exclusively from our Estate, and it's distilled entirely in pot stills and aged in ex-Bourbon barrels. This approach lets us highlight the unique taste of our land, and you can really notice the differences between the 2023 and 2024 edition, like you would with a wine from a specific vineyard, from a vintage to another.
Mount Gay's XO, on the other hand, is all about the art of blending. It's made from a mix of imported and Barbadian molasses, distilled in both column stills and small pot stills, and matured in various types of barrels—ex-Bourbon, ex-American whiskey, and ex-Cognac. It's about creating a rich, balanced profile that consistently expresses the Mount Gay house style, batch after batch.
Since sugar is the byproduct for Mount Gay, what do you do with it?
We sell [it] to local Barbados sugar producers to support the traditional sugar industry here. We also like to use some of it in cocktail recipes at the Mount Gay bar in Barbados, like in our Black Barrel Old Fashioned!