January 27, 2025 • 42 mins
Can you feel the heat on your face? This episode we want to transport you right to the sunny island of Barbados. Anyone’s guess which rum we’ll be exploring??
If you haven’t guessed already, it’s Mount Gay, not only the oldest rum in Barbados, but the oldest rum in the world!! I’m thrilled that Trudiann Branker, the trailblazing Master Blender, is joining us.
Starting at the distillery in 2014 as Quality Assurance Manager, Trudiann rose to prominence with her unique ability to merge scientific expertise and creative intuition.
Under her guidance, Mount Gay has unveiled award-winning innovations like the Master Blender Collection and the Single Estate Series!
We met at the launch of the Single Estate Series 2, and I couldn’t wait to have her on the show! Single Estate is super special, and it’s great to have her explain how it all came to be
Before we begin, you can always watch this episode on Youtube, plus all the other Lush Life episodes as well as a whole lot more; just head to youtube.com/@lushlifemanual that's youtube.com/@lushlifemanual!
Also If you love the show, we would so appreciate your support! You can get our advice on anything to do with home bartending, where to drink in every major city, special recipes, plus a Lush Life mug! Just head to alushlifemanual.substack.com and sign up!
The cocktail of the week is the Cocohill:
INGREDIENTS
- 60ml / 2oz Mount Gay XO Rum
- 1 Coconut water ice cube
METHOD
- Pour Coconut Water into a silicone mould 3-3.5cm high or regular ice cube moulds and freeze.
- Once frozen, place the coconut ice cube(s) into an old fashioned glass
- Add XO and serve
You’ll find this recipe and all the cocktails of the week at alushlifemanual.com, plus links to most of the ingredients.
Full Episode Details: https://alushlifemanual.com/mount-gay-rum-with-trudiann-branker
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Susan Schwartz (00:07):
Can you feel the heat on your face? This
episode, we want to transport you right to the sunny
island of Barbados. Anyone's
guess which rum we'll be exploring?
I'm, um, Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion and
this is Lush Life podcast. Every
week we're inspired to live life one cocktail
(00:28):
at a time. If you haven't
guessed already, it's Mount Gay. Not only
the oldest rum in Barbados, but the oldest
rum in the world. I'm thrilled
that Trudianne Brancker, the trailblazing master
blender, is joining us today.
Starting at the distillery in 2014 as
(00:49):
Quality Assurance manager, Trudianne
rose to prominence with her unique ability to merge
scientific expertise and
creative intuition. Under her
guidance, Mount Gay has unveiled award
winning innovations like the Master Blender
collection and the Single Estate series.
We met at the launch of the Single Estate series
(01:11):
too, and I couldn't wait to have her on the
show. Single Estate is super
special and it's great to have her here to explain how
it all came to be. But before that,
if you love Lush Life, we would so
appreciate your support. By signing up to our
newsletter. You can get our advice on
anything to do with home bartending, where to drink
(01:33):
in every major city, special recipes, and
even your very own Lush Life mug.
Just head to
alushlifemanual.substack.com
and sign up.
Now let's get to Trudiam.
>> Speaker B (01:54):
It's so great to have you on the show.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (01:55):
Thank you. I'm honored.
>> Speaker B (01:58):
No, it's fantastic. I can't wait for everyone to hear about what you're
doing because it's pretty exciting. So why don't we start
off with a little introduction. Why don't you tell everyone who you are
and, uh, what you do?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (02:09):
Yeah. So I am Trudy Ann Brancker. I am the master
blender for Montgay Rum.
And in being the master blender, I really
create all of the Mongay liquids and
all of the research and development activities that,
uh, happen at Moongay. I coordinate.
>> Speaker B (02:27):
I m always love to go right back to the beginning, to
people's beginnings to see how they got where they did. So
if you could tell me a little bit about where you grew up and I'll
sprinkle some questions in along the way.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (02:38):
So, yes, definitely Bermudian. Very proud of that
fact. Never tried to hide the accent. I don't think I could
if I wanted to, but no. I was born in
Barbados. I went to school here
my entire child
life. However, coming on to 18 when
it was time to go to university. I did leave
Barbados and I went to university
(03:00):
at uh, Howard in Washington D.C. and you
know, it was my first time
going to the US When I went to Howard. So
you know, definitely a new world there.
However, you know it's, it was a, it was a real
beginning with regards to, I would say
my first love for Montguay would have
(03:21):
started then leaving the island, having to take a
gift to persons not knowing. I did reach for
Mount Gay. Not ever thinking that
uh, this is where I would sit one day. But you know it's,
it's always, it's a full circle moment for me. But all
through my spiritual, I was very attracted to the sciences,
biology, chemistry, physics, math
(03:41):
and I really continued that like journey throughout.
In tertiary education at ah, university. Same
study path, biology, chemistry. Never
once connecting the dots again that this is where it
would lead. But unknowingly setting
the stage or providing myself with that base that
would be used later. It's really funny,
(04:02):
people always say when you're in a class, you'll never use that
in real life. One day, you know, you realize, hope your
career is based in a laboratory with the same
look and um, feel that you had then.
And it's that to me that's sometimes
one of the best things to see that there's this real
life application that happens for all of those
(04:23):
studies that I had. But after I finished university
I returned home to Barbados because it was really
important for me at that point to contribute
to Barbados and to bring what I had learned
externally back home. I started my career
at the brew at a local brewery.
>> Speaker B (04:40):
Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. I have so many things to ask
in between there before you get to the brewery. When you
went to study science at Howard.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (04:48):
Yes.
>> Speaker B (04:48):
Were you thinking, did you think have a long term goal, like I
want to be a doctor, a scientist or anything that or you just didn't
really know. You just wanted to study science.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (04:56):
I did. You know, I was still very much gonna follow the
path my parents had, you know, envisioned for me. I was going
to be a doctor. That was,
that was the plan.
>> Speaker B (05:06):
That was the plan.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (05:07):
That was the plan. It really was at that time,
um, when I, I actually took a gap year
before I was supposed to go back to med school, funny
enough. And that's when we kind of land at the brewery,
but we're not there yet. We're not there yet
now.
>> Speaker B (05:22):
And also of course when you got to the US
the drinking age is 21. So
had rum been. I guess this is such a silly Question to ask
someone who's from the islands, but was rum was a big part of
your life?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (05:35):
Yeah, it's always around, but, you know,
different facets of it become around, if
that's you. So as you were growing up, because the island
is full of sugar cane and you know, of that relationship between
sugarcane and rum, you know, you are always
knowledgeable of how rum is made when you
leave the. When, like at 18 in
Barbados. At 18 is the legal
(05:56):
drinking age or the legal consumption age. But
it's not that at, uh, 18, all of a sudden,
you know, there's this awakening that happens with
regards to it.
It is that, like I said, it's more about the process. And you know, that,
that behind the scenes that happens because you
grow where, like I said, there's sugarcane everywhere.
(06:17):
I would say for me, it was definitely
as I, as I got older, it was more of a gift to
people. It was a representation of Barbados for
me. It was always something I would take back for like a
professor or somebody, you know, you know, a
piece of Barbados. That is what it represented to me
then as I got older and socially
you would go out, of course it would be, it would be the choice
(06:39):
that I, that I would make because, like, again, it really always
resonated for me as being a very Barbadian brand.
And that to me, I think was, was more how
I saw it and how it evolved many
years later when the opportunity presents itself to be a
member of the Munge family, of course
in my mind is the opportunity, you know, of a lifetime to
(07:00):
really become a member of the
Mongue family and represent a brand that,
ah, in my mind, you know, is so
Barbadian. But we're not there yet either.
We're still not there.
>> Speaker B (07:13):
So you go back and you, your first
job is, you said, in a brewery.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (07:18):
So I come back to Barbados and,
uh, you know, as usual, you know, you're taking a year off, but you've still got to do
something. You still got to do something. And yeah,
I do. I started working at the local brewery and I think that
that's really. Everything changed where
manufacturing became a part of
our career path, that I fell in love with
(07:38):
the production, the, you know, the process to go
through from raw material to, you know, the science
involved, where yeast transform sugars
into alcoholic. It all resonated so
naturally and it, you know, I was
enthusiastic to go every day to study
more, to become part of this. And I think after
maybe like a week after joining the
(08:01):
brewery, you know, it was, I was at that point where it was like, this
is it. Like, I think this is the career path
for me. I still didn't think about Mount
Gay yet. We weren't even thinking about it at
that point. But, you know, as I, as I spent a few more
years and I went moved from being the brewer to
supply chain to quality assurance and really
(08:22):
understanding all the different facets of the, of, uh, the
process, it's where I was able to
make choices, to focus on
things like the taste and the organoleptics,
you know, the nose, the taste, how we develop
them, what happens at each stage. And I think right there
was the turning point where it became like
(08:42):
one day, one day, you know, it was. This was the
direction that pointed me towards Mongie right then.
