Mount Gay appoints new estate rum manager

Mount Gay has appointed a new estate rum manager to oversee its spirit-making operations.

Maggie Campbell, former head distiller at Privateer Rum, will join the newly created role at the Barbados-based distillery in October 2021.

She will oversee the entire product lifecycle at Mount Gay, from sugarcane production through to bottling, in the new estate rum division, working closely with Mount Gay's agricultural manager Jacklyn Broome, agronomy and permaculture consultant Dr Emmanuel Bourguignon, and master blender Trudiann Branker. 

Campbell said: "Mount Gay has always held a special place in my heart. I've followed the work of Allen Smith and Trudiann Branker for quite some time and to be invited to join Mount Gay is a true privilege. I'm committed to honouring the genuine rum tradition and celebrating over 300 years of rum-making expertise."

Mount Gay's managing director Raphael Grisoni added that Campbell would be "an integral part of the future of the Mount Gay estate".

Originally interested in distilling after a trip to Scotland in 2004, Campbell received a diploma in craft distilling technologies at the Siebel Institute and a level 4 diploma from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

Prior to her work with Privateer Rum, she founded drinks industry consultancy firm Half Pint Co-Creation, won the inaugural Denver Brewster's Women's Brewing Competition, served two elected terms on the board of directors of the American Craft Spirit Association, and worked as an assistant distiller at Germain-Robin.

22 September 2021 - Bethany Whymark