Mount Gay Extra Old Rum

Mount Gay Extra Old, sometimes called Mount Gay Black. Both the Extra Old (XO) are made in Mount Gay’s Barbados distillery, where rum has been made since at least 1703, making it the longest continually produced brand of rum in the world. While the Eclipse is top-notch mixing rum, the Extra Old is more of a sipping rum, best appreciated straight up or on the rocks. Blended from rums with a range of 12-17 years, Mount Gay Extra Old is aged in charred oak barrels, like bourbon.

The first thing you notice about the Extra Old is its deep beautiful, warm, copper color. A quick swirl of the spirit shows its legs thin, and an almost ribbon-like ring forms after the swirl before it dimples and then collapses into the glass.

The smell of the rum is rather pleasant, with citrus and banana notes. There is a subtle sweetness underneath these fruitier tones, a hint of molasses mixed in with an oaky, woody scent.

The nose promises good things, and the tongue has just informed us that the nose did not lie. There’s a slightly oily texture to the rum as it glides over the taste by the woody notes from the time spent aging in barrels (the blend of rums comes out with an average age of 17 years). A peppery spice on the finish follows the taste of banana leaf and some coffee. The burn is non-existent in the throat, but this is a rum that stays with you after every sip, as you feel the oily, peppery after-effects on your tongue and the warm, glowing, rummy warmings of the rum in your chest.

Mount Gay Extra Old is an excellent rum, fantastic in cocktails, terrific on its own, or with a cube or two of ice. Drink it as you feel!