>> Speaker B (08:48):
I would hate to be a fly on the wall in the conversation of, mom,
dad, I'm not going to be a doctor,
I'm going to work at the brewery. I'm sure
that it was fine, but.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (08:58):
You know, you know, I would say this, it was definitely
not the easiest conversation I've ever had with them.
Uh, however, I think, I think
it became significantly better when I became the master
blender at Moatgame. When they were like, yeah, of course, we love.
>> Speaker B (09:13):
Listen, I totally understand. My dad was like, are you sure.
>> Susan Schwartz (09:15):
You don't want to be a lawyer?
>> Speaker B (09:16):
I was like, yeah, Dad, I. I'm sure.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I.
>> Speaker B (09:21):
So I totally understand. So tell me about the
opportunity to join Mount Gay. Was it from the
brewery to Mount Gay? What pulled you there?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (09:29):
So in 2014, Remy
Contra was able to acquire the
physical distillery. Prior to that, they
had owned the brand, the bottling facility and all the
aging facilities, but not the distillery itself.
And that was really where the opportunity presented
itself. Because having spent a few years
(09:49):
at the brewery, maybe approximately eight or so, really
my focus was fermentation as well as organoleptics
associated with fermentation specifically.
And it was just a great opportunity to be able
to come to bring that specialty to
the Montguay team and really help
them with regards to starting up this new
distillation process and kind of molding
(10:12):
it into what Montgie needed it to be. And that's,
uh, how we started. So I would have come in as
the quality assurance manager here at Montney when
we took on a brand new process, distillation. And,
you know, we'll get further into all the other
processes we've taken on over the years,
but it was really the opportunity to have that, uh,
(10:33):
developed and reconnect what had been done in the
Past with where we needed to go in the future
to make sure that the gave
liquids would always be at the quality that, you know,
everyone knows and loves.
>> Speaker B (10:46):
Oh boy, there's so much in there. Maybe we go to. Why don't
you tell people a little bit about the history of Mount
Gay so we can kind of go
backward to go forward, you know.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (10:58):
So Mount Gay is
321 years old. So for the
last 300 plus centuries, you know,
Mongue has operated actually right here where I
sit doing this interview in St.
Lucie, the most northern, um,
parish of the island. And it's always been located in
this specific spot. And what has happened over the years
(11:20):
is, as you know, it has changed hands, it has changed
owners. One thing that has stayed the same is where it
is and how they do what they do.
So throughout the years it's very much been the passing now
of very specific traditions. The, you know, the art
of distillation, you know, blending coming
in the latter part of Mount
(11:40):
Gay's history. But what a lot
of people don't necessarily know is even
though certain aspects of the brand may not have all been owned by the
same person, it was still one cohesive function where the
distillery made liquids which would then come to aging, which would go
to the bottling facility. And that's really how it's always been.
In uh, 2014, when I joined Remy
(12:00):
Concho was given the opportunity to purchase the distillery,
to really bring the entire process
in under one ownership. And that's
really what happened there. And
it didn't call for any physical movement of the
facilities. It really actually with the significance of
it was, was very small. I think a fence was
removed. Literal, physical
(12:23):
fence. But, but what happened is that, you know, you were
able to have one team that would be able
to go from start all the way distillation,
acquirement of um, raw materials m molasses, all the
way to bottling and through to distribution throughout the
world. And that's really what happened in
2014 when I joined. Shortly after that, in
2015, we added something a little more to it. But we'll
(12:45):
get to that little later and
uh, we'll get to that in a sec.
>> Speaker B (12:50):
So just to clarify for people who might be slightly
confused, did that change when everything came
under one? Did that change the liquid at
all or was the taste still the same
everything that you bought? You know, if you bought a Mount Gay bottle in
2000 and they bought one in 2014, did had
that changed at all.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (13:10):
So no, nothing changed. Because you know
what, what was Already part of the Remy route was all of the
age stock. So all of the maturation, all of the aging,
all of the blending that was already happening. Uh, my
predecessor, Alan Smith, he had been taking care of that and before
him, Jerry Edwards, for decades. And they. They
were the ones who worked very closely with distillation,
(13:30):
you know, to be able to. To keep the consistency that was
needed for Mount Gate. So, you know, it was more
paperwork than anything
else. But these stalwarts in the
industry, you know, that they were the gatekeepers
of Montgay's liquid quality. And that is
definitely one of the things that is handed over from master lender
(13:50):
to master blender.
>> Speaker B (13:51):
As a new master blender, obviously, you want to make
your own stamp on things. So what
kind of things were you thinking of doing? And then what came
to fruition?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (14:02):
So I'll say, as the new master blender, I
never once thought about the
change. Uh-huh. You always. What is
first in your mind is the consistency.
>> Speaker B (14:13):
Okay.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (14:14):
This will be the same Eclipse, the same black
barrel, the same EXO that everybody knows. They will not
even be able to tell that there's been a difference. But
that's really not what happens, actually. But, uh,
when I became Master Blender, I was given a very
unique opportunity at that point, because we were at
a stage where we really needed to relook at our entire
portfolio and what we were offering. And
(14:37):
we did do some changes
to the core products at that point. And
each individual product had its own way
in which we went about it. I will say,
specifically for Eclipse, Eclipse had little to
no change. Eclipse had a label change,
and that was it. But what. What
(14:58):
was clearly demonstrated was the. The
quantum of barrels and the type of barrels. So for me, it
was very important to have transparency, really
explaining to each person, you know, each. Each client
what is in the bottle, you know, the type of barrels we use
and things of that such exo, the
third master blender to make it. It's.
(15:18):
It's definitely, I think, the one that I had
the most, um, um, angst and I
was super nervous about. But once
again, I was able to add a third barrel type to EXO
to really enhance what was already there. Not
change, you know, the liquid,
but really more highlight the specifics
(15:38):
that make xoxo. And for me,
that was. That was a great opportunity.
But I think what surpassed all of those was
the creation of the Master Blender collection. We never
could have anticipated the following, how
well that product would have been
accepted by everybody. I think I'm on my
eighth virgin, eighth release
(16:01):
this year. Now and then,
like I said, the one that I think I speak
about the most now is single estate.
And being able to bring not only
an addition to the core portfolio that was
100% conceptualized by me,
but also having it be such a Barbadian
(16:21):
offering and such a monk gay offering to add
to that corride, you know, 100
made in Barbados with sugar cane
that I can walk you across the street to the
estate. And, and for me to bring something so
transparent, so nuanced
in for the world of rum, especially molasses
based rum houses, has been
(16:43):
quite, ah, it's been quite an honest to be able
to bring it to persons all throughout the
world.
>> Speaker B (16:49):
Well, you know, we were lucky, I was really lucky to meet you at the
Connaught when you came over and then, um, got to taste it.
I love the single estate story.
So if you could go really from A to Z
of the beginning of it, what it actually
means, what a single estate, how did it get in the bottle,
all of that stuff, that would be great.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (17:09):
Yeah, we're going to do that. But you know, you've heard me, I could do that
for like two hours.
>> Speaker B (17:15):
Not the two hour version, maybe the half an hour version.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (17:18):
Exactly. No, no, um, well, single estate,
um, really started in, or really was
reborn I should say, in 2015. So in
2015, Montgay was able to acquire
an estate, a sugar cane estate. It's right across the
street from the distillery and in
Aquarius we were, for the very first time in many, many
(17:38):
years, be able to complete the entire
value chain with regards to soil
to sip where rum was concerned.
And uh, by doing this, what we were
able to do is grow
sugarcane, bring
Barbadian, know how
Barbadian expertise into helping us grow
(17:59):
this sugar cane. So, you know, you've heard me say it
before, we became farmers and, and
I'm very proudly so, very proudly so because you know,
to have that, that, that sk part of the
team is really an asset to the Montguay
construct in total. But single Estate
specifically is a rum made from
(18:19):
100% Montgay
molasses, which has been grown at
the estate. And uh, in
rum, that is such a rarity that you are
able to connect your entire
traceability specifically to
where the cane was grown, what cultivars were
grown, you know, which plots, crops were harvested,
(18:42):
you know, what was the entire year's worth of process
in terms of, you know, like rainfall and all
these other, these other metrics. And to be
able to, to have all of that information, to
be able to. To have access, uh, to
the sugarcane from this specific place, which is
then converted into molasses still here
(19:02):
on site and now here at
Montguay. Because I can walk you from the estate
to the mill, to fermentation, to
distillation and aging. It
really is a very nuanced way
to think about rum, especially,
like I said, molasses based rum. And that is
effectively what single estate is. Single estate
(19:25):
is 100% Mount Gay
molasses, which has been fermented,
distilled in our pot stills and aged here
at ah, Mount Gay and then
bottled and released. We've done
two releases thus far. But what makes
these releases specifically unique is the
transparency that goes behind each and every one of
(19:46):
them. So when you are
ready to, you know, experience what single estate
is, you not only have a beautiful liquid, which is
a given, but you're also able
to walk the walk that we walked over the
five years before this rum
became liquid and started as
cane. So you're able to understand
(20:09):
what the conditions were, how much can.
