It was only a decade ago when good rums weren't readily available for most people. Liquor store shelves were populated with subpar labels that had somehow become popular mainstream — no doubt from a lack of variety — and rum became regarded as a bottom-shelf spirit by the masses.
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Foursquare ECS Mark XXI 2010 Rum Read More
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Flor de Caña 4 Extra Seco Rum Read More
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Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum Read More
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Ron del Barrilito 3 Star Rum Read More
Well, times have changed, and we're now in the midst of a rum renaissance with countless quality brands and bottles from around the world (but mostly from the Caribbean) vying for a spot on your bar cart. We've curated a list of the top bottles while also seeking input from some of the rum world's foremost experts, so read on to discover the best rums to buy.
How We Tested
Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's got to drink all the rum. For this guide, we relied on our team's many collective years of enjoying rum and familiarizing ourselves with the top brands and hidden gems — which includes sampling everything we can get our sugarcane spirit-loving hands on. We also called in a pair of run experts in Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and Ed "Minister of Rum" Hamilton, who lent a hand in some bottle recommendations in the case of the former and gave tips on what to look for in a good rum in the latter.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
Best Overall Rum
- Proof: 86
- Country of Origin: Barbados
- Tasting Notes: Tropical fruit, vanilla, oak
Our pick for best overall rum is rich and flavorful, moderately priced, full of rum character and just as delicious sipped as in a cocktail. "I continue to be impressed by Foursquare Distillery of Barbados, which does delicious, scrupulously honest work — no in-cask doping with sugar or flavor extracts or wood chips," says author, restauranteur and cocktail historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. "Their Doorly’s 12-Year-Old and XO releases have become my go-to sippers. Plus, both are surprisingly affordable."
Best Upgrade Rum
- Proof: 120
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Country of Origin: Barbados
- Tasting Notes: Baking spice, pineapple, caramel
Foursquare's Exceptional Cask Series (ECS) have sometimes been referred to as “the Pappy of rum” due to their combination of quality, rarity and hype. But even without the hyperbole, this stuff is about as good as it gets. The celebrated distillery is helmed by fourth-generation trader and distiller and renowned rum advocate Richard Seale. This formidable cask strength expression, "Mark XXI," is a pot and column still blend aged separately in ex-Bourbon barrels for 12 years before marrying in the bottle. It's exceptional, but any of the ECS bottles — which are released periodically in limited "Mark" runs — are worth seeking out.
Best Budget Rum
- Proof: 80
- Country of Origin: Nicaragua
- Tasting Notes: Orange, chocolate, apple
This bargain-priced Nicaraguan refresher opens with a nuanced bouquet of almond butter, vanilla, and orange blossoms followed by crisp green apple, orange and chocolate on the mid-palate. It’s versatile and reliable and an excellent go-to for warm-weather cocktails like mojitos, punches and daiquiris.
Best Jamaican Rum
- Proof: 114
- Country of Origin: Jamaica
- Tasting Notes: Caramelized banana, overripe tropical fruit, brown sugar
This rum brings the funk. Jamaican rums are routinely noted for having "funk," which can be hard to describe but is a result of their high esters. But one sip of Smith & Cross and you'll immediately understand what every rum aficionado is talking about. Debuting in 2009 as a throwback to the then-extinct Jamaican rums used to create the tiki drinks of the mid-twentieth century, Smith & Cross is pot-stilled, bottled at navy strength and is one of the most flavor-packed spirits you're likely to come across.
Best Puerto Rican Rum
- Proof: 86
- Country of Origin: Puerto Rico
- Tasting Notes: Christmas pudding, rum balls, molasses
Cheap Puerto Rican rum is a dime a dozen (almost literally), but it's worth it to throw in a few extra bucks to get something special. Ron del Barrilito has been around since 1880, and its excellent 3 Star sits in the middle of its range. This is an golden rum aged between 6 and 12 years in Oloroso sherry casks, and as a result is bursting with sweet and rich flavors reminiscent of rum-soaked holiday treats.
Best Demerara Rum
- Proof: 80
- Country of Origin: Guyana
- Tasting Notes: Smoky, brown sugar, caramel
As previously mentioned, all Demerara rum comes from Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), but the brand arguably saves its best stuff for its own El Dorado label. The 12-year is perhaps the best bargain in the rum world, as this aged juice has complex layered flavors of brown sugar, honey and a distinct smokiness typical of Demerara rum. The unique taste is due in part to time spent in DDL's EHP Wooden Coffey Still, the only working wooden column still in the world.
Best Rum Agricole
- Proof: 80
- Country of Origin: USA
- Tasting Notes: Grassy, herbal, apple
Most rum agricole, which is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice as opposed to molasses like most other rums, comes from former French colonies like Martinique. But it doesn't have to, as this earthy flavor bomb from Hawaii proves. "This crisp, grassy, herbaceous white rum is a 'farm to bottle' affair, distilled from fresh-pressed Hawaiian heirloom sugar cane grown in volcanic soil on the slopes of the Big Island," says Berry. "It’s the perfect base for a ti punch, or just by itself on the rocks." If you prefer to go the traditional French route with a rhum agricole, Hamilton recommends the brands La Favorite and Neisson from Martinique, as well as Bologne from Guadeloupe.
