The best rum 2020: 20 rum brands put to the ultimate drinking test The best rum in the world right now - from Caribbean to American and everything in between. here are many rum brands. To produce rum, sugarcane is burnt, harvested and milled for around 24 hours to keep it fresh and prevent deterioration. Look to Barbados, Jamaica, and beyond for bottles you wouldn't dream of wasting on Coke. Sip it neat or with one large ice cube to bring out other flavours of oak, vanilla, dried fruits and a spicy touch of cinnamon and ginger. Jonah Flicker is a freelance writer who covers booze, food, travel, and lifestyle for a variety of publications. The molasses, a thick, dark brown syrup, are then mixed with water and yeast to produce rum. Then, the aged rums are blended together and aged for another two months. Using this method, the rum is fermented for a longer period of time – up to a fortnight – before being distilled, bottled and sold. The 10 Best Rum Brands to Up Your Mojito Game. Don Papa is a premium aged, single-island rum from the Philippines, offering intricately detailed bottles with plenty of flavours to match. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. Everything Mount Gay produces is given the seal of approval by Master Blender Trudiann Branker and it’s hard to go wrong with any of the brand’s options. The brand has been distilling rum for more than 130 years and has a portfolio of excellent quality rums for every occasion. Expect notes of apricot, cinnamon, fig and tobacco as you enjoy this drink. Shop The Real McCoy From $20, reservebar.com. The brand produces its rum in Barbados, combining history, craft and expert knowledge into every bottle. We ought to see more special releases like this in the coming years. The sugarcane used is exclusively grown on the Appleton Estate and takes the title of the oldest sugar estate and distillery in Jamaica. The company is upfront about it (the website contains detailed information), which goes a long way in the spirits industry. Gone are the days of sickly sweet bottles of rum with an overpowering coconut essence; nowadays the focus is on new aromas, flavour profiles and a range of interesting distilling methods. Goslings offers a range of Bermuda rums and has maintained the title of Bermuda’s biggest export for a long time. The brand’s 50 Year Old offers an unparalleled tasting experience that’s believed to be the oldest rum in the world. It combines floral and fruity notes for a unique and distinctive aroma of banana, apricot and vanilla. Various bottlings are sourced from countries around the Caribbean, most of which are aged for a second period of time in French cognac casks. The dense, dark amber colour of the liquid promises quality and its nose reveals honey, molasses and soft spices. Don Papa distills sugarcane from the Philippines’ sugar capital, Negros, before ageing the liquid for seven years in American oak barrels. This single-vintage rum is aged for 12 years in ex-bourbon casks and offers a rich character with plenty of varied notes. Don Papa’s 10 Year is a limited edition release, offering a similar flavour profile to the original seven year but with a slightly higher ABV and a deeper, darker and richer taste. Also has a nice level of spice. Gold Rum: Sometimes mentioned as an “amber” rum, these rums are typically medium-bodied. From the cocktail-ready white rums to the elegantly sippable best dark rums, 2020 is the year to branch out into this spirit. However, there’s no legal regulation as to what makes a bottle a “reserve” and therefore both good and bad bottles of rum can come with this label. Try Rhum JM’s white rum to really experience how unique the spirit is, with grassy and earthy notes that complement this pleasantly dry, unaged rhum. Therefore, it’s easy to get lost when starting to explore the best ones to sample. The brand also owns the trademark for the Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktail – a highball made with dark rum and ginger beer, served over ice. The brand originates from Venezuela and is one of the biggest rum producers in the country. It has a sweet aroma of almonds and vanilla with notes of white chocolate and orange on the palate. These are rums that you should take your time with, the way you might with a complex scotch whisky. It’s an excellent all-rounder bottle for rum experts and novices alike, offering an adventure on the palate and plenty of complex aromas. Overproof: Otherwise known as “Navy strength rum”, an overproof rum is a spirit with an alcohol content that’s higher than 57.5%. Sleek and minimalist wallets carefully selected. Rum is one of the favorite alcoholic beverages with a worldwide following of party lovers. The Hands-Down Best Bourbon Brands in 2020, The Hands-Down Best Tequila Brands in 2019, The Hands-Down Best Mezcal to Drink Right Now. If you are looking for something with zero additives, you are in luck. It’s an intriguing, detailed rum with plenty of depth. This bottle of gold rum from the powerhouse brand Bacardi is a … Most recently, a 14-year-old rum joined the family in a release of just six thousand bottles. But add a little water if that seems a bit intense, and the flavors really start to shine. XO: XO stands for “Extra Old” and refers to rum that’s been aged in barrels for at least six years. There are currently three main expressions, aged three years, five years, and 12 years in bourbon barrels. It’s a family-run business that’s been passed down through generations right up until modern day. It’s easily possible to enjoy a top-quality rum for less than $50 and the same can’t be said for many other liquors. The Black Seal Rum offers notes of butterscotch, caramel and vanilla and comes in a deep caramel colour with red hints. