#mount-gay-rum

#mount-gay-rum

"We're a new distiller - we don't have the luxury of waiting to know if our whisky is going to be great. It has to be great from the outset."

"John and I worked together for 20 years, and he played a major role in shaping my understanding of the chemistry behind distillation," said Henley.

Visitors have noted a bar stocked with notable spirits including Macallan M, Louis X, Last Drop Whisky, and Pappy van Winkle 23. One specialty are bourbon flights with several noteworthy bottles presented at once for sampling.

Along with the challenges of operating any new business, making good bourbon takes time and expert craftsmanship. It's for this reason that many new "distilleries" aren't distilleries at all (non-distilling producers, blenders, rectifiers). Instead, they source bourbon and then sell it as their own. That's not inherently a bad thing, as some expertly blend whiskey or add extra maturation to create a genuinely impressive bourbon, but there is a clear difference.

Kina Lillet was still being made according to the original recipe that it launched with in the late 1800s - fruit liqueur, wine, and quinine.

If you are new to whiskey, the barrel a whiskey ages in matters almost as much as the liquid itself. Black Cask whisky is aged only in American oak barrels that previously held bourbon, a choice that tends to create flavors many U.S. drinkers already recognize, such as vanilla and caramel, characterized by a gentle sweetness.

Dunder pit? This is the one of the most distinctive features of traditional Jamaican rum, a style exemplified by Hampden, which has been in operation since 1753. You typically make rum by fermenting molasses and/or sugar cane juice into an alcoholic wash, then distil that into a potent liquor, but local distillers developed several strategies to oomph up the flavour.

Barbados's vibrant mix of breathtaking beaches, Colonial-style architecture, botanical gardens, and characteristic Caribbean hospitality makes it a natural beacon for those seeking sun, sand, rum punch, and a warm island breeze. Despite a slim 21-mile radius, there's a surprising number of excellent hotels here bringing historical charm, plush beds, and unrivalled sea views to restore peace to weary travelers. But for a proper pulse-slowing immersion into island time, a private villa is best.

Sorel Liqueur was born long before it reached store shelves, was carried across the Atlantic by enslaved Africans, preserved in Caribbean kitchens, and passed down through generations that refused to forget who they were. Today, that history lives inside a bottle created by Jackie Summers, founder of Jack from Brooklyn and the first black person to be granted a license to make liquor post-prohibition in U.S history. With Sorel Liqueur, Summers did more than launch a spirits brand. He reclaimed a cultural legacy.

The U.S. spirits landscape has evolved far beyond the recognition of simply being the birthplace of bourbon. In recent years, we've seen a transformation in both the quality and individuality that the country's craft distilleries have been able to produce. While previous decades were dominated by the big-name distilleries, far more awards are going to craft distillers who have mastered the art of producing high-quality whiskeys, rums, gins, and more.

Following what was a period of high sales and rapid expansion, the market is contracting for a number of reasons. Alcohol consumption has declined in recent years, for one thing, but international response to U.S. tariffs has also hit bourbon sales hard, with exports of the liquor dropping significantly in 2025. Many icons of American whiskey have been affected, with Brown-Forman - parent company to Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, and Old Forester, among others - laying off a significant portion of its workforce.

Stroll into nearly any Italian restaurant in the country and you'll likely get a glimpse at a row of oddly shaped bottles sitting in the oft-forgotten back bar. Those bottles contain grappa, a spirited sip most often enjoyed after a lengthy dinner when belts start feeling tight, when diners recline in their seats taking lazy last bites of half-eaten desserts.

Contrary to popular belief, rye was actually America's native spirit. George Washington owned the largest rye distillery in the country after he left the White House. Historically, it was a very important cocktail ingredient. But by the end of the 20th century, rye had practically disappeared from stores and bars.

"I wouldn't say the bramble is the only way to enjoy contemporary gin, but it's absolutely one of the most flattering cocktails to highlight the category," says Justin Lavenue, co-owner of Austin's famed cocktail bar The Roosevelt Room. "Contemporary gins, which tend to lean away from heavy juniper and more toward citrus, floral, root, and herbaceous notes, shine in cocktails where those subtleties have room to breathe. Unlike many other gin-based classics, the bramble gives them exactly that platform."