Was harvested, how much molasses was made,
you know, what the profile was as we went through every
step. And, um, for me, I think that that's the piece that
makes me the happiest about single estate. Being
able to take everybody on that journey with
me as you go from planting
(20:29):
all the way to liquid creation. And
that is really important. Embodies what
singlestate is a holy
Montgay product.
>> Speaker B (20:39):
So when you acquired this, this land
with the sugar cane on it, which must have been
so exciting for a scientist too, to be like, oh, I can play with
this. Did you use the sugar
cane that was already there? Were you already. Sorry, I'm going to bombard
you with a billion questions right now. Was the soil the way you
wanted it to be? Did you have to change things?
(20:59):
Are you growing some sugar cane like
this and then like a sugar
cane.
>> Susan Schwartz (21:05):
And then there's a b.
>> Speaker B (21:06):
Sugar cane to play with it. I mean, how much was.
Was. Was already there and how much did
you kind of play with? Or are you playing with? Should I
say.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (21:15):
Yeah, no. Um, these are great questions.
So first, yes, there was already sugarcane
there. Um, because it wasn't a. It wasn't a
fallow estate. You know, there was sugar cane cane growing
m. So we did. The very first harvest we
would have done in 2015 was from Sugar cane that was
already on the estate itself.
(21:36):
In the years, in the future years,
definitely you would see change. So what we do
is we do regenerative agriculture.
So it is really important to us to preserve the
soil that exists at est, because you want to
be sure that not necessarily in my tenure, but
the next master blender, and the master blender after still has
(21:56):
a healthy estate and is able to reap
and to harvest sugarcane from that estate. So that was one of
the major changes that we made, you know, just converting to
this very different style of agriculture
because it's really not the traditional way in which
sugarcane would be cultivated or
would be grown in Barbados. But once
again, we're setting the example and we do have.
(22:19):
Our estate is 324 acres. So it is a
relatively smaller estate as well.
Um, but one of the other things we did
is, uh, specifically each plot kind of has
its own cultivar. And in
addition to that, we do have some
cultivars that aren't necessarily the best
sugar producers as well. Um, we have a nursery. And that
(22:41):
nursery is really important to us because it's where we're able to
grow newer, um, or I wouldn't call them
newer because, you know, it doesn't start with us, but different
cultivars for what you would make traditionally find on the estates
in Barbados. And it also gives us that opportunity to
understand how they, how they grow and how they develop on our
estate itself.
>> Speaker B (23:00):
Oh, wait, just one thing. What is a cultivar? Just in
case people don't know.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (23:04):
So one of the things that I learned when the estate
team and the agronomists that we had here
at the time, a, uh, sugarcane is a cultivar and not
a variety. So this is the terminology
that we use. Uh, you know, I'm always
super blown away, like when they're able to speak on this.
And the knowledge that, you know, I get, because I am
(23:24):
the blender at heart, I'm able
to assimilate from what they
know. So as, ah, you can see. And that, that is one of the benefits
too, like I said of that, that knowledge and that know how it
changes how we all speak, how we all view, you
know, what we. And it's really brought a, uh,
sensitivity with regards to may you
(23:44):
move to the very next step, you know, which is like
molasses creation. And then when it comes to the
distillery and I'm able to start fermentation, you
know, we're really just
adding to that knowledge train that we've
gotten from each of these steps as, uh, we get to the next
step. And to me it was, it was just an amazing
experience to be able to do that like from,
(24:05):
from beginning and uh, def. We're not at
the end just yet, but from beginning or
creation to nowhere, we have a liquid that
represents all of that.
>> Speaker B (24:16):
This may be a silly question, but when you created
the molasses and then you created rum from
it, a liquid from it, did it have the
flavor that you thought it would? Were you, were
you planning on a flavor? Did you even know what you
were going to get? I mean, was it, it different from
what you thought or the same?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (24:35):
It was definitely different from what we
thought. You know, it was, it was very one of those unknowns for
us. The very first time the Wendy
molasses showed up at the distillery, you know, before we
went to the process, you know, everyone's kind of, we're all standing
around and we're all like, okay, we're nervous but we're
happy. You know, it's the first time. This time it's
going to like a whole different area because it has to be segment
(24:58):
segregated because we're very, very careful to ensure that,
you know, when we make single estate, only the single estate
inputs are part of the single estate process.
And uh, it first got there and, and
the first thing is it's a molasses, so it's not the
sea molasses, which is what you traditionally will
get, um, from the industry. Because just
(25:18):
in case someone who's listening doesn't know, you know,
rum, especially molasses based rum, have been
made with what would be
an, I guess almost a waste product of the
sugar production process. And hence,
you know, you get a grade which is called C
molasses. However, for single estate, because sugar
(25:39):
is not our goal, we
use amylases, which is, you could
say a different quality because, you know, it
is, there's less sugar that has been extracted from the
process, less processing, all of these things
that have happened. So the first time, you know, we're all
standing around, you know, it's arriving, you never believe. Like
(25:59):
15 people watching molasses offload, which
never happens. It's so
automatic. But it was, it was all of that. It was the build up
to, of something new happening, something exciting.
I'd say for me the biggest aha, uh, moment was during
fermentation where all of a sudden
the notes that we were getting were very different. Different from what we
get in our traditional montgay, you know, you know, people were passing
(26:22):
by and we're like, pineapple? Is that what that
is like? You know, it's, it was, it was this bouquet
of fruitiness that are, uh, not Necessarily
the ones that we would get, you know, traditional
Mungay, you, you walk on by, you know, you're gonna
get that nice, like, ripe banana, you know, like almost like a
red apple sometimes that we know to expect this,
we know at which stage, how many days, what will show
(26:44):
up. But this was a whole new experience where
it's this new molasses that we've
never had access to before, and
now we're going through. And so every day that fermenter
kept, the process kept going, and that transformation of that
sugar to ethanol was a new discovery
for us, and it kept going from there. The discovery started
(27:05):
there and as we moved to distillation and
we're working very closely, you know, and those
very first years we really had, um, one of
the oldest tenured employees here at
Montguay, Renault Blues. You know, he, he
was still working with us at that time, you know, so it was very,
it was very exciting for me because I wasn't master blender just
yet, but the previous master blender knew he would
(27:27):
never be the one to bring this to market.
So this was really my very first project when I joined
Imonge team. And uh, you know,
I think at that excitement alone, this very, this person who
has ran and, I don't know, so many distillations
on the pots that I can count, you
know, with me here, who is so excited about this
(27:47):
very new product, you know. And
the whole thing was, like I said, like, it was just excitement,
discovery, all of those things. And uh, year on year
I just kept discovering because as, ah, each
harvest comes through the process, as each harvest
goes to age and we go back and we look and we
understand, like, what's happening over time. It's still
(28:07):
a brand new library of montgay,
Montgay cuts and montgay
age runs that I'm still developing
where single estate is concerned.
>> Speaker B (28:18):
And how long was it before until
you, uh. I'll bring down the bottle. Hold on.
Um, till you, uh, had it in the bottle.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (28:27):
So the first release we had was in
2023.
Yeah, it was a while, you know, it was, it was, you know, I like
to call it one of the best worst kept secrets at
Mungay because
it was definitely like the, the worst kept secret if
you visited. Because we definitely are so excited
(28:49):
to show you the estate. And you know, if you happen to
be here when it's happening, you kind of know, but like the best
kept secret in that, you know, it really was not, um, something we
spoke about in any sort of like Media
coverage or, you know, any, any seminars or
masterclasses. We weren't ready yet. We weren't ready yet. So it was
really, you know, and that opportunity was amazing for the process
(29:09):
team for me to be able to get very
familiar with this product before we even came to market
and were able to explain what it is, how it
came about. And um, in 2023,
oh, you're able to do the very first release. But for
the first release I really wanted it to be just like a, like
an ode to Montgay. So we still did a blend and
(29:30):
you know, we chose to highlight the nuances of the
2016 and the 2017 harvest.
Since then, we've done a second release in
2024 and this release is
a vintage. It is a single harvest,
the harvest of 2018. Quite a significant
harvest as well, because this is the harvest where you um,
(29:50):
heard me mention mentioned previously, you know, that we have that know
how with our estate team having
the, you know, an agronomist here with us as well as
the agricultural coordinator who's worked many, many decades,
um, in this industry and they joined the team that year. So
this was their first harvest as well. So,
you know, so now, you know, we've gone from being able, and I
mean in two very short years and that speaks a lot to
(30:13):
uh, how comfortable I was able to
get with this process and how comfortably
we're able now to transition, translate what we have done
over the years to everyone to be able to go from
a blend, you know, highlighting to harvest, really
showing facing the uniqueness of having a
molasses that was made
specifically from the Montgae estate and then
(30:35):
being able to showcase a vintage, just a uh,
snapshot of that specific year
and being able to, to bring that to everyone.
So you'll see. I mean, you can tell I get really excited when I,
when I have to seekable single estate.
