The Best Rums to Slowly See in the Summer With

Rum is one of the most underrated spirits going. It’s not just sailors’ grog, or an ingredient in a piña colada (we’ll come to that) – a lot of the techniques used are similar to whisky and, indeed, there are a number of fine rums that ask simply to be sipped from a tumbler, Don Draper-style. But while the varied styles available make rum amazingly versatile, they also make it fiendishly difficult to get to grips with. The techniques, ingredients, blending, location of origin, location of maturation, and so much more, all contribute to a killer spirit that deserves so much more than to be drowned in Coke.

So, what actually is rum?

Rum is made from sugar cane (either the juice, molasses or syrup), which is fermented and then distilled. As such, the Caribbean origins of the modern incarnation of the spirit are inextricably linked with the area’s colonial history. Whilst sugar had been used to make wines and medicinal tinctures for centuries, and across the globe, it was on the sugar cane plantations set up by the European settlers that the method we know today was discovered, by the slaves forced to work on them. The first rums there were recorded in the 1650s and, as the sugar trade escalated and spread, so did its alcoholic by-product, becoming a currency of its own. From the Caribbean, rums soon materialised across New England and South America, with Brazil proving another possible source of the spirit (this is also where Cachaça was developed: subtly different, it uses pressed cane juice and can only come from Brazil).

Disputes abound over the root of the name ‘rum’ (even more so than gin). Most people concede that it must have something to do with the term ‘rumbullion’, which refers to the raucous behaviour caused by drinking (also a reason for the spirit’s other nickname, ‘kill-devil’) but it could equally have something to do with the ‘römers’ that Dutch seamen would use to drink the stuff from. Looking to the sugar-making nations across Asia, there is a strong contender in the Malaysian ‘brum’ (fermented sugar cane, more like a wine) which is said to date back thousands of years.

How is rum made today?

Most Caribbean rum is made from molasses, which is the dark and syrupy liquid formed as a waste product of the sugar-making process from the sugar cane or sugar beet plants (some countries place restrictions on rum being from sugar cane only – it is certainly more common). After being fermented with water and yeast, it is distilled into a spirit and then matured.

In a few cases, fermentation can be natural, allowing yeasts in the environment to take effect on the sugar. More likely, producers will choose specifically cultivated strains of yeast and thus give themselves greater control on the resulting flavours, often to painstaking degrees of detail. Fermentation produces a sweet, low-alcohol wash (like a beer) that must then be distilled.

Distillation happens in either pot stills (the tubby copper ones traditionally used to make malt whisky) or continuous stills (composed of two or more columns, as used in the production of grain whisky), and often a combination of the two.

The resulting spirit is typically matured in wooden casks or barrels, and most countries require at least one year’s worth. Tropical ageing occurs in the country of origin, which tends to be of a warm climate; heat and humidity affect how the spirit interacts with the wood and oxygen to create deeper flavours and higher alcohol levels. It is not a fully defined term, but separates rums from those that have gone through continental or European ageing, at lower temperatures.

Less common are rums made with the juice of pressed sugar cane, which typically come from French-speaking Caribbean countries such as Martinique, Guadeloupe and, increasingly, Haiti. Also known as Rhum Agricole (literally, “agricultural rum”), the result is grassier, less sweet, and more representative of the terroir in which it was grown. Similar to Cachaça, it’s beloved as a sort of craft rum, since it is naturally purer in composition and quirkier in taste.

Types of rum

Rum’s flavours range from the light, bright and tropical (think pineapple, mango, vanilla, maybe a hint of spice – Bajan rums are a good example) to deep, dark and rich (chocolate, coffee, burnt sugar, even liquorice – give Guyanese rums a go). Whilst traditionally categorised as ‘white/silver’, ‘gold/amber’ or ‘dark/aged’, the broad spectrum of colours and flavours found amongst rums mean that some producers are trying to phase out that old terminology. And with bartenders keen to use the finest spirits to make ever better cocktails, it’s not always fair to pigeonhole categories into prescribed uses.

The bigger problem is that rum’s restrictions (or lack of, compared to the likes of whisky) have led to vast discrepancies in quality. Without having to state which distilleries a blend’s components come from, exactly how old the liquid is, or whether colouring or extra sugar has been added, rum can be prey to a bit of smoke and mirrors. As a general rule, the more information the bottle tells you, the better its contents are likely to be.

Navy rum harks back to the times when each sailor of the Royal Navy was allocated a daily ration of rum as part of his salary (a ‘tot’). Although other alcohols were originally used, rum was introduced by Admiral Edward Vernon in 1751 and continued until 1970. At first, half a pint was given to each sailor, but the occasionally unfortunate results of this caused him to reduce it and water it down to what became known as ‘grog’. Nowadays, a true Navy rum should be 54.5 per cent ABV (57.15 per cent ABV in the UK), and contain blends from at least two of Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad, all former colonies from where the Navy would have sourced its casks.

Spiced rum may historically have been the subject of derision for its addition of flavourings and sweeteners, but the tide is gradually turning as premium producers increasingly use natural and better quality ingredients to infuse their spirits.

How to drink rum properly

There are plenty of sipping rums out there, designed to be supped straight up. Maybe with ice. And maybe in a tumbler, but very possibly a snifter, like brandy, which you can swill in your palm. Look for interesting types of ageing – what sort of barrels were used? How long for? Was there a solera system involved? (A method famously used for sherry, of passing liquid through a set of barrels differing in ages and giving it time to rest in each, so as to imbue a more complex flavour).

Lighter rums mix well with the citrus and tropical flavours that you often notice in them neat. Hence the ubiquitous mojito (to white rum, add lime, mint, sugar/syrup and soda water) or holiday favourites like the daiquiri (hold the mint and soda from the mojito and serve in a swankier glass) and piña colada (add pineapple juice and coconut milk/cream).

Richer rums can be treated simply, as with the dark and stormy (mix with ginger beer and a wedge of lime), but don’t hold back with well-aged ones: swap with whisky to make a smokier old fashioned, or with gin to enliven your negroni.

And for inspiration, here are a few to try.

The Best Rums You Can Buy In 2021