A Story of a Master Blender
Master of Malt explores the remarkable journey of J. Arthur Rackham — and how a lifetime spent discovering, blending and building spirits ultimately led to Mango Bay.
In a recent feature for Master of Malt, writer Adam O’Connell sits down with Mango Bay creator J. Arthur Rackham to explore a career in wine and spirits spanning more than four decades — and the experiences that eventually brought him to Mauritius.
J. Arthur Rackham grew up in the trade as a second-generation wine and spirits merchant, before spending formative years in France with the Camus family in Cognac. It was there that he first discovered the art of blending: understanding how different origins, ages and individual components could be brought together to create something greater.
After an unlikely detour working as an economist in Australia, he returned to the family business before striking out on his own in 1984, founding Emporia Brands and building a reputation around French spirits including Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados — blends he remains personally involved with today.
Rum came later. Working alongside St Lucia Distillers gave J. Arthur the opportunity to learn rum blending from the cellar master and master distiller, contributing to Chairman’s Reserve blends and adding another chapter to a lifetime spent understanding spirits from the inside.
When the opportunity eventually came to create a rum of his own, J. Arthur spent two years searching the Caribbean for something genuinely different. He didn't find it.
Instead, the answer came from Mauritius and a relationship built over years with the Oxenham family.
At Oxenham Craft Distillery, J. Arthur discovered an extraordinary library of Mauritian rum: pure sugarcane juice and molasses distillates, different ages, terroirs and cask maturations. Together with Cedric Oxenham, he tasted through the cellars until the idea for Mango Bay emerged.
Above: J. Arthur Rackham, Master Blender & Maker, nicknamed ‘Daddy Rack’.
The resulting rum brings together two Mauritian traditions for the first time: pure sugarcane juice rum matured in French oak with aged molasses rums matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.
For Master of Malt, Mango Bay represents something larger than the creation of another rum. It brings together the lessons of J. Arthur's career: finding the right people, understanding the liquid, trusting experience and never losing the desire to create something new.
At 73, with Mango Bay now launched and further projects already taking shape, the title of Adam O'Connell's feature feels particularly fitting: the art of never standing still.
