Mount Gay Rum Eclipse at The Intoxicologist

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Mount Gay Rum: Cocktail Recipe Versatility with Extra Old Sip-ability

Mount Gay Rum Comparison: Mount Gay Rum Eclipse Silver, Mount Gay Eclipse Rum, Mount Gay Rum Extra Old

It is always interesting to sample and review a spirit, but even more intriguing to compare the various levels of spirits within a brand line. The natural inclination is to compare brand versus brand, but that is not necessarily a fair comparison. Unless both brands begin with the exact same base ingredients and climate conditions the comparison is unbalanced. No two products will ever be identical. Distillers hone their craft according to individual taste. It is that complex difference that provides a world of unique spirits. Mount Gay Rum provided an excellent opportunity for evaluation by placing their spirits next to each other to assess how each expression is unique.

Mount Gay Rum Eclipse Silver: 2008 proved a ‘Very Good’ year for Eclipse Silver with accolades from Wall Street Journal, a 4 Star rating, and winning a Gold and Silver Medal from separate competitions. Eclipse Silver pays homage to the radiant sea, meandering rivers and waterfalls that flow in cascading beauty into the island of Barbados. There is medium feel to the body in this light spirit, molasses flavor character, smooth quality with a little sharpness around the edges especially in the finish. Slight buttery notes pronounce immediately, yet fade.

Mount Gay Eclipse Rum: Currently a 2009 Gold Medal winner from the San Francisco Wine & Spirits Competition with various other Gold and Crystal awards under its cap through the last few years. Said to be inspired by the 1910 twin occurrence of total solar eclipse and Halley’s Comet, Eclipse is the personification of the Barbados rum craft. More cocoa notes, possible toffee without additional sugar. A little more mocha flair. Eclipse does not feel as thick in viscosity as Eclipse Silver. Still the molasses notes are deep rooted in this one with a wee bit of smoke. Perhaps this is due to the Kentucky Oak barrel aging.

Mount Gay Rum Extra Old: This one goes Gold all the way. From 2005 to 2008 there are five Gold, Double Gold and Grand Gold Medals surrounding this spirit from various competitions and challenges with a ‘Superb, highly recommended’ mention from Wine Enthusiast. Extra Old makes no reference to how old ‘Extra Old’ really happens to be other than ‘slowly matured.’ Definite cherry notes in the aroma from the first lift of the glass. Sweeter than the either the Eclipse or Eclipse Silver. Deeper wood feel within adding character to the overall depth. This one is still thin in feel like the Eclipse. There is also much alcohol burn. Extra Old contains dried fruit flavor in the middle notes and a nice lingering finish. Possibly peach? This rum has a certain bourbon charm to it, possibly also in part to the barrel aging. Mount Gay Rum Extra Old definitely serves the purpose of sipping rum rather than mixing rum unless your intent is to mix up something superbly exceptional.

Mount Gay Rum Eclipse and Eclipse Silver both make excellent mixing rums. Sampling them both in a side by side simple Daiquiri proved interesting. Both yielded completely different results.

Simple Daiquiri

2 ounces Rum

1 ounce Fresh Lime Juice

1/2 ounce Simple Syrup

Lime Garnish

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lime.

Mount Gay Rum Eclipse Silver: Creates a very mellow, rounded out simple Daiquiri without too much acidic overtone. Quite pleasant, but ordinary.

Mount Gay Rum Eclipse: This simple Daiquiri is almost like consuming smooth brown sugar with a gentle lime bite. Some of the rum notes flow through, but not decisively enough. With a small amount of tweaking, this Daiquiri could become something extraordinary.

Although there is no photo, a Mai Tai was also sampled on the fly using both Eclipse and Eclipse Silver using a recipe from Dale DeGroff’s book, The Essential Cocktail. Mount Gay Rum carried the cocktail beautifully.