[2][3] Mount Gay Rum is sold in 110 countries,[4] and its primary export market is the United States of America.

[6] In 1757, Sir John Gay Alleyne was elected to the Parliament of Barbados, for the Parish of St. Andrew, a seat he held for the next forty years, with only a break in 1771.

According to Hilary Beckles, historian and principal of the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill Campus, Sir John Gay Alleyne was a popular leader among the planter elite and a great philanthropist.

On 29 April 2010, while speaking at the Founder's Day service at Alleyne School, which was founded by Sir John Gay, alumnus and guest speaker Monsignor Vincent Blackett stated that Sir John Gay Alleyne should certainly be named one of Barbados' National Heroes.

Barbados, the most deeply British of the West Indian cultures, is often the first landfall for ships following the prevailing trade winds from Europe to the Caribbean.

[14] Despite Mount Gay being favoured by sailors worldwide, the island of Barbados is not considered to be an ideal cruising area for sailing yachts due to its open exposure to the frequent swells of both the northern and equatorial Atlantic, and the lack of generally calmer seas or the true natural harbors one finds throughout the rest of the Antilles to the west (i.e. Antigua's English Harbour, or St. Georges in Grenada).

[18] The first drink James Bond (Daniel Craig) orders in Casino Royale (2006) is not his trademark Vodka martini but a Mount Gay Rum with soda.