Best Overproof Rum
- Proof: 151
- Country of Origin: Guyana
- Tasting Notes: Black pepper, salted caramel, bitter citrus
151-proof rums from Guyana are an entirely different animal than that kerosene-like Bacardi 151 you had in college. It's incredibly flavorful and actually improves cocktails rather than simply overpowering (or destroying) them. Lemon Hart's is a classic and a key fixture in many tiki cocktails. It's loaded with salted caramel, fruity esters, baking spices, bitter citrus peel and a heaping spoonful of black pepper. It’s perfect for adding heat, dimension and depth to any number of mixed drinks. It can be hard to find though, so you can substitute Hamilton 151 if that's easier to find. It's just as good and is distilled at the same place (DDL, the only distillery in Guyana).
Best White Rum
- Proof: 80
- Countries of Origin: Jamaica, Dominican Republic
- Tasting Notes: Jasmine, white pepper, lemongrass
A newcomer to the rum scene, debuting in 2018, Black-owned Ten To One has quickly put far older brands on notice by scooping up numerous awards, including the Platinum Medal for Best Rum at the 2022 LA Spirits Awards. The brand is the brainchild of Marc Farrell, the Trinidadian former Starbucks vice president who counts MIT, Harvard and Cambridge as his alma maters. Farrell's goal was to change America's perception of rum as a lower-quality spirit, and Ten To One's unique white rum is a blend of column still rum from the Dominican Republic and pot-stilled Jamaican rum with no additives, resulting in an unusually flavorful light rum.
Best Dark Rum
- Proof: 93
- Country of Origin: Jamaica
- Tasting Notes: Ripe bananas, spice, caramel
Ed Hamilton, AKA the Minister of Rum, is one of the world's foremost experts on the sugarcane-derived spirit (as evidenced by the considerable knowledge he shares further down in this guide), and for years he's been using that knowledge to blend and bottle some of the world's finest rums under his own Hamilton label. Among his best efforts is this, a throwback take on a Jamaican dark rum. It's a blend of several different pot-stilled rums from the island nation's Worthy Park Estate, which traces its history to 1670, and it derives its rich color from the addition of double-strength black sugar-based caramel (all black rums receive their color from additives). For a lighter option, you can opt for the Hamilton Jamaican Gold. Both rums come from the same distillate, and Hamilton himself — who values transparency above all else — has said their color is the only discernible difference.
Best Gold Rum
- Proof: 86
- Countries of Origin: Guatemala, Barbados, Jamaica, Panama, Guyana, Indonesia, Trinidad
- Tasting Notes: Cinnamon, apple, tropical fruit
Gold rum or amber rum is perhaps the most meaningless label in all of rum. Typically with spirits, color implies aging, and while that's partly true in rum, rums also often have color added to them. So for our golden rum, we're not going with an aged rum, but rather a golden-hued, medium-bodied rum that plays nice in a variety of cocktails. And for that, we're taking Banks 7 Golden Age. In true Banks fashion, it's an over-the-top blend combining 23 rums from a whopping seven countries. It's dry and complex, with some added depth thanks to the blend's inclusion of Javanese batavia arrack.
Best Rum for Cocktails
- Proof: 80
- Country of Origin: Jamaica
- Tasting Notes: Molasses, nuts, citrus
A quality cocktail rum should always aim to strike a happy medium—dark but not too sweet, light but not too dry, bold but mutable, interesting enough to stand on its own but mellow enough to cushion an onslaught of sugar and acid. This entry-level rum from Jamaica's legendary Appleton Estate passes these tests with flying colors. It has just enough presence and flavor to add some dimension to your complex tiki cocktails without overwhelming other ingredients, and it's just smooth and inoffensive enough to work with light rum cocktails like mojitos and daiquiris.
Best Sipping Rum
- Proof: 118
- Country of Origin: Jamaica
- Tasting Notes: Nutmeg, overripe banana, clove
Owing to its old-school fermentation traditions of being fermented from airborne yeasts, this rum is full-bodied and bold, offering up the potential of rum can be, and why it should be a spirit you drink on its own. It's intensely rich on the palate and deliciously sweet on the nose. We wouldn't classify this as a beginner's rum by any stretch, but once you've developed your palate, few things are more enjoyable when poured over a single large ice cube.
Best Spiced Rum
- Proof: 80
- Country of Origin: St. Lucia
- Tasting Notes: Nutmeg, clove, orange peel
Believe it or not, not every spiced rum is terrible. "Almost every distiller makes a spiced rum, and they all richly deserve their usual fate of being drowned in Diet Coke — with the sole exception of Chairman’s Reserve," Berry says. "This spiced rum upends the usual vanilla-cinnamon-allspice blend with a welcome addition of nutmeg, clove and orange peel."
