Tell us about the process of creating your Mount Gay cocktail and the accompanying dish? That toasted vanilla/toffee taste in Mount Gay could enhance food as well. We want the food to help the cocktail shine. When I am pairing anything, I think: Do we want to compare or contrast? In this case, the beverage is the star, so we don’t want to contrast-we want to compare. How do you go about creating a recipe to pair with a Mount Gay Cocktail? You want to taste Black Barrel, Mount Gay XO, or Mount Gay Eclipse. Some of these classic cocktails only have three, four, five ingredients maximum. One of the things I know as I get older as a chef, and something I love about the mixology world, is that less is more. Just that little bit of the fruit flavor works really well with the rum. With our Manhattan, we use a rum-soaked cherry and an orange rind. You are going to get caramel and vanilla notes. More than other spirits, Mount Gay rum will be more nuanced with the woodiness. How would using Mount Gay's Black Barrel enhance a savory cocktail, such as an Old Fashioned? If you like Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, try them with Black Barrel. What's interesting about those flavors is that they make you think of sweet things, but they aren’t actually sweet. And I get Bananas Foster, the caramel and the vanilla, but in a very subtle way. That's something that jumps out right away. Yeah, the aging in those bourbon casks makes a difference. You can taste the history.Ĭan you describe what a truly fine rum, like Mount Gay's Black Barrel, tastes like when sipped neat? And the history of rum, especially Mount Gay-the oldest rum distillery in the world-adds so much.
But, it doesn't have to be paired with something fruity. The misconception is that rum only works well with sweet flavors. What's the biggest misconception that people have about rum? When one experiences rum like this, it changes your perspective. In terms of pairings, you can develop food that works with Mount Gay's complex flavors: those essences of almond shortbread, over-ripe banana sauce caramel. When you take away the preconceptions and just sip, you discover this is very similar to bourbon or whiskey.
Mount Gay Rum is something you can drink neat or on the rocks and enjoy in a much more elegant manner. Blended with fruit juice isn't the only option. It's been exciting for me to think about rum in a different way. What elements make an aged rum like Mount Gay a sipping libation that replaces spirits like single malt whiskey? Here's more on what we discussed that sun-soaked day-more about Mount Gay Rum, the sipping spirit, and how it complements this chef's innovative style of gastronomy. "See how the ice opens it up." He trails off-and I know he's cooking in his head, lost in the flavors. I drop an ice cube into my glass of Mount Gay Black Barrel-so named for the charred barrel bottoms that age it. As we chat, he suggests some other foods to pair with rum (duck confit spring rolls, charcuterie rife with aged cheeses like gouda accompanied by salty tostones), and I begin to salivate. He also crafted an all-season dish inspired by the prodigious burnt caramel flavors of Mount Gay's Black Barrel: a slow-cooked lamb rib braised with ginger, chili, and soy sauce. The culinary bold-faced name, cookbook author, and out-of-the-box innovator has created a cocktail-a signature Manhattan, with Mount Gay rum in place of Rye. "To me, it's the aged Bourbon casks that make a difference," he says, telling me that his view of rum has changed since he began collaborating with the heritage brand. I decide right then that I'll never drink a single malt whiskey again, as long as I can tipple top-shelf rum from Mount Gay, made in Barbados since 1703 at the world's oldest continually-operating rum distillery. New suede," he says, using chef words to describe the rum. But, our phone call is still an elegant experience. The top chef and co-star of a new cooking competition show is in his backyard in Southern California with views of the sea, and I'm on the Texas Coast, sitting on a pier with a pelican. We're not sitting across from each other in a speakeasy -we're on the phone. It's Thursday and Chef Richard Blais and I are sipping Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum neat.