Aroma visualization from community tastings
Taste
Vanilla, Woody, Caramel
Most mentioned across 79 tasting notes
- Perfect for
- People wanting an honest, unsweetened Barbados sipper or Old Fashioned base
- Less suitable for
- Fans of sweet, syrupy, high-complexity rums
- How to drink
- Neat and in cocktails
Mount Gay Extra Old XO Reserve Cask
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What surprises people used to sweetened Barbados rum: this one reads dry, and you notice it. Sweetness of caramel and vanilla hits first, then oak, chocolate and spice take over into a drier finish. Several tasters call it an honest, unsweetened classic — banana bread, dried fruit, roasted wood. A few find it a touch thin or woody, but most treat it as a dependable everyday sipper.
The community says- Tastes unsweetened
- Balanced and easy
- Less suitable for: Fans of sweet, syrupy, high-complexity rums
Offers & prices
View price history
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10 more payment methodsLive auctions
Offers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
Auction results: 78 € (2 sales in 24 months, incl. buyer's premium, latest 11/2024). How the range is built ›
Buying advice
These ship to you
Yes, if you're after characterful, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does Mount Gay Extra Old XO Reserve Cask taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Dry, honest everyday Barbados sipper Widely liked as an honest, no-added-sugar Bajan classic — balanced caramel, oak and spice. Some find it a bit thin, dry or one-dimensional, but it's a trusted daily pour.
Aroma profilePeople wanting an honest, unsweetened Barbados sipper or Old Fashioned base
Fans of sweet, syrupy, high-complexity rums
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neatCocktails & mixing
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
79 of 239 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
239 community reviews
Rating scale & review checks
On RumX, 7 means “Good” and 8 means “Very good”.
See the full rating guideHow ratings are made and how we check them ›The website shows a selection of written reviews. The distribution also includes ratings without text. All published reviews are available in the RumX app.
38 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 239 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Most helpful positive review
This is definitely a Bajan style rum. Heavy and yet well balanced. This release is better than the one from 2011.
Review by Jean Louisss
Most helpful critical review
A little high quality-price ratio, but for a sweet rum, it does quite well
Review by Stefan Persson
Had just a sample of it, but I will definitely not hesitate for more if I get an opportunity again. The nose is round and pleasant with aromas of vanilla and chocolate. At the palate it’s complex, mild, balanced and spicy. The finish is medium long.
Review by Eugene227
It comes across as noticeably drier and more mature than many Barbados rums. Vanilla, roasted wood, cocoa, and spices are cleanly integrated and feel pleasantly natural. A solid, honest classic with a strong cask character and a very good price-to-enjoyment ratio.
Review by Galli33
This one a tried in a cool australian restaurant in frankfurt. Classic mount gay I would say, from the start to the end… Dried fruits, wood, roasted aromas, vanilla, coconut, tobacco and a bit spicy !
Review by BTHHo 🥃
The taste has notes of salted caramel, baked figs, cloves and dark chocolate. The aftertaste is nicely round and soft
Review by Benoit Mahe
A very round and greedy rum. It lacks a bit of character and complexity, that's for sure, but it remains a very nice product. Between the flan and the crème brûlée.
Review by Joachim Guger
Rum festival 09/20/2024 Banana bread, vanilla, dried fruits, and spices. Balanced, very well crafted. Probably something like the heart of the Mount Gay range. ❤️🥰 I had never had it before and was very positively surprised. Great entry rum with top price-performance ratio.
Review by w00tAN
09/22: Good evening with a good friend and a nice rum you really can't go wrong with. Nicely balanced, not too sweet with good spice and at a very reasonable price. If you have a bit more budget, I recommend the Triple Cask Blend, which I find even better.
Review by Johan Larsson
Very pleasant. Barbados feeling. Loads of flavours. Not too boozy and not too sweet. Just a very nice sipper
Review by Oliver
Easy Sipping from BarbadosToo thin. Could use significantly more alcohol.
Review by rum_sk
My first time tasting this old bottling of the MG XO. 👃 provides sweet tones of vanilla, caramel, burnt sugar, oak barrels and banana & coconut very faintly. Palate is fairly sweet with caramel, vanilla, chocolate, espresso, oak barrel tones and very lovely touch of spicy notes such as black pepper. Overall, very subtle and great sipping rum. I like this old bottling very much. I need to compare it with the new one as I have the bottle in stash too. I must say that if we are talking Barbados, MG is my brand to go to above them all. Disclaimer note: Used MG XO as a remedy after coconut flavour spirits comparison tasting. Love this old version of XO.
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
A bit too dry at first, when rested it becomes more balanced and enjoyable. Not too complex though. This is a first bottle of rum i bought a few years ago.
