The Best Rum To Enjoy This International Rum Day

If you’ve been sailing through the Caribbean, no doubt you’ll have had your pick of some of the finest local rums. Previously the poison of sailors and pirates, rum has come a long way from the inconspicuous bottles in brown paper bags and is loved by others than seafarers. Still, there couldn’t be a more appropriate tipple to stash onboard your superyacht and today we enjoy some exceptional spiced and sweet rums from around the world as sipping rum or in a selection of rum cocktails.

What are the different types of rum?

You get three types of rum, spiced, dark and light. The latter is predominantly used in cocktails whereas the former two are often sipping rums enjoyed neat or with a cube or two. That being said, dark and spiced rums are still great in basic cocktails that amplify their flavours. White rum is typically unaged or aged for a short period of time in metal stills, whereas dark rum is aged in oak barrels which gives it its colour and depth of flavour.

These are our picks of the best dark, spiced and white rums to buy now!

For those who love and appreciate fine rum, this new expression of the Havana Club Tributo is one to add to your arsenal and quickly, as it’s a limited release. This mahogany-hued rum has been set in spent French oak barrels for 25 years and delivers a duo of fruitcake and molasses on the nose, with vanilla and toasted nuts on the palate.

One to savour, this Venezuelan dark rum is a delicious sipping rum. On the nose you get an instant hit of sweet caramel and whispers of coffee while the palate provides an enjoyable caramel and vanilla profile with hints of jammy fruit and spice.

A warming, indulgent whisky that delivers notes of sweet cherry and dark chocolate, the sweetness of which is held in check by more earthy notes of leather and tobacco. This is a Guatemalan rum made from raw sugar cane rather than molasses and one to enjoy straight, with the option of a cube of ice.

A white rum for the cocktail fanatic, this is an overproof white rum to be enjoyed as a mixer. It has all the good, traditional flavours of white rum such as banana and vanilla, further enhanced with the right mixer. This is a fine choice for a great Pina Colada.

An excellent value sipping rum with tropical flavours, it’s smooth with sweet toffee and vanilla flavours on the palate while on the nose you’ll get a whiff of coconut and subtle spice. This rum is ideally enjoyed on its own, though it also works nicely as a richer addition to a Dark n Stormy cocktail, the recipe of which you can see here.

Reminiscent of evening bonfires, this gold-tone tipple has a rich smokiness to it which threads through from nose to palate. Toasted nuts and jammy fruit flavours burst forth with a gentle dusting of spice and a hint of chocolate to finish.

Black Tot is a blended rum from Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica. The brand is named after the last rum ration was issued aboard ships of the British Royal Navy on the 31st July 1970, a day known as Black Tot Day. This beautiful, rich rum is full body with a thicker texture to it. Enjoy flavours of toffee, chocolate and charred oak with a hint of blackberry coming through on the finish. 

It’s not every day you come across a clear sipping rum, but here we are. This unique, Japanese rum is crisp and sweet with smooth banana, enjoy it straight or as part of a rum punch.