>> Speaker B (30:50):
Well, it is really exciting and, but it's
interesting because if literally,
uh, everyone has seen a Mount Gay bottle. Anyone who drinks
any liquid, I think has seen what Mount Gay
looks like the bottle. But this looks completely
different. And why the decision to
go with something that really doesn't.
(31:10):
Doesn't look like anything that you've done before.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (31:13):
Yeah, because single, a single estate isn't like anything we
released before. I mean it's, it makes
sense when you think about it from that way. But
so as a, you know, for many years, the,
the specifics with how we treat the
estate and the care and attention with regards to
sustainability. Like I said, choosing
to practice regenerative agriculture,
(31:35):
despite it being more labor
intensive in terms of the person, persons you need it being
maybe sometimes more financially aggressive,
because there are certain things you cannot use that,
that, and you always choose what is better for the soil. When it came
to designing the bottle, you know, the team really wanted
to, to encapsulate that mindset,
(31:55):
that transparency that we have with regards
to how we do everything we do for Single Estate.
So to represent Single Estate, you know, we chose
a, um, bottle that is
70% recycled glass. It's
exactly minimalistic in its labeling,
but still very transparent. So Single
(32:16):
Estate always will, will be, will tell you what
is in the bottle before you touch it. So if you get your hands on
one, especially this one, you'll see there's a code at the
front which is. It's the 2024 edition.
It's zero. Exactly. Then there is
a 02 because it is the second release of
single estate. And then it's a vintage
(32:36):
2018. So the VT18. And, uh,
we did it in two separate distillations, same
elastics, just two distillations about three months
apart. So D2. And, uh, what the
team has done is they've also placed a QR
code where when you scan it, you
literally can tell, you can get all the information
associated with the entire process of
(32:59):
making Single Estate for that year.
So, you know, it's really funny when someone sits you
down and they're like, tell me everything that happened five years
ago.
>> Speaker B (33:09):
You're like, just go here.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (33:11):
Exactly. And then you. And they take all of that information.
After speaking to me, after speaking to, you know, Kevin
and the team at the sd, you know, after speaking to the
distillation team, and it all goes there so
that every single person can go, go on the journey of
Single Estate. Because for us, Single Estate, it's an
amazing product. You know, it's nothing like we've done
before, but what is key to us is that it's setting the
(33:33):
stage for that transparency where rum is
concerned. You know, you talk the talk, but you do,
you walk the walk sometimes as well. And for
Meltgay, my ethos has always been. And
the host of Montguay's ethos has always been, let's be
transparent about how we do what we do. So, you know,
if I say to you, you know, this has no sugar in it,
or if I say, you know, there's been nothing added, what you're
(33:56):
tasting is 100% from the barrel, you
know, from, from our ability to select the
specific Barrels to give you these nuances, then that
is what it is. And um, that was the mindset I took when
it came to Single Estate. Every single aspect
that has gone into Single Estate is clearly there for, for anyone
to see.
>> Speaker B (34:14):
And when you created them, how were you expecting
people to drink it, to sip it and to
add ice to it, to have it in
your favorite cocktail? I mean, what were you thinking?
Obviously it's super special, so you wouldn't want to just
throw sour mix into it, but how would you want someone to
drink it?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (34:32):
So for Single Estate, neat is always my
recommendation. Um, neat, neat, neat. You know, I like to say
I make something for every occasion. So, you know, if
you want to make a cocktail, you know, we've definitely
got rumored for that too as well, because
that's, that's key, you know, that everything has its
purpose. So for Single Estate specifically, I would recommend
it neat. But if you want to go the cocktail way, you can
(34:54):
go from Eclipse being amazing in a rum
punch to Exo, you know, Coco Hill. You know,
that's my, um, go to sometimes when it
comes to a cocktail, very easy to make. And
you, uh, know, I don't claim to be an
X expert at, uh,
crafting cocktails. You know, I always say I
(35:15):
respect persons who. That is
their talent and their ability to showcase what
I have crafted in such a different way. I, ah, have
complete, you know, but, but there are some of them that are easy enough
that even I can make them.
>> Speaker B (35:27):
And me too, me too. I know
I've got, I always. People are like, oh, you must make cocktails
so well. I'm like, no, I leave that to the, the professionals.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (35:36):
Exactly, exactly. I also leave that to the
professionals and make very simple ones.
Like when you freeze coconut water and pour some exo
over and I'm like, gorgeous, gorgeous. I've made this
cocktail.
>> Speaker B (35:49):
Yeah, that's really easy. Now you've had the
first, which was a bled, and then you've had the second. So you've
got to tell me what's happening now, what's happening next?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (35:58):
So what's happening next? So definitely there will be a
third. The idea here
is, But I think you know what, I'll, I'll give you this. What, what you will
see from Single Estate is you will see us developing
Single Estate, you know, always staying true to the core, where the
molasses comes from, transparency and the
process, all of those things. But you will see some new
(36:19):
things coming from Single Estate in
the future. And because, because the idea here is to, is to
really build on what we have, what
we know, and. And be able to bring everyone in a
little more to the journey that. That
we take for Single Estate. Can't. Can't give away too much,
but definitely look out.
(36:40):
Um, we usually. Usually Single Estate is released
around October, so we're very early in the
year, very early in the year before
we get there. But yes, definitely keep. Keep looking
out for the. For the Single Estate releases.
They're not very many. Um, every year we do
only Release, uh,
approximately 4,000 and some bottles.
(37:02):
Because it's key for me that we're able to understand what
is still happening with the. With the rum as it ages
and as our age progresses. So never truly
depleting any harvest or any specific year
because, you know, we still have that. That journey to. To go
on.
>> Speaker B (37:17):
Yeah, I'm sure the magic is happening in the, uh,
in those greenhouses with the cultivars.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (37:23):
Listen, the magic, you know, that's the beauty of Single
Estate. The magic's happening everywhere. So, you know, we've got some magic happening
at the estate. You know, every year is unique,
Every year is different, but then we've got all these different harvests that
we've transformed into rum in the bonds also
doing their thing, you know, with tropical aging. So it's,
you know, it's almost as if it's like this whole construct by
(37:43):
itself that's really happening. And. And,
you know, it's like I said, M. You know, we went from that very
first one having a finite amount of barrels that we all like
watching every day. We're like, what's happening? Is it happening?
Are we good to know? You know, it being
just so much a part of who we are
and, um, what we do, you know, setting up the tastings,
(38:03):
monitoring year on year, you know, as we.
As we go by. But I will say this, like, one thing
has not changed. When it's harvest the plate,
everybody is super excited. Like, so
it's almost as if, like, you know, like a special
celebration has come to Nimonge Estate
specifically and also to the distillery.
>> Speaker B (38:24):
Well, you know, I was excited to try the molasses. I'm
sure that is, you know, every single time I'd be
like, molasses, please. I do love it. It's funny,
you know, I think Barbados Tourism Board
should just say the magic is happening in Mount Gay.
And that should be, you know, that is it.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (38:41):
I will say that, you know, we do, like, we
harvest. Mogay has their harvest, but it is part of a bigger
celebration that happens in Barbados. So,
you know, we tend to harvest at the end of the Barbados,
the country's harvest. And right about that time we
have, uh, a celebration called Cropover
where, you know, traditionally, obviously many,
(39:02):
many years ago, it was a celebration of the end of
the harvest on the island. So cropped over. But now
it's really, it's, it's our carnival that just does
coincide with the end of our Barbadian harvest and
the country does come alive. So we're a small part of
that bigger excitement that happens every year around
that time.
>> Speaker B (39:20):
Well, gosh, I would love to be there.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:22):
So you come to Barbados. You come in August,
July, that.
>> Speaker B (39:26):
Yeah, we are coming. We're coming. Well, this has been
so great. I am so pleased that we got to talk about
it and, and uh, so much exciting stuff is
happening. I think the people who created Mount
Gay in 1703 would be super pleased
by, uh, the fact that not only is it still around,
but that you're at the helm creating all these new
(39:47):
things.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:47):
Thank you. Thank you.
>> Speaker B (39:48):
Absolutely. Thank you for being on the show.
It's been fantastic.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:52):
It has been. It has been.
>> Speaker B (39:54):
Thank you and hopefully see you in London soon
for another cocktail.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:58):
Hopefully.
>> Susan Schwartz (40:01):
I so want to thank Trudy Ann for joining me on the
program. Her choice for cocktail of the week is
simple, yet so effective in showing off
Mount Gay XO Rum. And thank
you so much to Mount Gay for sponsoring the transcription
for the hearing impaired.
(40:22):
Our cocktail of the week is the Coco
Hill. This minimalist masterpiece
combines the rich, complex flavors of Mount Gay
XO Rum with refreshing purity
of coconut water, creating a drink that is
as elegant as it is effortless.
First, pour coconut water into a silicone ice
(40:43):
cube mold or regular ice cube. Mold and
freeze if you can. You want to
make one fabulous ice cube.
