As some may know, MGXO was one of the very first rums we bought, and was my personal introduction to rum. A lucky choice that we've never regreted. I'll never forget when Mount Gay tossed out over 300 years of tradition and allowed their marketing assholes to convince them to convert to the new bottle design.
We were not alone in taking offense.
It was clear to me that this ploy was a prelude to a price increase and it was. While the old and classic bottle sold for little more than $30, the new design came out at close to $50, a huge increase. This outrageous gamble failed. In not much time, the prices were forced back into the mid $30's - currently as low as $30 - not to mention the attendant loss of face and tradition. Fools, and now they were stuck with this failed design. Still, we continued to buy MGXO for some years, when recently and to my great pleasure, I realized that I still had a 2/3 full bottle of the old bottling, circa 2008. With the recent USVI special subsidies in mind, the natural question was...
Has MGXO changed? And if so, for the better?
I'll keep it simple. Yes and no. Today, Sue Sea and I spent a good hour or two doing a good comparision of a current, 2013 bottling with my rare 2008 bottling. Here's our mutual opinions:
Appearance
The color and clairity were indistinguishable, but the old bottling demonstrates a thicker, more obvious green edge of age of an older rum.
Nose
New bottling: Although both bottlings are similar, the new bottling (2013) is lighter and tends to feature the orangey/vanillan, and a lighter orange marmalade.
Old: Was definitely more intense and noticeably deeper and richer, seemed more "baked", hotter and the spice and leather was more forward. Raisin and a nice tar are evident.
Palate
The comparative palates confirmed the aromas:
New: again lighter, and more dominated by orange rind or zest, more bourbon-like.
Old: hotter and more spicy, with a more definite white pepper, clove and even jalapeno heat. More forward, richer and baked.
In sum there was a distinguishable difference between the old and current bottling. Although Mount Gay has not included a clear age statement on MGXO, the XO has been known to be a blend of rums aged from 10 to 17 years. Has the blend changed? Let's first consider what Sue Sea had to say:
I would have to honestly say that the old bottling has more of the older aged components that make it deeper, spicier, richer and warm. I have no doubt that our dear MGXO has been altered, and not for the best."To me the difference is very simple. It's like making two pies, one that has been constructed but not yet baked, and another of the same ingredients but that has been fully baked, fresh out of the oven, still warm, aromatic and to which you add a scoop of real French vanilla ice cream."
Related Comparison...
It was quite expected that our Seales Ten was brought out, and which compared quite favorably with the lighter new bottling of MGXO, although the blending of older rums in the XO was evident in a bit more complexity and the well known black banana of Mount Gay.
The next bottle to come out was an old favorite, the Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva 15 Solera. With our new knowledge of their unlabeled, added prune and vanilla, we now noted the presence of these additives, particularly in comparison to the known purity of Seales Ten.
All in all, Seales Ten remains perhaps the best rum with which new drinkers should become familiar. By doing so one can become familiar with what a pure and unadulterated rum should taste like. JaRiMi has repeatedly posted regarding the trend to emasculate good rums by altering the blends.
Of this practice, Mount Gay Extra Old is Exhibit A! Damn.