Where Does Mount Gay’s New Silver Rum Fit In?
Today, I’m looking at Mount Gay’s recently released Silver rum. While I’ve yet to taste the official bottling rolling out to the US, I tasted an early bottling during a 2021 visit to the distillery. Its flavor impressed me, and I asked a Mount Gay representative if it was coming to the US. I was dismayed to learn it was a Barbados market exclusive, so I ferried home several bottles in my suitcase. Four years later, it’s officially hitting US shores, per the brand’s press release.
I’m told that this rum is a distinctly different blend than the now-discontinued “Eclipse Silver.” While the earlier Barbados-only release was at 43% ABV, the US-market bottle is at 40% ABV. Kudos to Mount Gay for making it available in a 1-liter format, saving consumers a bit of money while holding more rum per square inch of shelf space. Mount Gay also announced that it will be available in the UK market, albeit it at 37.5% ABV, and limited to on-premise accounts.
As for the “Silver” name, it opens up a side-quest discussion that helps frame my thoughts on this rum. Let’s jump in!
Revisiting “White” And “Silver” As Categories
When it comes to food and drink, color (or lack thereof) often tells us nothing about flavor. A recipe calling for “yellow cheese” or “red vegetables” rather than more specific ingredients would be roundly mocked. The same applies to rum. A rum’s color (or lack thereof) tells us nothing about what it tastes like. Unaged Jamaican overproof rum and unaged rhum agricole are indistinguishable in appearance but are very different beasts.
Even if we don’t focus on extreme examples like the above, the “white rum” category can confuse even people with extensive knowledge of rum and associated cocktails. Many classic cocktail recipes, including the daiquiri and mojito, call for simply “white rum.” We might consider Bacardi Superior to be a “reference rum” for these sorts of drinks. Havana Club 3, Flor de Caña 4 Extra Seco, Diplomático Planas, and others are also stylistically similar.
However, in countless mixology discussions, rums like Denizen Aged White, Banks 5, Planteray 3 Stars, Ten to One White, and Probitas are frequently cited as “better” than the above-listed rums. While many consider them more flavorful, they are not the same style of rum. Full stop.
“Classic” white rums, epitomized by Bacardi Superior, Havana Club 3, and Doorly’s 3, are single distillery light rums, usually column-distilled, and aged for several years. Afterwards, carbon filtration removes the color, rendering them “silver.” Aging-induced flavors, e.g., vanilla, dominate the relatively subtle flavors that remain.
In contrast, “modern” white rums like Banks 5 and Denizen White are more flavor-forward, multi-region rum blends made mostly or entirely from unaged rums. Most contain a secret sauce of sorts: highly flavorful (“high ester”) pot still Jamaican rum. Intense Jamaican rum has long been used like flavor extract in rum blends, punching up lighter and less expensive rums.
Consider the following rums:
Planteray 3 Stars
Banks 5 Island
Denizen Aged White
Probitas /Veritas
Ten to One White
All are “white” multi-region blends with a noticeable Jamaican flavor note. They work well in tropical drinks but are objectively different than classic white rum in style and flavor. Classic white rums rely on aging-induced flavors, while modern multi-region whites favor fermentation flavors, e.g., “funk.”
Where does Mount Gay’s Silver Fit In?
Having teased apart most white rums into “lightly aged and filtered” or the “multi-region blend with Jamaican funk” varieties, where might we place Mount Gay Silver in the mix?
The brand’s press release is insightful:
It is a blend of pot and columns still rums…. While the column still component of the blend is unaged, the pot still portion is aged for two years in ex-American Whiskey casks. The secret to the crystal-clear liquid is double filtration, one of which consists in a filtration through charcoal, which removes the color…
Mount Gay Silver is clearly not a classic Spanish heritage-style white rum, ala Havana Club 3. Every drop of a classic white rum like Havana Club 3 is aged; the ‘3’ is a minimum age statement. Contrast that with the unaged column still rum which is likely the primary component of Mount Gay Silver. The blend is aiming for something different than the aging-forward flavors of classic Spanish heritage white rums.
On the other hand, without Jamaican rum hogo in the fray, Mount Gay’s silver is outside the realm of modern multi-region white rums. Instead, it replaces the usual Jamaican component with Barbadian pot still rum, aged just long enough to round off some rough edges without sacrificing fermentation flavors. Barbados is famous for its pot and column still blends which are decidedly “rummy” without veering towards any extremes.
Mount Gay Silver is well-within this Barbados tradition. Its flavor intensity lies somewhere between the Spanish heritage whites and the heavier multi-region blends. Replacing the boisterous Jamaican tang with Mount Gay’s refined pot still profile creates something distinctive, consciously trading a bit of flavor intensity for something more refined and classically Bajan.
So much silver rum to choose from….how does one even make a choice with that kind of variety