Once frozen, place the coconut ice cube or
cubes into an old fashioned glass. Then
pour 60 mils or 2 ounces of Mount Gay
XO rum over the ice cube and
(41:04):
serve. As I said,
simple but effective.
You'll find this recipe in all the cocktails of the week at
a lush life manual.com plus links
to most of the ingredients.
(41:29):
Are you on MSN? Check out all my latest
posts on MSN.com and search for
Lush Life and follow.
If you live for Lush Life, then make sure you head out to the bars you
love and order a drink. The
music for Lush Life is by Steven Shapiro and used with with
permission. And Lush Life is always and
(41:49):
will be forever produced by Evoterra and Simpler
Media Productions, which leads me to say the wise
words of Oscar Wilde. All things in moderation,
including moderation. And always drink
responsibly. Next week
we take a look at whiskey.
Until then, bottoms.
Can you feel the heat on your face? This
episode, we want to transport you right to the sunny
island of Barbados. Anyone's
guess which rum we'll be exploring?
I'm, um, Susan Schwartz, your drinking companion and
this is Lush Life podcast. Every
week we're inspired to live life one cocktail
(00:28):
at a time. If you haven't
guessed already, it's Mount Gay. Not only
the oldest rum in Barbados, but the oldest
rum in the world. I'm thrilled
that Trudianne Brancker, the trailblazing master
blender, is joining us today.
Starting at the distillery in 2014 as
(00:49):
Quality Assurance manager, Trudianne
rose to prominence with her unique ability to merge
scientific expertise and
creative intuition. Under her
guidance, Mount Gay has unveiled award
winning innovations like the Master Blender
collection and the Single Estate series.
We met at the launch of the Single Estate series
(01:11):
too, and I couldn't wait to have her on the
show. Single Estate is super
special and it's great to have her here to explain how
it all came to be. But before that,
if you love Lush Life, we would so
appreciate your support. By signing up to our
newsletter. You can get our advice on
anything to do with home bartending, where to drink
(01:33):
in every major city, special recipes, and
even your very own Lush Life mug.
Just head to
alushlifemanual.substack.com
and sign up.
Now let's get to Trudiam.
>> Speaker B (01:54):
It's so great to have you on the show.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (01:55):
Thank you. I'm honored.
>> Speaker B (01:58):
No, it's fantastic. I can't wait for everyone to hear about what you're
doing because it's pretty exciting. So why don't we start
off with a little introduction. Why don't you tell everyone who you are
and, uh, what you do?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (02:09):
Yeah. So I am Trudy Ann Brancker. I am the master
blender for Montgay Rum.
And in being the master blender, I really
create all of the Mongay liquids and
all of the research and development activities that,
uh, happen at Moongay. I coordinate.
>> Speaker B (02:27):
I m always love to go right back to the beginning, to
people's beginnings to see how they got where they did. So
if you could tell me a little bit about where you grew up and I'll
sprinkle some questions in along the way.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (02:38):
So, yes, definitely Bermudian. Very proud of that
fact. Never tried to hide the accent. I don't think I could
if I wanted to, but no. I was born in
Barbados. I went to school here
my entire child
life. However, coming on to 18 when
it was time to go to university. I did leave
Barbados and I went to university
(03:00):
at uh, Howard in Washington D.C. and you
know, it was my first time
going to the US When I went to Howard. So
you know, definitely a new world there.
However, you know it's, it was a, it was a real
beginning with regards to, I would say
my first love for Montguay would have
(03:21):
started then leaving the island, having to take a
gift to persons not knowing. I did reach for
Mount Gay. Not ever thinking that
uh, this is where I would sit one day. But you know it's,
it's always, it's a full circle moment for me. But all
through my spiritual, I was very attracted to the sciences,
biology, chemistry, physics, math
(03:41):
and I really continued that like journey throughout.
In tertiary education at ah, university. Same
study path, biology, chemistry. Never
once connecting the dots again that this is where it
would lead. But unknowingly setting
the stage or providing myself with that base that
would be used later. It's really funny,
(04:02):
people always say when you're in a class, you'll never use that
in real life. One day, you know, you realize, hope your
career is based in a laboratory with the same
look and um, feel that you had then.
And it's that to me that's sometimes
one of the best things to see that there's this real
life application that happens for all of those
(04:23):
studies that I had. But after I finished university
I returned home to Barbados because it was really
important for me at that point to contribute
to Barbados and to bring what I had learned
externally back home. I started my career
at the brew at a local brewery.
>> Speaker B (04:40):
Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. I have so many things to ask
in between there before you get to the brewery. When you
went to study science at Howard.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (04:48):
Yes.
>> Speaker B (04:48):
Were you thinking, did you think have a long term goal, like I
want to be a doctor, a scientist or anything that or you just didn't
really know. You just wanted to study science.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (04:56):
I did. You know, I was still very much gonna follow the
path my parents had, you know, envisioned for me. I was going
to be a doctor. That was,
that was the plan.
>> Speaker B (05:06):
That was the plan.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (05:07):
That was the plan. It really was at that time,
um, when I, I actually took a gap year
before I was supposed to go back to med school, funny
enough. And that's when we kind of land at the brewery,
but we're not there yet. We're not there yet
now.
>> Speaker B (05:22):
And also of course when you got to the US
the drinking age is 21. So
had rum been. I guess this is such a silly Question to ask
someone who's from the islands, but was rum was a big part of
your life?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (05:35):
Yeah, it's always around, but, you know,
different facets of it become around, if
that's you. So as you were growing up, because the island
is full of sugar cane and you know, of that relationship between
sugarcane and rum, you know, you are always
knowledgeable of how rum is made when you
leave the. When, like at 18 in
Barbados. At 18 is the legal
(05:56):
drinking age or the legal consumption age. But
it's not that at, uh, 18, all of a sudden,
you know, there's this awakening that happens with
regards to it.
It is that, like I said, it's more about the process. And you know, that,
that behind the scenes that happens because you
grow where, like I said, there's sugarcane everywhere.
(06:17):
I would say for me, it was definitely
as I, as I got older, it was more of a gift to
people. It was a representation of Barbados for
me. It was always something I would take back for like a
professor or somebody, you know, you know, a
piece of Barbados. That is what it represented to me
then as I got older and socially
you would go out, of course it would be, it would be the choice
(06:39):
that I, that I would make because, like, again, it really always
resonated for me as being a very Barbadian brand.
And that to me, I think was, was more how
I saw it and how it evolved many
years later when the opportunity presents itself to be a
member of the Munge family, of course
in my mind is the opportunity, you know, of a lifetime to
(07:00):
really become a member of the
Mongue family and represent a brand that,
ah, in my mind, you know, is so
Barbadian. But we're not there yet either.
We're still not there.
>> Speaker B (07:13):
So you go back and you, your first
job is, you said, in a brewery.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (07:18):
So I come back to Barbados and,
uh, you know, as usual, you know, you're taking a year off, but you've still got to do
something. You still got to do something. And yeah,
I do. I started working at the local brewery and I think that
that's really. Everything changed where
manufacturing became a part of
our career path, that I fell in love with
(07:38):
the production, the, you know, the process to go
through from raw material to, you know, the science
involved, where yeast transform sugars
into alcoholic. It all resonated so
naturally and it, you know, I was
enthusiastic to go every day to study
more, to become part of this. And I think after
maybe like a week after joining the
(08:01):
brewery, you know, it was, I was at that point where it was like, this
is it. Like, I think this is the career path
for me. I still didn't think about Mount
Gay yet. We weren't even thinking about it at
that point. But, you know, as I, as I spent a few more
years and I went moved from being the brewer to
supply chain to quality assurance and really
(08:22):
understanding all the different facets of the, of, uh, the
process, it's where I was able to
make choices, to focus on
things like the taste and the organoleptics,
you know, the nose, the taste, how we develop
them, what happens at each stage. And I think right there
was the turning point where it became like
(08:42):
one day, one day, you know, it was. This was the
direction that pointed me towards Mongie right then.
>> Speaker B (08:48):
I would hate to be a fly on the wall in the conversation of, mom,
dad, I'm not going to be a doctor,
I'm going to work at the brewery. I'm sure
that it was fine, but.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (08:58):
You know, you know, I would say this, it was definitely
not the easiest conversation I've ever had with them.
Uh, however, I think, I think
it became significantly better when I became the master
blender at Moatgame. When they were like, yeah, of course, we love.
>> Speaker B (09:13):
Listen, I totally understand. My dad was like, are you sure.
>> Susan Schwartz (09:15):
You don't want to be a lawyer?
>> Speaker B (09:16):
I was like, yeah, Dad, I. I'm sure.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I.
>> Speaker B (09:21):
So I totally understand. So tell me about the
opportunity to join Mount Gay. Was it from the
brewery to Mount Gay? What pulled you there?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (09:29):
So in 2014, Remy
Contra was able to acquire the
physical distillery. Prior to that, they
had owned the brand, the bottling facility and all the
aging facilities, but not the distillery itself.
