Italian rum pioneer Velier has for some time touted a grand plan to bring rum-making to Monaco - and whilst the Principality of Monaco sits as one of the smallest countries in the world, it is also incredibly important today as it was historically, however, it does not grow sugarcane. 

But you can always count on Luca Gargano, Velier's chief, to figure something out - and the result is Mother Mesccia.

Mother Mesccia is a nod to the historical spirit blend called Mesccia, where in the 17th century, cloth-sailed Genoese ships would dock along Monaco's shores and engage in trade, with Caribbean rum often traded for citrus fruits. The locals loved rums and the sailors needed citrus for their long voyages. Over time, the Mesccia blend ("Mesccia" meaning "mixture" in Genoese dialect) was created, one where rum was blended with other spirits such as Vermouth and Marsala. This became incredibly popular and over time integrated into Monaco's culture, only to be lost to time over the coming centuries. 

Velier's Luca Gargano (left) with Monaco's HRH Prince Albert II (right).

In the early 2020's, Monaco's HRH Prince Albert II had thus proposed bringing back this ancient tradition of Mesccia-making to Velier's Luca Gargano, with whom the project resonated deeply given Velier's Genoese origins.

Luca would thus devise a plan to have what was deemed the best sugarcane in the world - Haiti's Crystalline sugarcane (used for Velier's Haitian Clairin rums) - pressed, fermented and distilled just once (with a bain-marie Mueller pot still designed by Italian eau-de-vie master Capovilla, and operated by Michel Sajous in Haiti, whose Clairins are bottled by Velier), before being transported to Monaco for a second distillation (at the Distillerie de Monaco with an Ulrich Kothe still). And so in 2025, the unaged Pure Single Rum Mother Mesccia was born.

Yet, in order to really go the full mile and recreate the historic mixture that was Mesccia, whilst also wanting to maintain the purity of the rum, it was thus proposed that the unaged Pure Single Rum Mother Mesccia be aged in ex-Vermouth casks, allowing for the rum to develop the Vermouth flavours without the two alcohol types be actually mixed.

As such, we now have A Mesccia, a Pure Single Rum that is finished in 100% ex-Vermouth casks in Monaco itself, and is bottled at 49% ABV, with an ester count of 262.4 gr/hlpa and congeners of 734.3 gr/hlpa!

There's still more to come, with ex-Marsala casks and ex-Neisson Rhum barrels that have also been said to be used for ageing the Mesccia rum.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team