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. That commitment to transparency appeals to many dedicated drinkers. Foursquare is another Barbados distillery known for making great rum, some of which is sold under other brand names. The brand disregards many practices favoured by larger companies, like sweetening, flavouring, filtering and spicing its rum, for favour of keeping honesty and purity at the forefront of its offerings. Unlike many other spirits that are limited to one geographic location, rum can be produced in many places across the world. In the past, it won the award for “best rum in the world” for five years running. This expertly-crafted spirit has complex flavours and rich notes of oak and vanilla. These rums are commonly found on the French islands but are rare to find elsewhere. Santa Teresa was the first rum distillery in Venezuela, dating back to 1796. The alternate method is to use the freshly fermented sugarcane juice, in a method called ‘rhum agricole’. The name stems from the Demerara river, home to the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) facility, rather than the type of sugar. Some brands finish their ageing process in Cognac or wine casks for a unique flavour profile. When choosing food to pair with the spirit, go for options with intense flavours. Best cask strength rum: Privateer Navy Yard Cask Strength Rum. It’s a bottle that combines rums aged for between six and 23 years. With its clean and crisp taste, yet incredible depth and body, white rum is the spirit of choice for many classic cocktails. Mix it into a Daiquiri, a Mojito, a Dark and Stormy, or even a Zombie for best results. It’s a spirit made from sugarcane and has been made and sold in countries ranging from Nicaragua to The Philippines, Barbados and India. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. And there are so many bottles to explore from Plantation, including a range of single cask expressions and vintage releases from countries like Fiji, Panama, and Peru. BACARDI Gold Rum. The brand’s rum is perfected by Master Blender, Joy Spence, the first woman to be appointed Master Blender in the world. The Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum is a four-year-old aged rum with vanilla, nutmeg, orange, clove and island spices. Here, we feature the world best spiced rum, best white rum, best rum for mojito, pina coladas and coke. The rum has 40% alcohol content and is priced at Rs 35 for 90 ml. Reserve: Often added to bottle labels to suggest a higher quality or especially premium bottle of rum. Mount Gay’s Eclipse Rum is a gold rum with a brilliant amber colour and a strong flavour to match. Many best rum brands are introducing new, higher-end, and more expensive bottles in their lineup. The brand started formulating rum blends in 1860 and created a full-bodied dark rum only a few years later. It’s aged for up to 23 years in a combination of American whiskey, delicate sherry and fine Pedro Ximénez wine barrels with notes of cinnamon and ginger. One of the most recent releases was the Double Aged Sherry Cask Finished rum, which adds another layer of dried fruit sweetness to the spirit. The most expensive rum: Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Rum. The sugarcane mixture is pressed to the point that all of the juice has been extracted before it’s fermented with water and yeast and then distilled. Sugar is sometimes added to the rum, and Gabriel compares this to the dosage used in champagne production. Although rum was never held in the category of sophisticated liquors such as wine or scotch in the ancient times, this supposed 'pirate drink' has now gained immense popularity among all the sections of society. “The best bang-for-your-buck rum is all sipping rums from the classic rum-producing regions of Barbados, Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Martinique. #9 of 10 Best Rum Brands of 2017 - Kinkynero Dark Rum has a golden color and comes in a tall slender bottle with a black top. Banks’ 5 Island Blend Rum does just that: taking a blend of five rums aged between three and 12 years from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana before adding Batavia Arrack from Java. Unlike some spirits, great rum can be had without spending too much. It’s the most expensive in the brand’s rum collection and has the most depth. No time to read through our entire list? Here are 10 of the best rum—and rhum agricole—brands, in all styles, to drink this summer. It’s made from three blended, triple-distilled rums that are combined and then aged for three to six years in charred American ex-Bourbon oak barrels. This is a drink that has a proof of 74. The brand uses an ecological treatment process to transform residual water into fertiliser for its sugarcane. A rum that deserves plenty of your time to fully explore. The best white rum brands we review today have been aged for just as long as the many dark rums. By Chris Martin. This rum is both rich and smooth, with flavours of toffee and smokey vanilla. Diplomatico aims to support its home country through its rum production by providing sustainable jobs and keeping the health of the environment at its core. Facundo offers a range of luxurious, high-end sipping rums that stand tall above many other brands. The rum in Black Seal is aged in bourbon barrels for several years, but that dark color is amplified by the addition of molasses from one of the distillates in the final blend, according to Malcolm Gosling. This is the world’s first smoked rum, and is infused with re-fractioned Columbian Arabica coffee. Bacardi isn’t among the best rums in the world, in our opinion, but it’s a safe choice if you want an easy to mix alcohol without overpowering character. The brand has a slew of different expressions, including an añejo consisting of a blend of rum aged from three to ten years, a couple of single barrel releases, and an interesting Vermouth Cask Finish that spends four to six weeks in Italian oak vermouth barrels after aging in American oak for five to eight years. Best budget rum: Flor de Caña 4 Year Old Rum Extra Seco. You can able to pick a suitable rum brand for you through this list. 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