For many, rum is an essential ingredient of the holiday season, a warm, tropical elixir that can get us through the best (and worst) memories that family gatherings have to offer. Some are reaching for an old favorite to mix up a batch of eggnog or coquito. Others are looking for that decades-old vintage to sip by the campfire.
Whatever your preferences may be, we've organized a list of 10 of the best rums around that should satisfy every drinker at the table. Bottles are ordered from cheapest to most expensive, with picks ranging from $26 all the way up to $650. Selections hail from Jamaica, Barbados, Cambodia, Texas and more, offering a full spectrum of the world's rum industry in any flavor profile you could imagine.
Coconut Cartel Blanco begins with a blend of unaged and one-year rum cut to proof with locally harvested coconut water. With no added colors or sweeteners, this is far from the flavored product that comes to mind when we typically imagine a budget-friendly coconut rum.
Pleasant aromas of sweet plantain and dried mango give way to a tropical medley of banana, pineapple and fresh sugarcane juice on the palate. The addition of coconut water balances out sharper vegetal notes, resulting in a perfectly balanced 46% ABV that goes down with ease. This is a great choice for cocktails like the Daiquiri and Piña Colada.
For those in search of a blisteringly hot Jamaican rum, look no further than Worthy Park Overproof. This moderately priced blend of cane juice- and molasses-based rums clocks in at 63% ABV, enough to light a fire and liven up even the drabbest rum punch.
The high alcohol content yields an oily mouthfeel loaded with spiced hints of coriander, lemongrass, coconut flakes and pudding. The finish, though spicy, makes more than enough room for sugary banana, blueberry and a hint of brininess that brings all the contrasting influences together. It's hands down one of the best overproofed rums on the market at its value.
Holmes Cay founder Eric Kaye teamed up with the podcast hosts over at The Rumcast earlier this year to bring this limited drop to market. The expression is a blend of lightly aged molasses-based pot and column still rums sourced from Lautoka, Fiji, brimming with all the funky and herbal characteristics that the country's spirits are known for.
The aroma and palate are defined by punchy notes of vanilla, grass, overripe fruits and flowers. The oak character is there, offering just the right amount of tannins and smoke without overpowering this decidedly sweet rum. At $50, you'll get great bang for your buck with this one, especially considering that the expression was limited to just 2,260 bottles.
This cuvée from Renegade Rum was distilled exclusively using sugarcane grown on the Dunfermline farm in Grenada. The spirit comprises a blend of pot and column distilled rums matured a neat 787 days before shipping off exclusively to the U.S. market.
The age shows through dark and juicy notes of red berries, plums and brown sugar that coat the palate. Spicier hints of clove and dried tobacco imbue a welcome complexity, adding up to the perfect treat for aged rum and bourbon lovers alike. It's hard to beat Renegade's outstanding collection of terroir-forward cane spirits and Cuvée Dunfermline shows exactly why.
Samuel Maverick Barrel Aged Rum ($55)
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San Antonio, Texas-based Maverick Distilling recently expanded its portfolio of whiskeys, gins and agave spirits with an inaugural barrel-aged rum. The expression was crafted from Columbian Panela cane sugar and molasses fermented in-house before aging for three years and 10 months in a charred oak whiskey barrel (a single, 30-gallon barrel hidden in the brand's subterranean vault, we might add).
It's classic rum through and through. Aromas of citrus combine with toffee, brown sugar and vanilla before the palate forays into a chewy mouthfeel loaded with sweet caramel and wood spice. For a toothsome taste of the Lone Star State, Samuel Maverick's rum won't steer you wrong.
Rolling Fork Wheated Wonder Rum ($100)
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Rolling Fork bottled a blend of four barrels produced at the Barbados-based Foursquare Distillery (more on them next) for this truly wonderful rum. The whiskey influences are plentiful; after aging eight years in ex-bourbon casks, the spirit was finished for over two years in 10-year wheated bourbon barrels sourced from Rolling Fork's rickhouse in Frankfort, Kentucky.
Caramelized orange peel and toffee pave the way for loads of almond, marshmallow, plum and milk chocolate. Those classically wheated notes play off a welcomely high 114.9 proof, making this the perfect fireside treat for the discerning spirits lover.
Foursquare's latest offering — full name "Exceptional Cask Selection Mark XXVI Magisterium Rum" — lives up to its overstuffed title and then some. The blend of 16-year rums was distilled in a copper double-retort pot still and twin-column coffey still before spending varying decades in ex-Oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon casks. Every step of the process occurred on-site at the brand's headquarters in Saint Philip, Barbados.
The nose opens with gobs of sherry influence; plums, cranberry and blackberry play ball against more characteristic notes of coconut and vanilla. The palate and finish contain much of the same, adding in a healthy serving of oak char and leather that remind you this spent nearly two decades in the barrel. It's rich, ornate and mouthwatering in just the way that you'll need to sip slowly.
This international collaboration was distilled at the Samai distillery in Cambodia using molasses made from locally grown sugar cane. After aging five years in ex-bourbon casks in its country of origin, the spirit was shipped across the ocean and matured for another three years at the Velier facility in Italy.
Bright notes of grapefruit, apple and vanilla delight the nose. That sweetness continues onto the palate, which mixes in a spiced character of cardamom, cinnamon and coriander that calls to mind a tasty Christmas punch. If you're hoping to explore one of the world's more overlooked rum-producing regions, this Flag Series bottling is a great place to start.
Mount Gay Single Estate Series 24-02 ($430)
[caption id="attachment_93615" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (Photo: Mount Gay)[/caption]
Mount Gay, the oldest continually operating rum distillery in the world, has secured another knock-out hit with its latest Single Estate bottling. Similar to the previous release in the series (also excellent), this expression was made from a single year's harvest of 100% sugarcane grown on the brand's estate in St. Lucy, Barbados. The end result features liquid from two distinct pot still distillations and is aged for an undisclosed period.
This was, by far, one of the most complex rums we tried in 2024. Sticky aromas of tobacco, anise, candied ginger and maple lept off the glass, followed by flavors of buttercream, white grape, tar and papaya funk rounded out by a black pepper- and pear-soaked finish. Excellent stuff, even if it costs a hefty $400.
Appleton Estate's long-running Hearts Collection offers a curated selection of vintages chosen by master blender Joy Spence and seasoned rum aficionado Luca Gargano. This year's release, simply titled 1998, was produced in copper stills before aging 25 years in ex-bourbon barrels.
This is heavy stuff, appropriately so considering its nearly $700 price tag. A deceptively light and herbal nose of honey, banana and dried mango leads into a thick palate stuffed with dark chocolate, vanilla and tons of citrus peel. The quarter-century barrel age is felt the strongest on the finish, which offers an intense burst of oakiness that lingers long after the last sip.
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