New Mount gay silver Vs. Eclipse Silver

Barbados: the defacto home of the original reference classic rum as we know it. God bless the Queen! And Mount Gay!
mamajuana
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New Mount gay silver Vs. Eclipse Silver

Post by mamajuana »

I decided to bring this up as Mount gay has renamed and changed the bottle and label on their white rum offering. They dropped the word "Eclipse" from the white rum offering.

I had two bottles one produced June 2014 of the new bottle label and one Dated Jan 31st 2008 (which I surprisingly just bought a year ago.)


I won't make this long and drawn out here is the basic style comparison.

New Bottle:

"There is a lack of boldness which I guess should be expected... at least if it were a Puerto Rico White rum. It is not very interesting on the palate either rather neutral very faint spice, alcohol, bland, rather subdued nose. I would easily mistake this for a rum of other location not a Bajan style as one would expect of Mt. Gay and Barbados. All the flavor is missing. "


Old bottle:

"Delightful nosing of spice without any astringent quality. The taste is clearly of a Bajan style with a quick entry to a flavorful spicy kick which remains smooth in its exit yet full of flavor in its finish. A perfect example as to what one should expect from a Barbados white rum. A classic example in fact excellent in all facets of the style."


In conclusion: Mt. Gay has made an excellent rum into one created for the masses to mix rum and cokes with that don't take their rum straight or expect any flavor. A rum made in Barbados not much further in flavor or style from a Bacardi White or Don Q Cristal. A sad day indeed. The quality of this product has taken a hit from 2008-2014. They have turned this rum almost vodka-like.
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The Black Tot
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Post by The Black Tot »

I must confess, I don't know my white rum very well yet, since to this point I've focused on ambers and anejos.

How would you say the old eclipse compares with Seale's Tommy Bahama white rum, for example? I've got a line on a metric shedload of that stuff on clearance, and from the little I've read this makes an excellent mixing rum.

Would one need a stock of both? Will I later realize that if I don't salt away some good white rums now, that I'll have missed an important boat for cocktail mixing, etc?

Can you post a pic of the older eclipse label such that we may know what specifically to look for?

Many thanks in advance.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

What a stinkin shame about the "Eclipse"...

This of course confims the effects of the break-up and failure of Mount Gay. The new "Extra Old" is not the rum it used to be as noted by JaRiMi and also by us, and now the old Elipse replaced by a de-balled "Silver". Ouch.

Actually the old Eclipse line - gold and silver - were quite nice. The gold was actually sippable back then, although I can't speak for the current issues. As for the Tommy Bahama, that was made by Seales and if you like whites, you can't go wrong. These are now rather old, and ought to be quite good. Seales does not make vodka...
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Post by Hassouni »

The current Eclipse is not bad. I'm using it behind the bar.

Speaking of Foursquare, I would caution against Doorly's NAS white, btw, I don't like it. He also does a 3 year white, which is supposed to be very good, but I've never seen for sale.
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Post by The Black Tot »

So, the question is, when is a white rum called for?

I've sipped one or two neat just to test them, but I've never really used them.

Are white rums just mixers for when a gold rum will be a bit too sweet?

Duly noted about Doorly's white, Hass.

Yeah the TB just didn't seem to sell very well, and there are a few places where they have a bunch but nobody will be buying it, so it's on closeout. I think it would be wise to stash some away in the future tiki arsenal. I just have to figure out what gets done with it!
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Post by Hassouni »

I personally don't find unadulterated aged rums to be sweet. But yes, white rums are used mostly for mixing, especially in Cuban or Cuban-inspired cocktails, where they're awesome. Agricoles for 'ti punch, too.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Are white rums just mixers for when a gold rum will be a bit too sweet?

Actually in many cases it's the same rum, with the "white" just being filtered. In some cases the "gold" is just a bit older. In others the "gold" or "dark" is just coloring (like Hamilton's dark Jamaican - same as his white, both the same new rum).

It's fair to say the use of "white" is often determined by what color you want the mixed drink to be.
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Post by Hassouni »

This is true to an extent.

