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.