Review: Mount Gay Eclipse

[Count Silvio]

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Mount Gay is widely recognized as the world’s oldest rum producer and they don't seem to be too coy about it either. On the front label, of the heavy bottle with a classic bubble neck, is printed a map of Barbados where it says Mount Gay has been producing rum since 1703, which would make the tradition of making rum over 300 years.

Appearance
Mount Gay Eclipse is gold with strong legs that after a swirl in the glass leave several small droplets behind once it has begun its slow descent deeper into the glass. The presence of the droplets and the strong legs give clues to the rums sweetness.

Nose
Indeed the nose has a strong presence of sweetness as well as alcohol that stings if you bury your nose too deep into the glass but not enough to make you turn back. Once you get past the alcohol a panorama of exotic fruits come to greet your nose, mostly dark fruits with the most notable fruit being dried plum. Brown sugar is detectable with a little vanilla on the side. I found the nose surprisingly complex for this rum.

This week I reviewed Mount Gay Eclipse Barbados Rum as requested by our adventurer Henry Deare. If you have any good cocktail recipes for this rum you may post them here. You may also post them in the new cocktail forum if you find a new topic is better. This rum has been in good use for rum and coke so far and I've already reached the golden era of the bottle, as Señor Pablo likes to call it when the bottle is half full.

[Henry Deare, Adventurer]

Quite an enjoyable review there, my dear Count.

I think you've really hit the proverbial nail there. The Eclipse is a very uncomplicated rum. In fact it was first offered to me as an introduction to rums outside the likes of the ubiquitous Barcardi. I suggest doing the same for anyone you think needs to make the same leap.

That goes for anyone of this forum.

I'd like to see your opinion of the Mount Gay Extra Old. Once my bottle of Eclipse was empty I went out and purchased that with my very next paycheck.

[Count Silvio]

Quite an enjoyable review there, my dear Count.

I think you've really hit the proverbial nail there. The Eclipse is a very uncomplicated rum. In fact it was first offered to me as an introduction to rums outside the likes of the ubiquitous Barcardi. I suggest doing the same for anyone you think needs to make the same leap.

That goes for anyone of this forum.

I'd like to see your opinion of the Mount Gay Extra Old. Once my bottle of Eclipse was empty I went out and purchased that with my very next paycheck.

Perhaps if it is bacardi they have been drinking but for complete beginners I'd rather introduce Cruzan Single Barrel which is more complex and very easily approachable. I fear the lack of taste in Eclipse might give them wrong image of what a rum can be.

I would gladly review Mount Gay Extra Old, therefore I propose some kind of a trade. If I remember correctly from our last conversation you didn't have a chance to buy the Ron Zacapa 23 años?

[Henry Deare, Adventurer]

Quite an enjoyable review there, my dear Count.

I think you've really hit the proverbial nail there. The Eclipse is a very uncomplicated rum. In fact it was first offered to me as an introduction to rums outside the likes of the ubiquitous Barcardi. I suggest doing the same for anyone you think needs to make the same leap.

That goes for anyone of this forum.

I'd like to see your opinion of the Mount Gay Extra Old. Once my bottle of Eclipse was empty I went out and purchased that with my very next paycheck.

Perhaps if it is bacardi they have been drinking but for complete beginners I'd rather introduce Cruzan Single Barrel which is more complex and very easily approachable. I fear the lack of taste in Eclipse might give them wrong image of what a rum can be.

I would gladly review Mount Gay Extra Old, therefore I propose some kind of a trade. If I remember correctly from our last conversation you didn't have a chance to buy the Ron Zacapa 23 años?

No, sadly I haven't been able to find the Ron Zacapa down here. But I do believe some sort of trade in the new year would be a boon for both of us.

[Scottes]

I'm surprised that you don't mention the spice bite with this rum. I found that I had to get past the alcohol and spice finish before I could discern much in this rum.

But once I did, there really is a lot going on in this rum. There are tons of flavors in it.

But they are like adding a banana and a cup of brown sugar to a vat full of rum. I'm not sure how much good those traces of flavors do.


I have to say that I was very disheartened by this rum. It was one of my staples many years ago, long before I began to truly appreciate rum. (Along with Appleton V/X.) I was quite depressed when I tasted it with a halfway decent palate. I'm not sure how useful this rum is besides its alcohol content, really. A bottle of Appleton Special at 2/3 the price gives one much more rum taste.

[Count Silvio]

I am not sure what people mean by "spice" when they mention it in their reviews, this may be the reason I've not mentioned it in my review. Could you illuminate me as to what kind of a flavour spice usually is in rums? The alcohol was not a problem to me because it wasnt overpowering enough to be disturbing.

Appleton V/X? Is it anything like Extra?

[Scottes]

Spice, to me, is what gives your mouth a tingling effect, generally after swallowing. Not so much the taste of pepper, but rather the *effect* of pepper on the mouth.

Well, at least that's what I call it.

Try a sip of Ron Zacapa 23 and concentrate on how your mouth feels after swallowing. Then do the same with the Mount Gay Eclipse. The difference is a lot of spice, the tingling, the way your mouth feel after swallowing some jalapeno peppers.


The V/X is a younger rum than the Extra, less smokiness and a little more "rumminess." It's more of a general mixer than the Extra.

[Count Silvio]

Ahh I see what you mean now! I suppose you could say its spice, I just call it tingling or burning sensation.

Smokiness in Extra you say? I've sampled it once at Theodore Mauls estate but I cannot recall any smokiness. I will write a review at one point when I've acquired a bottle and see if my experience is any different then.

[Scottes]

Ahh I see what you mean now! I suppose you could say its spice, I just call it tingling or burning sensation.

That works.

My general understanding is that this is generally called "spice" - but does anyone else call this something different??

Smokiness in Extra you say?

Smoke, char, burnt, barrel, oak... I detect some smoke because I'm quite sensitive to it. It may be just a side-effect of the extended aging that the Extra receives, or could be fresh-charred barrel tastes, something.