In PR all rums must be aged a year, so even their crystal-clear whites are a year old. Then you have ED3, FdC 4, etc, which are also heavily filtered. Saying it's the same, just the white has been filtered is true, but such heavy charcoal filtering takes a lot of the flavor out. One reason I think Havana Club Añejo 3 Años is so flavorful compared to other "Cuban-style" "light rums" is that it does NOT seem to be charcoal filtered - it's a very pale straw color, which probably represents natural coloring from 3 years in barrels.

Also, many "gold rums" are as Jimbo said simply colored new make rum. I don't know how many rums on the market are like this - Are old standbys like Myer's and Gosling's new make, or have they been aged? (If anybody has an answer, please let me know!)

Back to whites, MANY white rums are not aged and filtered - Bacardi (meh), Barbancourt, etc, etc.

I will make a SWEEPING generalization and say that most white rums tend to be lighter in flavor, echoing the filtration technique pioneered by Facundo Bacardi in the 1860s (80s?). Huge exceptions to this are Wray and Nephew and other domestic-market Caribbean overproofs, rhums agricoles, and some artisanal cachaças.
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Post by The Black Tot »

Great info here, guys.

I understand the impact of charcoal filtering from the American whiskey world, so this all makes a lot of sense.

The TB "white sand" rum is a minimum 2yrs rum, and the "Golden Sun" version is a minimum of 3.

I'll keep the Havana Club 3 in mind since I can easily get this in both Canada and the UK.

What is different about Wray And Nephew and the domestic-market Caribbean whites?

All I know about WAN so far is that long ago there was an insanely coveted 15yr+ white overproof and it was part of classic tiki recipes, and is now long gone, although the present WAN overproof is still a mixing/floater staple.

I found a dusty bottle of white CJ Wray rum a while back (80 proof) and I quickly sampled it.

This one:

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-25057.aspx

It is quite nice, and flavorful. I admit at the time I was thinking I didn't really know what I would do with a white, but I'm about to start reading some tiki recipe books and my gf and I are going to be working on our cocktail skills, so probably this is going to get very important to us, very fast.

Thanks to your comments I'm starting to get it, which is exciting.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Wray & Nephews OP stands almost alone, and was called the best OP in the world by Dave Broom. Don't be misled by its low price. Unlike most whites this OP has a significant pot stilled component, which accounts for its distinctive aromas and flavors.

It's really a white apart.
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Post by mamajuana »

A great white rum should not only be mixable it should also be taken straight with pleasure. There are many different styles and flavors in these rums and the best way to detect these intricate differences is neat tasting. With the prices many of these are commanding compared to other spirits that are taken neat, rum should be no exception it should be the exemplar of any white spirit. White rum should have no adversary in the pure white spirit category as it has so many more variables than any other white spirit available. Many of my favorite rums are white rums.
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Post by Blade Rummer »

mamajuana wrote:A great white rum should not only be mixable it should also be taken straight with pleasure.
I have to agree with you, I never thought I would be sipping white rum but based on Jimbo's recommendation I bought a bottle of Barbancourt white and I am impressed. I had planned on only using it in a flight to compare the 4 and 8 year old and figured afterwards it would just sit around waiting to be used in rum and cokes when friends are over. But I found myself enjoying it neat on more than one occasion.
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Post by JaRiMi »

Wanna have a white rum with *LOTS* of flavour? Try Savanna Lontan. It's a white high ester rum - try and see for yourselves. Amazing stuff, a totally unique product.
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Post by The Black Tot »

Hey thanks Jarimi - I'll give that a shot on my next order. Gonna get this white rum thing figured out!
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Post by mamajuana »

JaRiMi wrote:Wanna have a white rum with *LOTS* of flavour? Try Savanna Lontan. It's a white high ester rum - try and see for yourselves. Amazing stuff, a totally unique product.
I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Can't seem to locate one online to purchase. I did however just order a cache of 12 white rums I have never seen nor tried before.
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