Mount Gay Silver.  The term “silver” when referring to white rum is not commonly used in releases in the UK and Europe. It seems to be a US thing.  I suppose calling it silver rum makes as much sense as calling it white.  It’s neither after all – clear rum if anything.

This rum from Mount Gay has proved quite difficult to find.  For some (likely political/territorial) reason whilst Mount Gay’s other entry level rum – the gold Eclipse is widely available in the UK, no white (or silver) bottling is easily found.

Occasionally a store such as the Whisky Exchange may import a limited amount but it is very infrequent.  In the end I decided to add this bottling onto an order from Excellence Rhum in France.

It worked out fairly pricey. Just under £30 for a 70cl bottle.  The ABV is 40%.  If it were commercially available here in the UK I would expect it to retail at the same price as the Eclipse. It was previously called Eclipse Silver after all.

Mount Gay Silver is blend of pot and column distilled spirit.  The Mount Gay website is, sadly lacking any real details. Which is a disappointment.  I presume this has been briefly aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being filtered to make it clear, sorry silver.

We’ve covered most of Mount Gay’s releases to date – some are to difficult to find like the Origins Series Volume 1 or the old style 100 Eclipse Black.  They have, in my opinion been left behind in terms of innovation and creativity by Foursquare recently.  They still though I suspect shift more units than Foursquare globally. Recent figures show that to be the case.

With a distinct lack of information or anything of real interest to say about Mount Gay beyond what I’ve said before I may as well get on with it and let you know how I found this white, sorry silver rum.

In the glass the rum is completely transparent. The nose gives familiar notes of Mount Gay rum – dessicated coconut, hints of banana and wafts of vanilla. It’s light and very approachable. The alcohol is notable by its absence. As is any sense of any real ageing in terms of oaky-ness and spice in the mix. It’s all very light and reminiscent of the central American white rums. Which are often distilled and filtered to within a millimetre of being vodka, some perhaps are.

Having said that, there is enough in the profile left to reassure me we are dealing with a white rum.

Sipping the rum is also a very surprisingly easy going experience. I expect a lot more burn and bite from white rums especially at entry level. This is really easy going. Perhaps to easy going, as it doesn’t really produce a great deal of flavour. Vanilla is perhaps most prominent backed up with some of that coconut.

Mixing it with my usual diet cola it does very little really. It kind of disappears into the cola and doesn’t really offer much flavour. Botran Reserva Blanca and the Real McCoy 3 did a lot more than this. Strangely the alcohol notes seem more prominent giving a bit of a kick but not really anything to get to excited about.

It works a little better with less demanding mixers such as soda and even lemonade. It probably works nicely in cocktails – the way a more neutral tasting white rum or vodka might.

I’m not hugely surprised with this one to be honest. It’s rarely spoken of. I’ve never been a big fan of the normal Eclipse. No matter how many times I re-try it. I certainly wouldn’t rush to pay £30 plus for another bottle. £15 it might do okay as a weekend mixer if I was stuck for such a thing. Having said that I could get 1 litre of Supermarket white albeit with a slightly lower ABV for around the same price. In terms of level the rums are strikingly similar.

Overall as a producer I really enjoy their aged line up – Black Barrel and the Extra Old but their entry level stuff leaves me cold. I’m hoping they start innovating with their aged rums in the way Richard Seale has over at Foursquare. Whilst volume wise they are winning they are getting talked about less and less in the more serious rum circles.

Which is a shame for such a producer but unfortunately they have rather stood still for a bit too long now. Black Barrel was a replacement and whilst the Distillery Collection rums are a nice addition they aren’t pushing things the way other producers are. With Maison Ferrand now having a controlling stake in WIRD Mount Gay might have to adapt and innovate.

Having said that as long as people buy enough Eclipse maybe they are happy with that? I’m not but hey I’m one person after all, with a very different view of the rum world to most.

Even still this white rum is all a little bit flat sadly.