And that was really where the opportunity presented
itself. Because having spent a few years
(09:49):
at the brewery, maybe approximately eight or so, really
my focus was fermentation as well as organoleptics
associated with fermentation specifically.
And it was just a great opportunity to be able
to come to bring that specialty to
the Montguay team and really help
them with regards to starting up this new
distillation process and kind of molding
(10:12):
it into what Montgie needed it to be. And that's,
uh, how we started. So I would have come in as
the quality assurance manager here at Montney when
we took on a brand new process, distillation. And,
you know, we'll get further into all the other
processes we've taken on over the years,
but it was really the opportunity to have that, uh,
(10:33):
developed and reconnect what had been done in the
Past with where we needed to go in the future
to make sure that the gave
liquids would always be at the quality that, you know,
everyone knows and loves.
>> Speaker B (10:46):
Oh boy, there's so much in there. Maybe we go to. Why don't
you tell people a little bit about the history of Mount
Gay so we can kind of go
backward to go forward, you know.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (10:58):
So Mount Gay is
321 years old. So for the
last 300 plus centuries, you know,
Mongue has operated actually right here where I
sit doing this interview in St.
Lucie, the most northern, um,
parish of the island. And it's always been located in
this specific spot. And what has happened over the years
(11:20):
is, as you know, it has changed hands, it has changed
owners. One thing that has stayed the same is where it
is and how they do what they do.
So throughout the years it's very much been the passing now
of very specific traditions. The, you know, the art
of distillation, you know, blending coming
in the latter part of Mount
(11:40):
Gay's history. But what a lot
of people don't necessarily know is even
though certain aspects of the brand may not have all been owned by the
same person, it was still one cohesive function where the
distillery made liquids which would then come to aging, which would go
to the bottling facility. And that's really how it's always been.
In uh, 2014, when I joined Remy
(12:00):
Concho was given the opportunity to purchase the distillery,
to really bring the entire process
in under one ownership. And that's
really what happened there. And
it didn't call for any physical movement of the
facilities. It really actually with the significance of
it was, was very small. I think a fence was
removed. Literal, physical
(12:23):
fence. But, but what happened is that, you know, you were
able to have one team that would be able
to go from start all the way distillation,
acquirement of um, raw materials m molasses, all the
way to bottling and through to distribution throughout the
world. And that's really what happened in
2014 when I joined. Shortly after that, in
2015, we added something a little more to it. But we'll
(12:45):
get to that little later and
uh, we'll get to that in a sec.
>> Speaker B (12:50):
So just to clarify for people who might be slightly
confused, did that change when everything came
under one? Did that change the liquid at
all or was the taste still the same
everything that you bought? You know, if you bought a Mount Gay bottle in
2000 and they bought one in 2014, did had
that changed at all.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (13:10):
So no, nothing changed. Because you know
what, what was Already part of the Remy route was all of the
age stock. So all of the maturation, all of the aging,
all of the blending that was already happening. Uh, my
predecessor, Alan Smith, he had been taking care of that and before
him, Jerry Edwards, for decades. And they. They
were the ones who worked very closely with distillation,
(13:30):
you know, to be able to. To keep the consistency that was
needed for Mount Gate. So, you know, it was more
paperwork than anything
else. But these stalwarts in the
industry, you know, that they were the gatekeepers
of Montgay's liquid quality. And that is
definitely one of the things that is handed over from master lender
(13:50):
to master blender.
>> Speaker B (13:51):
As a new master blender, obviously, you want to make
your own stamp on things. So what
kind of things were you thinking of doing? And then what came
to fruition?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (14:02):
So I'll say, as the new master blender, I
never once thought about the
change. Uh-huh. You always. What is
first in your mind is the consistency.
>> Speaker B (14:13):
Okay.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (14:14):
This will be the same Eclipse, the same black
barrel, the same EXO that everybody knows. They will not
even be able to tell that there's been a difference. But
that's really not what happens, actually. But, uh,
when I became Master Blender, I was given a very
unique opportunity at that point, because we were at
a stage where we really needed to relook at our entire
portfolio and what we were offering. And
(14:37):
we did do some changes
to the core products at that point. And
each individual product had its own way
in which we went about it. I will say,
specifically for Eclipse, Eclipse had little to
no change. Eclipse had a label change,
and that was it. But what. What
(14:58):
was clearly demonstrated was the. The
quantum of barrels and the type of barrels. So for me, it
was very important to have transparency, really
explaining to each person, you know, each. Each client
what is in the bottle, you know, the type of barrels we use
and things of that such exo, the
third master blender to make it. It's.
(15:18):
It's definitely, I think, the one that I had
the most, um, um, angst and I
was super nervous about. But once
again, I was able to add a third barrel type to EXO
to really enhance what was already there. Not
change, you know, the liquid,
but really more highlight the specifics
(15:38):
that make xoxo. And for me,
that was. That was a great opportunity.
But I think what surpassed all of those was
the creation of the Master Blender collection. We never
could have anticipated the following, how
well that product would have been
accepted by everybody. I think I'm on my
eighth virgin, eighth release
(16:01):
this year. Now and then,
like I said, the one that I think I speak
about the most now is single estate.
And being able to bring not only
an addition to the core portfolio that was
100% conceptualized by me,
but also having it be such a Barbadian
(16:21):
offering and such a monk gay offering to add
to that corride, you know, 100
made in Barbados with sugar cane
that I can walk you across the street to the
estate. And, and for me to bring something so
transparent, so nuanced
in for the world of rum, especially molasses
based rum houses, has been
(16:43):
quite, ah, it's been quite an honest to be able
to bring it to persons all throughout the
world.
>> Speaker B (16:49):
Well, you know, we were lucky, I was really lucky to meet you at the
Connaught when you came over and then, um, got to taste it.
I love the single estate story.
So if you could go really from A to Z
of the beginning of it, what it actually
means, what a single estate, how did it get in the bottle,
all of that stuff, that would be great.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (17:09):
Yeah, we're going to do that. But you know, you've heard me, I could do that
for like two hours.
>> Speaker B (17:15):
Not the two hour version, maybe the half an hour version.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (17:18):
Exactly. No, no, um, well, single estate,
um, really started in, or really was
reborn I should say, in 2015. So in
2015, Montgay was able to acquire
an estate, a sugar cane estate. It's right across the
street from the distillery and in
Aquarius we were, for the very first time in many, many
(17:38):
years, be able to complete the entire
value chain with regards to soil
to sip where rum was concerned.
And uh, by doing this, what we were
able to do is grow
sugarcane, bring
Barbadian, know how
Barbadian expertise into helping us grow
(17:59):
this sugar cane. So, you know, you've heard me say it
before, we became farmers and, and
I'm very proudly so, very proudly so because you know,
to have that, that, that sk part of the
team is really an asset to the Montguay
construct in total. But single Estate
specifically is a rum made from
(18:19):
100% Montgay
molasses, which has been grown at
the estate. And uh, in
rum, that is such a rarity that you are
able to connect your entire
traceability specifically to
where the cane was grown, what cultivars were
grown, you know, which plots, crops were harvested,
(18:42):
you know, what was the entire year's worth of process
in terms of, you know, like rainfall and all
these other, these other metrics. And to be
able to, to have all of that information, to
be able to. To have access, uh, to
the sugarcane from this specific place, which is
then converted into molasses still here
(19:02):
on site and now here at
Montguay. Because I can walk you from the estate
to the mill, to fermentation, to
distillation and aging. It
really is a very nuanced way
to think about rum, especially,
like I said, molasses based rum. And that is
effectively what single estate is. Single estate
(19:25):
is 100% Mount Gay
molasses, which has been fermented,
distilled in our pot stills and aged here
at ah, Mount Gay and then
bottled and released. We've done
two releases thus far. But what makes
these releases specifically unique is the
transparency that goes behind each and every one of
(19:46):
them. So when you are
ready to, you know, experience what single estate
is, you not only have a beautiful liquid, which is
a given, but you're also able
to walk the walk that we walked over the
five years before this rum
became liquid and started as
cane. So you're able to understand
(20:09):
what the conditions were, how much can.
Was harvested, how much molasses was made,
you know, what the profile was as we went through every
step. And, um, for me, I think that that's the piece that
makes me the happiest about single estate. Being
able to take everybody on that journey with
me as you go from planting
(20:29):
all the way to liquid creation. And
that is really important. Embodies what
singlestate is a holy
Montgay product.
>> Speaker B (20:39):
So when you acquired this, this land
with the sugar cane on it, which must have been
so exciting for a scientist too, to be like, oh, I can play with
this. Did you use the sugar
cane that was already there? Were you already. Sorry, I'm going to bombard
you with a billion questions right now. Was the soil the way you
wanted it to be? Did you have to change things?
(20:59):
Are you growing some sugar cane like
this and then like a sugar
cane.
>> Susan Schwartz (21:05):
And then there's a b.
>> Speaker B (21:06):
Sugar cane to play with it. I mean, how much was.
