See full version: The best rum (2021): 28 rum brands put to the ultimate drinking test
Another spiced rum that is better than its non-spiced variant - Pirate's Grog is a tasty, golden rum with hints of vanilla and all spice. It's not too sweet but there's a subtlety there. Everything has been matured in American oak, bourbon barrels for five years which seems to add to the smoothness.
Partly because it’s one of the most affordable rums out there but also due to its clean and crisp profile with some subtle flavours in the background including citrus, oak and a nice sweetness.
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When a rum has won no less than seven golds at the Carribean Rum Taste Test you know you’re onto a winner, quite literally.
The taste of rum is a sweet kiss from a far off land. There’s a little sand, salt, and sea in every bottle — reminders of the spirit’s long history with pirates, navies, and centuries of exploration (and brutal colonization). It’s the upcycled outcome of the sugar industry, discovered when African slaves were given the byproduct of sugar production — molasses. They used the dark gooey substance to ferment a mash and then distilled the product into a very strong spirit nicknamed Kill Devil or rum.
Over time, rum became so popular that the Royal Navy of Britain adopted it as their daily drink ration, a tradition that lasted from 1655 to 1970. Rum became the drink of the American colonies too, and a cornerstone of the American economy. The need for labor to grow and process the sugarcane fueled the Caribbean slave trade — a tragic twist of fate — with casks of rum serving as the currency to trade goods, services, and human lives. here
Over the years, rum became more defined. Today we have light, dark, golden, overproof, spiced, and flavored rums. The light rums tend to be those that are either aged for an extremely short amount of time or aged in steel tanks so that they remain largely clear. There are also rums made from sugar cane juice directly. These are your cachaças, charanda, aguardientes, and rhum agricoles. Vital spirits all, but we’ll leave them for now.
Barrell Bourbon consistently sources and blends excellent bourbon from distilleries around the country. A few years ago, the company got into the rum game as well and has released a few different expressions. Perhaps the most interesting is called Tale of Two Islands: this Jamaican pot still rum was aged for eight years in Jamaica before being finished in Islay whiskey casks, adding a nice layer of smoke to the spirit’s funky sweetness.
Region: Jamaica | ABV: 66.4% | Tasting Notes: Smoke, Tropical Fruit, Grapefruit
This is a blend of Dominican column still rum with Jamaican pot still rum, with no sugar, color, or flavor added. Ten To One takes great pride in these last points, with the MO of the brand being all about bringing high-quality rum at an affordable price that doesn’t try to augment or mask the true character of the spirit. [links]
Courtesy of Reservebar.com here
Though not an officially recognized category, dark rum is aged rum that is dark in appearance from the time spent in a barrel interacting with wood. Of course, there might be caramel coloring or molasses in the liquid to darken the color, too. Plantation rum makes a great dark rum with just a bit of caramel color. Given its French ownership, the rum gives off a distinctly French twist—Xaymaca Special Dry is a blend of Jamaican pot still rum aged for one to three years in Jamaica, then another year in cognac casks in France.
A lot of great rum comes from Barbados, and Mount Gay is a stellar example of this. Master blender Trudiann Branker recently made some significant changes to the Black Barrel expression: it’s aged for three to seven years, has a bit more pot still distillate in the blend, and the finish in heavily charred ex-bourbon barrels increased from one to six months, resulting in an even more flavorful rum. more
This is a limited edition dark rum with roughly 7,000 bottles produced by a world-class rum blender. If you are a true enthusiast, it's worth seeking out a bottle before they sell out.
A catastrophic fire at the distillery destroyed its wood fermentation vats in addition to all the freshly distilled spirits, sparing the stills. After spending eight years in a dormant state, the distillery reopened in July 2017. Thus, Plantation Jamaica HJC 1996 (56.2% ABV and 345g/hlap ester rate) and Plantation Jamaica ITP 1996 (54.8% ABV and 386g/hlap ester rate) were both poured into 2,000 bottles each at cask strength for a double-aged delight. Spending 21 years in bourbon barrels followed by a year in France inside Ferrand casks, these unique vintage rums are packaged in colorful art by Jamaican fine artist Troydel. here
The last option on our list of the best dark rums is of extraordinarily high quality. Smooth-sipping Nicaraguan Flor De Caña rum ages for 25 years in bourbon barrels covered in plantain leaves – nothing added. Just pure nature at work, delivering an ultra-premium rum beneath the San Cristobal Volcano, active to this day.
Best sipped on the rocks, rum aficionados can also consider that this is among the first in the world to operate as a Fair Trade certified spirit, complying with 300+ labor, social, and environmental standards. The company also supports the community by contributing proceeds from every sale to improving life for workers and families. Life is good, especially when sipping on one of the best premium dark rums in the world.