Review by Kieron Wood
This is a great starting place for someone looking at trying more expensive rums . Produced by mount gay I would never expect less then a clean rum that has lovely notes of caramel , suger and bannana.
Review by Henry Davies
It’s a super solid Barbadian rum. Just about mixable without feeling bad but stands up superbly as a 86 proof sipper. Lovely nose, balanced mouth feel and enough complexity to keep it interesting. Lacks the syrupy complexity of the Foursquare ECS series but when in the mood for something less complex and easier to drink it’s one of my go to rums (and one of the best Rum Old Fashioned base’s there is in my view)
Review by Renato
Very woody and rather dry
Review by Jonathan Paladino
Extraordinario Espectacular alto golpe alcohólico bien balanceado
Review by Alexander Rasch
Compared to the Triple Cask creamier and a bit more complex. A nice simple sipper that works excellently with Coke. One of my first sippers, so I was glad to still get a bottle. Shame this bottling is no longer available in stores.
Review by Johannes G
Absolute basic rum. No sugar and you can taste it. Really an honest rum. The aroma is slightly fruitier and sweeter than the taste, which is dominated by woody and spicy aromas. A pleasant finish follows. The Mount Gay XO shows how a well-balanced unsweetened rum can taste without a lot of frills. For me, it is one of the best rums in the €40 price segment. I hope the new master blender at Mount Gay Distilleries at least maintains the quality of her predecessors with her new XO, the Triple Cask.
Review by JonasTh
Very tasty. Round flavor, a little sharp. Smells good
Review by Surcoup Jean
A good starter rum. Industrial quality but affordable and of a good standard. Very pleasant with dessert. I find Oliver's rating rather harsh. A 69 but it's true that there's better. After a second or third tasting, I'm changing the rating to 80 because I think it's underrated 
Review by Jonas Kofod
Wood and spices. Sweetness in both fruit and caramel tones. Sweetness hits first and then it becomes very dry.
Review by pavlix vipax
Jemné, super, kratší koniec, nie pikantné, jemný dub
Review by Dominik Pröbst (xDomingueZ)
The Mount Gay XO (especially the black one) is praised everywhere, so I decided to get one myself. Now, on the nose it has very dark notes, which continue on the palate. The alcohol could be better integrated and is too strongly present for 43%. All in all, not a bad rum and okay for the price. However, I really can't understand the strong recommendations.
Review by Tyler Griffith
A fairly standard Barbados rum. It's smooth at 43%. Very sippable, could mix as well. I get generic fruit notes, heavy brown sugar/caramel. Solid offering.
Review by ChristophFFM
Dry, but too light and one-dimensional. Worse than the Real McCoy 12 I had for comparison.
Review by Julian Würtele
P/L top and round rum without added sweetness. This rum is not sweetened and therefore not as sweet as most other well-known brands. This is a unique selling point. However, this does not detract from the taste and the style is still in the same direction as you like it. Top!
Review by Hendrik Fröhlich
The rumiest of the Mountgay, more angular and alcoholic, sweeter on the finish.
Review by Benoit Bail
A casual rum that's easy to enjoy
Review by Johannes
A very good beginner rum!
Review by Trystan Taylor
amazing honestly
Review by JB
Advent calendar 2020
Review by oldenchild4
“Bourbon-Like” taste
Review by Charlotte & Richard
C not my fave. R Still prefer black barrel
Review by Richard Krupa
Paradni rum, no sugar, krasna vune and chut
Review by stojkin26
Silnejsi, ale velice dobrej
Review by Anonymous
Gently spicy
Review by KingChip
My first Mount Gay rum. I find it a bit harsh and quite woody.
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Expert reviews
3 critics scored it, averaging 7.9/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Zucker und Zeste
Read full review ›Overall very harmonious, multi-layered and very homogeneous. The alcohol is briefly noticeable in between, but this does not have a negative impact. A very nice rum for beginners and advanced drinkers.
Expert review by The Fat Rum Pirate
Read full review ›However, in my scoring I found personally found a little extra something in the Captain Bligh XO (not even a Bajan but very similar in style). Still MGXO come's very highly recommended. It is a beautiful well balanced classic rum. A must try This rum is available from
Expert review by The Rum Barrel Blog
Read full review ›
Mount Gay Extra Old XO Reserve Cask at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
579 bottles logged by 532 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
42% opened, 102 emptied.
What did the community pay for Mount Gay Extra Old XO Reserve Cask?
Community paid 28–56 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 42 €. Price history with 2 auction results in RX+ ›
579 purchased · 266 tasted · 282 wishlist · as of
Details about Mount Gay Extra Old XO Reserve Cask
A Pot & Column Still Rum from Barbados, distilled by Mount Gay, at 43%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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