Was. Was already there and how much did
you kind of play with? Or are you playing with? Should I
say.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (21:15):
Yeah, no. Um, these are great questions.
So first, yes, there was already sugarcane
there. Um, because it wasn't a. It wasn't a
fallow estate. You know, there was sugar cane cane growing
m. So we did. The very first harvest we
would have done in 2015 was from Sugar cane that was
already on the estate itself.
(21:36):
In the years, in the future years,
definitely you would see change. So what we do
is we do regenerative agriculture.
So it is really important to us to preserve the
soil that exists at est, because you want to
be sure that not necessarily in my tenure, but
the next master blender, and the master blender after still has
(21:56):
a healthy estate and is able to reap
and to harvest sugarcane from that estate. So that was one of
the major changes that we made, you know, just converting to
this very different style of agriculture
because it's really not the traditional way in which
sugarcane would be cultivated or
would be grown in Barbados. But once
again, we're setting the example and we do have.
(22:19):
Our estate is 324 acres. So it is a
relatively smaller estate as well.
Um, but one of the other things we did
is, uh, specifically each plot kind of has
its own cultivar. And in
addition to that, we do have some
cultivars that aren't necessarily the best
sugar producers as well. Um, we have a nursery. And that
(22:41):
nursery is really important to us because it's where we're able to
grow newer, um, or I wouldn't call them
newer because, you know, it doesn't start with us, but different
cultivars for what you would make traditionally find on the estates
in Barbados. And it also gives us that opportunity to
understand how they, how they grow and how they develop on our
estate itself.
>> Speaker B (23:00):
Oh, wait, just one thing. What is a cultivar? Just in
case people don't know.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (23:04):
So one of the things that I learned when the estate
team and the agronomists that we had here
at the time, a, uh, sugarcane is a cultivar and not
a variety. So this is the terminology
that we use. Uh, you know, I'm always
super blown away, like when they're able to speak on this.
And the knowledge that, you know, I get, because I am
(23:24):
the blender at heart, I'm able
to assimilate from what they
know. So as, ah, you can see. And that, that is one of the benefits
too, like I said of that, that knowledge and that know how it
changes how we all speak, how we all view, you
know, what we. And it's really brought a, uh,
sensitivity with regards to may you
(23:44):
move to the very next step, you know, which is like
molasses creation. And then when it comes to the
distillery and I'm able to start fermentation, you
know, we're really just
adding to that knowledge train that we've
gotten from each of these steps as, uh, we get to the next
step. And to me it was, it was just an amazing
experience to be able to do that like from,
(24:05):
from beginning and uh, def. We're not at
the end just yet, but from beginning or
creation to nowhere, we have a liquid that
represents all of that.
>> Speaker B (24:16):
This may be a silly question, but when you created
the molasses and then you created rum from
it, a liquid from it, did it have the
flavor that you thought it would? Were you, were
you planning on a flavor? Did you even know what you
were going to get? I mean, was it, it different from
what you thought or the same?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (24:35):
It was definitely different from what we
thought. You know, it was, it was very one of those unknowns for
us. The very first time the Wendy
molasses showed up at the distillery, you know, before we
went to the process, you know, everyone's kind of, we're all standing
around and we're all like, okay, we're nervous but we're
happy. You know, it's the first time. This time it's
going to like a whole different area because it has to be segment
(24:58):
segregated because we're very, very careful to ensure that,
you know, when we make single estate, only the single estate
inputs are part of the single estate process.
And uh, it first got there and, and
the first thing is it's a molasses, so it's not the
sea molasses, which is what you traditionally will
get, um, from the industry. Because just
(25:18):
in case someone who's listening doesn't know, you know,
rum, especially molasses based rum, have been
made with what would be
an, I guess almost a waste product of the
sugar production process. And hence,
you know, you get a grade which is called C
molasses. However, for single estate, because sugar
(25:39):
is not our goal, we
use amylases, which is, you could
say a different quality because, you know, it
is, there's less sugar that has been extracted from the
process, less processing, all of these things
that have happened. So the first time, you know, we're all
standing around, you know, it's arriving, you never believe. Like
(25:59):
15 people watching molasses offload, which
never happens. It's so
automatic. But it was, it was all of that. It was the build up
to, of something new happening, something exciting.
I'd say for me the biggest aha, uh, moment was during
fermentation where all of a sudden
the notes that we were getting were very different. Different from what we
get in our traditional montgay, you know, you know, people were passing
(26:22):
by and we're like, pineapple? Is that what that
is like? You know, it's, it was, it was this bouquet
of fruitiness that are, uh, not Necessarily
the ones that we would get, you know, traditional
Mungay, you, you walk on by, you know, you're gonna
get that nice, like, ripe banana, you know, like almost like a
red apple sometimes that we know to expect this,
we know at which stage, how many days, what will show
(26:44):
up. But this was a whole new experience where
it's this new molasses that we've
never had access to before, and
now we're going through. And so every day that fermenter
kept, the process kept going, and that transformation of that
sugar to ethanol was a new discovery
for us, and it kept going from there. The discovery started
(27:05):
there and as we moved to distillation and
we're working very closely, you know, and those
very first years we really had, um, one of
the oldest tenured employees here at
Montguay, Renault Blues. You know, he, he
was still working with us at that time, you know, so it was very,
it was very exciting for me because I wasn't master blender just
yet, but the previous master blender knew he would
(27:27):
never be the one to bring this to market.
So this was really my very first project when I joined
Imonge team. And uh, you know,
I think at that excitement alone, this very, this person who
has ran and, I don't know, so many distillations
on the pots that I can count, you
know, with me here, who is so excited about this
(27:47):
very new product, you know. And
the whole thing was, like I said, like, it was just excitement,
discovery, all of those things. And uh, year on year
I just kept discovering because as, ah, each
harvest comes through the process, as each harvest
goes to age and we go back and we look and we
understand, like, what's happening over time. It's still
(28:07):
a brand new library of montgay,
Montgay cuts and montgay
age runs that I'm still developing
where single estate is concerned.
>> Speaker B (28:18):
And how long was it before until
you, uh. I'll bring down the bottle. Hold on.
Um, till you, uh, had it in the bottle.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (28:27):
So the first release we had was in
2023.
Yeah, it was a while, you know, it was, it was, you know, I like
to call it one of the best worst kept secrets at
Mungay because
it was definitely like the, the worst kept secret if
you visited. Because we definitely are so excited
(28:49):
to show you the estate. And you know, if you happen to
be here when it's happening, you kind of know, but like the best
kept secret in that, you know, it really was not, um, something we
spoke about in any sort of like Media
coverage or, you know, any, any seminars or
masterclasses. We weren't ready yet. We weren't ready yet. So it was
really, you know, and that opportunity was amazing for the process
(29:09):
team for me to be able to get very
familiar with this product before we even came to market
and were able to explain what it is, how it
came about. And um, in 2023,
oh, you're able to do the very first release. But for
the first release I really wanted it to be just like a, like
an ode to Montgay. So we still did a blend and
(29:30):
you know, we chose to highlight the nuances of the
2016 and the 2017 harvest.
Since then, we've done a second release in
2024 and this release is
a vintage. It is a single harvest,
the harvest of 2018. Quite a significant
harvest as well, because this is the harvest where you um,
(29:50):
heard me mention mentioned previously, you know, that we have that know
how with our estate team having
the, you know, an agronomist here with us as well as
the agricultural coordinator who's worked many, many decades,
um, in this industry and they joined the team that year. So
this was their first harvest as well. So,
you know, so now, you know, we've gone from being able, and I
mean in two very short years and that speaks a lot to
(30:13):
uh, how comfortable I was able to
get with this process and how comfortably
we're able now to transition, translate what we have done
over the years to everyone to be able to go from
a blend, you know, highlighting to harvest, really
showing facing the uniqueness of having a
molasses that was made
specifically from the Montgae estate and then
(30:35):
being able to showcase a vintage, just a uh,
snapshot of that specific year
and being able to, to bring that to everyone.
So you'll see. I mean, you can tell I get really excited when I,
when I have to seekable single estate.
>> Speaker B (30:50):
Well, it is really exciting and, but it's
interesting because if literally,
uh, everyone has seen a Mount Gay bottle. Anyone who drinks
any liquid, I think has seen what Mount Gay
looks like the bottle. But this looks completely
different. And why the decision to
go with something that really doesn't.
(31:10):
Doesn't look like anything that you've done before.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (31:13):
Yeah, because single, a single estate isn't like anything we
released before. I mean it's, it makes
sense when you think about it from that way. But
so as a, you know, for many years, the,
the specifics with how we treat the
estate and the care and attention with regards to
sustainability. Like I said, choosing
to practice regenerative agriculture,
(31:35):
despite it being more labor
intensive in terms of the person, persons you need it being
maybe sometimes more financially aggressive,
because there are certain things you cannot use that,
that, and you always choose what is better for the soil. When it came
to designing the bottle, you know, the team really wanted
to, to encapsulate that mindset,
(31:55):
that transparency that we have with regards
to how we do everything we do for Single Estate.
