Although there were many established before it, the oldest existing rum company in the world dates back to 1703 and is owned by Mount Gay in Barbados. A man named John Sober inherited an unknown distillery and asked his friend Sir John Gay to help in managing it. Sir John was a respected business who worked in service of Barbados. His business acumen meant he took quickly to the rum production process, refining the distillation side which helped produce a much superior rum which is today known as Mount Gay Rum.