Old Monk Gold Reserve

Mohan Meakin Limited did not invest in marketing and relied on a good reputation for decades ... until it fell competing for supremacy in India with McDowell's No.1. Until recently, Old Monk was the third most popular rum in the world. A truly Impressive achievement, even if the Indian domestic market alone counts several hundred million consumers.

The seven-year-old rum is a popular flagship. The twelve-year-old variation is an attempt to respond to the changing trends of the aspiring Indian middle class, which is rather moving towards premium whiskey. Meanwhile, Old Monk is not advertised because it has to defend itself. Marketing communication is lame; more information can be found on the website of the Estonian importer than on the manufacturer's website.

India has a warm, subtropical climate. Mohan Meakin produces in three distilleries (and is struggling with distribution problems), using column distilled molasses as its base. The rum is aged in oak barrels.