So to represent Single Estate, you know, we chose
a, um, bottle that is
70% recycled glass. It's
exactly minimalistic in its labeling,
but still very transparent. So Single
(32:16):
Estate always will, will be, will tell you what
is in the bottle before you touch it. So if you get your hands on
one, especially this one, you'll see there's a code at the
front which is. It's the 2024 edition.
It's zero. Exactly. Then there is
a 02 because it is the second release of
single estate. And then it's a vintage
(32:36):
2018. So the VT18. And, uh,
we did it in two separate distillations, same
elastics, just two distillations about three months
apart. So D2. And, uh, what the
team has done is they've also placed a QR
code where when you scan it, you
literally can tell, you can get all the information
associated with the entire process of
(32:59):
making Single Estate for that year.
So, you know, it's really funny when someone sits you
down and they're like, tell me everything that happened five years
ago.
>> Speaker B (33:09):
You're like, just go here.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (33:11):
Exactly. And then you. And they take all of that information.
After speaking to me, after speaking to, you know, Kevin
and the team at the sd, you know, after speaking to the
distillation team, and it all goes there so
that every single person can go, go on the journey of
Single Estate. Because for us, Single Estate, it's an
amazing product. You know, it's nothing like we've done
before, but what is key to us is that it's setting the
(33:33):
stage for that transparency where rum is
concerned. You know, you talk the talk, but you do,
you walk the walk sometimes as well. And for
Meltgay, my ethos has always been. And
the host of Montguay's ethos has always been, let's be
transparent about how we do what we do. So, you know,
if I say to you, you know, this has no sugar in it,
or if I say, you know, there's been nothing added, what you're
(33:56):
tasting is 100% from the barrel, you
know, from, from our ability to select the
specific Barrels to give you these nuances, then that
is what it is. And um, that was the mindset I took when
it came to Single Estate. Every single aspect
that has gone into Single Estate is clearly there for, for anyone
to see.
>> Speaker B (34:14):
And when you created them, how were you expecting
people to drink it, to sip it and to
add ice to it, to have it in
your favorite cocktail? I mean, what were you thinking?
Obviously it's super special, so you wouldn't want to just
throw sour mix into it, but how would you want someone to
drink it?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (34:32):
So for Single Estate, neat is always my
recommendation. Um, neat, neat, neat. You know, I like to say
I make something for every occasion. So, you know, if
you want to make a cocktail, you know, we've definitely
got rumored for that too as well, because
that's, that's key, you know, that everything has its
purpose. So for Single Estate specifically, I would recommend
it neat. But if you want to go the cocktail way, you can
(34:54):
go from Eclipse being amazing in a rum
punch to Exo, you know, Coco Hill. You know,
that's my, um, go to sometimes when it
comes to a cocktail, very easy to make. And
you, uh, know, I don't claim to be an
X expert at, uh,
crafting cocktails. You know, I always say I
(35:15):
respect persons who. That is
their talent and their ability to showcase what
I have crafted in such a different way. I, ah, have
complete, you know, but, but there are some of them that are easy enough
that even I can make them.
>> Speaker B (35:27):
And me too, me too. I know
I've got, I always. People are like, oh, you must make cocktails
so well. I'm like, no, I leave that to the, the professionals.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (35:36):
Exactly, exactly. I also leave that to the
professionals and make very simple ones.
Like when you freeze coconut water and pour some exo
over and I'm like, gorgeous, gorgeous. I've made this
cocktail.
>> Speaker B (35:49):
Yeah, that's really easy. Now you've had the
first, which was a bled, and then you've had the second. So you've
got to tell me what's happening now, what's happening next?
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (35:58):
So what's happening next? So definitely there will be a
third. The idea here
is, But I think you know what, I'll, I'll give you this. What, what you will
see from Single Estate is you will see us developing
Single Estate, you know, always staying true to the core, where the
molasses comes from, transparency and the
process, all of those things. But you will see some new
(36:19):
things coming from Single Estate in
the future. And because, because the idea here is to, is to
really build on what we have, what
we know, and. And be able to bring everyone in a
little more to the journey that. That
we take for Single Estate. Can't. Can't give away too much,
but definitely look out.
(36:40):
Um, we usually. Usually Single Estate is released
around October, so we're very early in the
year, very early in the year before
we get there. But yes, definitely keep. Keep looking
out for the. For the Single Estate releases.
They're not very many. Um, every year we do
only Release, uh,
approximately 4,000 and some bottles.
(37:02):
Because it's key for me that we're able to understand what
is still happening with the. With the rum as it ages
and as our age progresses. So never truly
depleting any harvest or any specific year
because, you know, we still have that. That journey to. To go
on.
>> Speaker B (37:17):
Yeah, I'm sure the magic is happening in the, uh,
in those greenhouses with the cultivars.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (37:23):
Listen, the magic, you know, that's the beauty of Single
Estate. The magic's happening everywhere. So, you know, we've got some magic happening
at the estate. You know, every year is unique,
Every year is different, but then we've got all these different harvests that
we've transformed into rum in the bonds also
doing their thing, you know, with tropical aging. So it's,
you know, it's almost as if it's like this whole construct by
(37:43):
itself that's really happening. And. And,
you know, it's like I said, M. You know, we went from that very
first one having a finite amount of barrels that we all like
watching every day. We're like, what's happening? Is it happening?
Are we good to know? You know, it being
just so much a part of who we are
and, um, what we do, you know, setting up the tastings,
(38:03):
monitoring year on year, you know, as we.
As we go by. But I will say this, like, one thing
has not changed. When it's harvest the plate,
everybody is super excited. Like, so
it's almost as if, like, you know, like a special
celebration has come to Nimonge Estate
specifically and also to the distillery.
>> Speaker B (38:24):
Well, you know, I was excited to try the molasses. I'm
sure that is, you know, every single time I'd be
like, molasses, please. I do love it. It's funny,
you know, I think Barbados Tourism Board
should just say the magic is happening in Mount Gay.
And that should be, you know, that is it.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (38:41):
I will say that, you know, we do, like, we
harvest. Mogay has their harvest, but it is part of a bigger
celebration that happens in Barbados. So,
you know, we tend to harvest at the end of the Barbados,
the country's harvest. And right about that time we
have, uh, a celebration called Cropover
where, you know, traditionally, obviously many,
(39:02):
many years ago, it was a celebration of the end of
the harvest on the island. So cropped over. But now
it's really, it's, it's our carnival that just does
coincide with the end of our Barbadian harvest and
the country does come alive. So we're a small part of
that bigger excitement that happens every year around
that time.
>> Speaker B (39:20):
Well, gosh, I would love to be there.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:22):
So you come to Barbados. You come in August,
July, that.
>> Speaker B (39:26):
Yeah, we are coming. We're coming. Well, this has been
so great. I am so pleased that we got to talk about
it and, and uh, so much exciting stuff is
happening. I think the people who created Mount
Gay in 1703 would be super pleased
by, uh, the fact that not only is it still around,
but that you're at the helm creating all these new
(39:47):
things.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:47):
Thank you. Thank you.
>> Speaker B (39:48):
Absolutely. Thank you for being on the show.
It's been fantastic.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:52):
It has been. It has been.
>> Speaker B (39:54):
Thank you and hopefully see you in London soon
for another cocktail.
>> Trudy Ann Brancker (39:58):
Hopefully.
>> Susan Schwartz (40:01):
I so want to thank Trudy Ann for joining me on the
program. Her choice for cocktail of the week is
simple, yet so effective in showing off
Mount Gay XO Rum. And thank
you so much to Mount Gay for sponsoring the transcription
for the hearing impaired.
(40:22):
Our cocktail of the week is the Coco
Hill. This minimalist masterpiece
combines the rich, complex flavors of Mount Gay
XO Rum with refreshing purity
of coconut water, creating a drink that is
as elegant as it is effortless.
First, pour coconut water into a silicone ice
(40:43):
cube mold or regular ice cube. Mold and
freeze if you can. You want to
make one fabulous ice cube.
Once frozen, place the coconut ice cube or
cubes into an old fashioned glass. Then
pour 60 mils or 2 ounces of Mount Gay
XO rum over the ice cube and
(41:04):
serve. As I said,
simple but effective.
You'll find this recipe in all the cocktails of the week at
a lush life manual.com plus links
to most of the ingredients.
(41:29):
Are you on MSN? Check out all my latest
posts on MSN.com and search for
Lush Life and follow.
If you live for Lush Life, then make sure you head out to the bars you
love and order a drink. The
music for Lush Life is by Steven Shapiro and used with with
permission. And Lush Life is always and
(41:49):
will be forever produced by Evoterra and Simpler
Media Productions, which leads me to say the wise
words of Oscar Wilde. All things in moderation,
including moderation. And always drink
responsibly. Next week
we take a look at whiskey.
Until then, bottoms.
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