@velierspa's Elliott Erwitt Magnum Series I am tasting today is one from the @mountgayrum distillery in Barbados. What makes it stand apart from the regular Mount Gay releases is that it was distilled by Frank Ward, the last of the Ward family whom had owned the Mount Gay distillery for most of the 20th Century

. rum because despite selling off the brand Mount Gay to Remy Cointreau in 1989, the Ward family continued to own the distillery and the means of production, up until 2014 when the entire distillery was also sold to Remy Cointreau.

It was some time in 2007 when Frank began distilling his own style of rum, distinctively different from the official Mount Gay rums - a triple-distilled spirit using the double-pot stills, bottled under the brand Mount Gilboa, which was the original name of the plantation that Mount Gay sits upon today. These were bottled and sold in the early 2010s, before Velier bought a healthy amount of stock and began bottling them since 2017.

This batch comes from the 2007 vintage, aged for 14 years in the tropics before being bottled in 2021 at 60% abv and an outturn of 600 bottles. On the nose it is a wonderful blend of nuts, sweet florals, and super glue. vanilla is ever present in the nose, rich, thick, much more intense than any other Mount Gay rums that you might come across. As it breathes, it opens up to become more tropical, brighter, ripe bananas, and a slight of vinegar.

The palate immediately starts off with cane sugar sweetness, burnt rubber or even plastic-y fumes, cola. It has kind of a fizzy texture, and a tad bitter as it transitions to the end. and sweet candy.

I've always had a soft spot for the Mount Gilboa distillate by Frank, ever since I tasted it as the 2009 Last Ward. It has a rather distinctive profile, perhaps not as dirty or pungent as a Caroni, but has its own share of fumes and plastics that can be rather divisive. But for me, this Mount Gay is excellent, and the best of the lot I've had thus far!

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu