Rating: 
Mount Gay Eclipse
www.mountgayrum.com
My experience with Mt. Gay has been 50/50. I first tried their Sugar Cane Rum, and didn’t care for it much at all. I next tried their more exclusive Extra Old Rum, and it was an instant favorite. So now, just for grins, I return to the grocery store variety of Mt. Gay to try their Eclipse rum.
The color is light amber, the bottle unremarkable, and the label boasts the contents to be “refined.” To the smell, this rum is distant, and somewhat mildewy and crustaceous – I swear to you, there’s uncooked lobster in this, which makes for an odd, if not exactly good, start (especially for pirates with allergies.) But being the brave sort, I take the plunge and have a swig. In the mouth, Mt. Gay Eclipse is light and syrupy. It leaves a defined tingle across the tongue once swallowed, but little in the way of any actual flavor. The second sip encounters less tingle, and a bit more sweetness – but is still absent any real flavor. Indeed, with each subsequent sip Mt. Gay Eclipse flirts with flavor – sweet here, leathery there – but never really commits to anything. As such, it has little to recommend it to the the rum sipper of any sort of refined expectations.
Stick with the Mt. Gay Extra Old. It costs a penny or two more, but you’ll be happier in the end.
I’m a bartender at a bar that has 127 different rums (last time I checked) and I can’t believe this only got half a star. I have my choice of what rum I’d like to enjoy at the end of the night and more times than not my hand is on a bottle of Mount Gay Eclipse including the Silver. Granted I am using a mixer, but half a star? Half a star is where anything Bacardi makes should be. It’s the world’s oldest rum distillery. man. Can’t it get a little love?
Mixing is an art in and of itself, and I’m sure that a skilled mixologist can do all sorts of wonderful things with rums that might not stand well on their own. However, my reviews focus on how the rum in question performs when it doesn’t have the support of fruit juices, seltzers, or little paper umbrellas – and Mt. Gay Eclipse simply did not measure up.
While I don’t see fit to give Eclipse a little love based on the age of its distillery, Mt. Gay is well loved around these parts, I assure you. The Extra Old remains one of my favorites, and I’m looking forward to trying their 1703 very soon.
Je souhaiterais connaitre le nom d’un distributeur en FRANCE de ce fameux Rhum. Mount gay rum “Eclipse” Merci de bien vouloir m’aider dans mes recherche.
nastiest rum i ever tasted
Best Rum ever my partner will only drink this rum after sailing to Barbados and staying on his yatch for 2 years, he must of drank a large amount. I am trying to buy a cap with the name Mount Gay for him, can you tell me how i can get hold of one please.
Bilge my friend!
I see we finally disagree – but as friends – over a rum. A rare moment. At The Rum Project (link above), Sue Sea and I have now tasted and reviewed over 120 rums – we’ve lost count.
Recently at a seaside bar we visited, I was forced to order a snifter of Eclipse as that’s all they had other than Bacardi mixers. Oh well, I thought.
Boy were we surprised. We’ve tasted all the best rums and yet found that Eclipse was surprisingly good (8 of 10 on our scoring scale). Well balanced, consistent, smooth, great finish. In short it offers all of the elements a real rum ought to.
Sweet and heat, touches of leather, vanillan, caramel, molasses, a honey clove – all in a nice youthful rum (that no doubt later ages nicely into MGXO).
This rum disproves the label of mixer. We found it a fine sipping rum, entirely enjoyable. I’m with the bartender who opened the comments.
Cheers!
I’m with the bartender & your friend. It’s a sipping rum that sells for mixer prices.
Being that I enjoy more than 1 shot. (Since I romanticize that it takes me back to the islands…also means we could be friends with a wonderful debate) I enjoy the lightness that you describe. It keeps me wanting more. After a couple of toasts I find the smoother rums (sometimes) a little too sweet & smooth.
Highly recommend for the price and the taste.
P.S. Can you help me find that island that Mt. Gay Extra Old sells for only a penny or 2 more?
Gotta respectfully disagree. I’m a longtime bourbon and scotch guy just getting into rums, so my experience isn’t vast. However, I do have 8 of Capt. Jimbo’s suggested rums, so I’ve done a bit of tasting. Especially for the price, I think Mount Gay Eclipse is terrific. Lobster odor? Maybe you got a messed up bottle? Loads of rich vanilla, toffee, butterscotch, almond extract, and light brown sugar with nice hints of tannic oak, banana, and coconut. Mouthfeel has a slight burn and adequately reflects the nose is a tasty and balanced package with big notes of toffee, butterscotch, honey, and vanilla. Finish is indeed a bit short and uneventful, with a slightly cloying tannic dryness. All in all a great little value sipper that also works wonders in homemade egg nog.