Post #291571 by TikiJosh on Tue, Mar 13, 2007 1:06 PM

Bought a bottle of the golden sun this past weekend at my local Bevmo. Since it's from Barbados, thought I'd put it up against the only other Barbados rum in my collection at this point-- some regular Mount Gay Eclipse, nothing special. The two rums smell and taste very similar. There's a little bit of something like a brown sugar taste, and there's something at the end that I just couldn't put my finger on. I even made my wife try it, and she couldn't figure it out either. At first I thought maybe it was from some wood used for aging, but I find that unlikely, as there's no woody-ness to the smell. Whatever it is, it's intriguing, but definitely not worth the price tag. It's sort of a coat-your-tongue kind of rum--you'll taste it long after the shot's gone. I think it would probably be okay in a cocktail, but it's not on my list of rums for drinking neat. There are other rums in the price range ($30) that I'd much rather have for that.
Given the price, and it's comparable nature to cheaper Mount Gay rum, I'd say stick with the Mount Gay.
I don't think it's awful as I think only Porfidio is deserving of that title. Porfidio doesn't even mix well. My problem with the Tommy Bahama rum is that it's too expensive for something that isn't any better than a standard well rum. Side by side, it just doesn't stand up. I don't hate the stuff, but I certainly won't be buying more of it unless the price drops by about 50%.