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| Sugar Museum |
Barbados is a mecca for the rumstyler, 3 major distilleries, St. Nicolas Abbey, and a Sugar Museum. Often called the birthplace of Rum Barbados offers some of the finest tasting and innovative blenders it has been my experience to meet. The Sugar Museum takes you through the history of the sugar cane, it's processing, and how the process has changed throughout the years to how it is done now.
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| Larry and his Still |
St. Nicolas Abbey is another of the historic sites that is absolutely amazing. Larry and his family have taken on a monumental task of restoring the historic sugar plantation and add the mystique of making a modern day high quality rum from the same location. They have restored the residence, the steam powered sugar cane press, and are currently working on restoring the wind driven sugar cane press. Larry has produced a very nice rum that is available only in Barbados at the abbey and in the duty-free shops at the airport.
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| R.L. Seale's Foursquare Rum Distillery |
The commercial distilleries include R.L. Seale's Foursquare Distillery, Mount Gay Distillery, and the West Indies Rum Distillery. All three of these distilleries are a very important link in the rum production around the world. Mount Gay distillery produces the lines of Mount Gay rums that are distributed around the world. West Indies Rum Distillery produces the Cockspur Brand and sells 90% of the rum produced to other rum producers that blend and bottle under their own brand names. The fermentation process here is a unique "continuous fermentation" that gives the distillery it's high volume and high quality capabilities. R.L. Seale's Foursquare Distillery produces, ages, blends, and bottles all of the product that is produced at his distillery. He demands to have absolute control of the product from sugar to finished rum. Richard is a very innovative man that has created new methods of distillation that give his rums that high quality reputation.
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| Continuous Fermentation Tanks at West Indies Rum Distillery |
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| Mount Gay Rum Distillery |
A trip to Barbados is a must for a serious rumstyler. The history of the sugar cane, slaves for sugar, and the rum, are only the beginning of a wonderful experience on this Caribbean Island. The facilities and the resorts are all top notch including the airport and the transportation systems on the island. You really need to put Barbados on your must see list. Oh the annual Rum Festival in November is a great time to visit the island as well. ;o)