Best Top Shelf Rum
- Proof: 90
- Country of Origin: Barbados
- Tasting Notes: Raisin, caramel, oak
For the sixth release in Mount Gay's limited (and pricey) Master Blender Collection, master blender Trudiann Branker concocted a luxury rum that will win over the most diehard single-malt Scotch snobs. A blend of 20-year-old pot- and column-stilled rums from the world's oldest rum distillery, Branker finished the two-decade-old rum for another year in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The result is almost like an unpeated sherry bomb with a kick of molasses. Drink this stuff any way but neat and you'll be doing yourself a major disservice.
How to Classify Rum
"Rum classification is probably the most misunderstood aspect of the rum industry," Hamilton says. "Too many people try to simplify the most complex of all the spirits. Rum is made in many countries around the world, but the country of origin is only part of the story. Jamaica is known for its high-ester rums, but Jamaica also produces some very light molasses-based spirits sold as gin or vodka."
At its most basic definition according to the TTB, rum must be distilled from some kind of sugar product — either sugar cane juice, sugar cane syrup, molasses or other sugar cane by-products — at less than 190 proof and bottled at 80 proof. It can contain up to 2.5% by volume of Harmless Coloring/Flavoring/Blending Materials (HCFBM), which must be all-natural or not more than 0.1% artificial top note, and ... here's where things get fuzzy ... it must "have the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to rum."
"Unfortunately, for the consumer, more than a few producers simply ignore that last rule and bottle things they call rum that could easily be confused with cough syrup, muscatel wine or cotton candy," Hamilton says.
What to Look for When Buying Rum
To combat all this uncertainty surrounding rum classification, Hamilton suggests a few things to watch out for when seeking out a bottle of rum (yo ho ho optional).
Look for a Distillery on the Label
"First, look for the name of the distillery that produced this product on the label," Hamilton says. "In some cases, there is only one distillery in the country of origin, but the reality is that if the producer/bottler doesn’t tell you who distilled the bottle of rum in your hand, they don’t want you to know. And in more than a few cases, the producer/bottler doesn’t know, or care. A lack of transparency isn’t unique in the rum aisle of your local store, either. You don’t have to look too far to find whiskey, tequila, gin and vodka with no information about the distiller on the label."
Stick to Rum Brands with History
"Another clue to better rum is the producer’s website," says Hamilton. "Are they focused on rum? Or do they claim to make the best whiskey, tequila, etc.? As the interest in rum grows, more producers are clamoring to grab a share of the market without regard to the quality of their offering. The best products are being produced by people who have been in the business a long time. As I learned years ago while researching the Caribbean distilleries, rum wasn’t built in a day," Hamilton says.
Avoid Fancy Bottles
"Small producers with fancy, embossed bottles are another clue I use to gauge the quality of the contents," Hamilton says. "Custom bottles are expensive, especially in small quantities for new bottlers, so it is almost always a given that the producer spent more on the bottle than the product in the bottle."
Be Aware of Added Sugar
"In the early 2000s, the US was introduced to sweet rums from Guatemala with dubious age statements. The age statements have gotten more accurate while the sugar levels have continued to vary, making the sweetness factor in rum a moving target," Hamilton says. "Rums from other big producers have also varied in sweetness from added sugar though the trend seems, I hope, to be toward lower added sugar. Sometimes, a bit of sugar is added to enhance the drinkability of a rum; in other cases, sugar is added to cover shortcomings in the distillation and/or aging regime."
Rum Terms to Know
Overproof: Rum bottled at more than 50 percent ABV (or 100 proof).
Column Still: One of two basic rum distilling methods employed since the 19th Century. Setups typically consist of two tall, stainless steel tubes filled with metal plates that extract impurities from heated alcohol vapors as they rise through the system.
Pot Still: The older and more straightforward of rum’s two basic distilling methods. The typical setup includes a wide pot-shaped kettle topped by a taller, thinner gooseneck which connects to a condenser for trapping and separating heated alcoholic vapors.
Agricole/Rhum Agricole: French for “agricultural rum,” this is rum that's distilled from freshly extracted sugarcane juice as opposed to molasses. It is most often produced in the French West Indies, namely Martinique and Guadeloupe. Agricoles are often brighter, grassier and more herbaceous than their molasses-derived counterparts.
Demerara: Rums hailing from Guyana and its lone distillery, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). The name is a reference to the Demerara River and the sugarcane grown there, which is exclusively used for the rum's distillate.
Esters: Flavorful chemical compounds produced when alcohol mixes with acid during fermentation and barrel-aging. A rum’s ester quantity signifies the intensity of key taste and aroma components like bananas and tropical fruit.
