The history of rum in Barbados and Barbados itself are forever entwined, with neither narrative complete without the other. It is believed that rum is the oldest distilled spirit in the world. And whether or not that is true, it is most certainly the oldest distilled spirit in Barbados.
First made 370 years ago from the sugar cane that populated the island, Barbados rum soon found favour with many English sailors who, as legend tells it, offered their bounty of rum as proof that they had crossed the Atlantic. But it wasn’t until 1703, when Mount Gay Rum began distilling the oldest brand of rum in existence, that the world would come to recognise Barbados as the true birthplace of rum.