Mount Gay Eclipse Rum

Part of a Mt Gay rum tasting trio from Flaviar. I'm somewhat new to critical rum reviews. I've had many, many "sipping rums" on my travels through Florida, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The 2021 New Year marked a more serious appreciation for this spirit and my love for Foursquare is pretty intense. Let's see what this iconic brand brings to the party. The pour is a light brass. A swirl shows multiple thin legs and light sheeting that dissipates quickly. I anticipate this will be just a touch thin. I gave it a good 5 minutes to rest and tasted neat from a glencairn. The nose is slight cotton candy, cut grass, gently butterscotch. The nose is thankfully free of any ethanol or chemical notes. It's very soft, but clean and appealing. On the palate this rum continues its lightweight journey. Surprisingly this is reminding me of Japanese whisky, particularly Suntory's Toki. Very light and delicate. It is not at all complex. There's a slight sweetness, a touch of honey, a bit of caramel, very light white pepper and a short, clean finish. There's a blush of ginger. and a light sweetness remains on the palate after a swallow. This is the antithesis of demanding. The finish is short, clean and combines sweet with a touch of sour lemondrop. Interesting, I get no banana or fruit. I get more banana from a Belgian ale than is present in this by an order of magnitude. This is okay as a sipper, but not good enough to be enthusiastic. It might be a reasonable mixer, but its ephemeral taste profile means it will get lost quickly in multi-element cocktails. I'm thinking this is a good choice for a highball with Q soda and an orange zest twist. It might also be interesting to mix this into something Manhattan-like with an Ambrato vermouth That's probably my next experiment. This is a $20 bottle. It's certainly a good value with no fatal flaws for its inexpensive market position. It's really not my thing, but I'm not hating on it. I'll happily trade a 90% full 750ml bottle of Toki for a 50% full bottle of this! I rate on a scale where 1 is undrinkable for me and 5 is a perfect example of the expression. Looking at a bell curve, most competently made liquors should sit between 2 and 3 with the peak at 2.5. I think this is an honest 2.75 and that's not a bad thing at this price point.

Only good for mixing.

A nice rum for the price. When sipped neat subtle fig and toffee notes come through, though this is soon surpassed by wood notes followed by a slight heat that isn't overpowering. It's a classic and should be welcome in any drinks cabinet.

Lemonade with lime slice

This is my go to rum. Delicious for its price point and my step dad, who is from Barbados, swears by it.

Sweet honey and cake batter notes, with smoke and brine in the mid palate. Very smooth and drinkable. Surprisingly sweet for something unadulterated. Overall, a very nice entry-level pour that kicks above its cost, but lacks the complexity and finish to compete with the big boys

At pouring there is a subdued aroma of tropical fruit and molasses. The taste starts out with brown or cane sugar notes and a touch of pineapple and some burnt marshmallows. Finish is short to moderately short and ands off with a cane sugar residual.

Acetone nose, like a perfume counter. But smooth taste. Good mixer.

Sipped before making hurricanes. First gold rum. Good and will enjoy the drinks I make with it

Pretty decent. Some nice molasses sweetness, although it could be more rich. Smooth for an inexpensive rum; great value play. No real burn.