Rémy denies Mount Gay rum distillery closure

Fears over the reported closure of the Mount Gay rum distillery in Barbados have been eased as brand owner Rémy Cointreau insists the facility remains in operation.

Rémy Cointreau has denied it’s Mount Gay Distillery is closing following reports in Barbados press

Reports have recently circulated in the island’s local press that Mount Gay Distillery – Barbados’s oldest rum distillery – was closing its doors after encountering financial difficulty.

However, Rémy Cointreau has since said that it is in fact The Rum Refinery – a distillery which provides liquid for Mount Gay Rum along with the Mount Gay Distillery itself – which had temporarily ceased production.

The French drinks group added that despite a “historical and supply relationship” between the two distilleries, they “are not synonymous” and are “two separate and distinct entities”.

Both distilleries are based in Mount Gay in St Lucy and The Rum Refinery is part of Mount Gay Limited.

Raphael Grisoni, managing director of Mount Gay Distilleries Limited, said: “The operations of Mount Gay Distilleries Limited have not been affected by recent events within The Rum Refinery of Mount Gay Limited, and our production of Mount Gay Rum continues as normal.”

Rum Refinery closure

Barbados Today reported that a letter was sent to The Rum Refinery workers stating that the distillery had “had ceased its operations, pending a decision by the shareholders on the future of the company”.

Yet the publication did not clarify the independence of this distillery to the Mount Gay Distillery itself, leading to confusion among members of the trade and public.

Questions put to Rémy Cointreau over whether supply for Mount Gay rum will be affected by the closure of The Rum Refinery have yet to be answered.

Mount Gay Distilleries was acquired French spirits company Rémy Cointreau in 1989.