A Beginners Guide to Rums...
And the differences between them
Whether you’re a Tiki enthusiast or just appreciate the art of making a quality cocktail, we all know how vital rum is in a home bar. But with a veritable raft of varieties available on the market how do you know what the differences are between them and why would you choose one over another?
Being a bit of a Tiki-phile, I have a fair few in my liquor cabinet(s) and when it comes to making a rum based cocktail I’m often found scrabbling around pulling out bottles left right and center, trying to see if they’re dark, light, golden, aged, spiced, navy proof or blended!
Then there’s the question of which country or island it comes from – some recipes are really specific about the origin! Does that really make a difference? Can a dark Demerara from Guyana really taste that different to a dark Jamaican rum? The answer is yes!
But don’t despair, armed with a little knowledge we can help you find your way around this particular rum minefield.
In this article we’ll give you the low down on:
- The different types of rum available, their countries of origin and which brands fit into which categories.
- Some tips on swapping one rum for another when the one you’re after has run out. There’s nothing worse than finding you have 5 different types but apparently none of them are suitable for the drink you want!
- And, most importantly
which 151 overproof rums should be used for setting fire to and which ones are more suitable for using in your cocktails as flavoring. - Plus, some bonus advice on the Top 5 Essential Rums needed for your home tiki bar.
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White Rum vs. Dark Rum and a few shades in between
Light Rum (also called Silver or White Rum)
Visually lighter and with quite a subtle flavour, most light rums are highly filtered, although a few brands don’t filter so these ones may have a little of the coloration still. Light rums (we’ll call them light rather than all the variations) are good all rounders, you can put them in your Daiquiri’s and Mojito’s, they don’t have a really strong flavour so can be good in fruity cocktails or ones where you want another flavour to shine through. They are also good for layering with another stronger flavoured rum.
Gold or Amber Rum
These rums can be either aged or not. If aged, this golden brown rum has a rich taste due to it being stored in wooden or oak barrels, making it fuller bodied and more characterful than its lighter counterparts. However, un-aged gold rums, particularly the cheaper ones will get their coloring from added caramel. Gold rums are quite mellow and not overpowering so you could easily replace a light rum with a gold. A Pina Colada is great with a golden rum!
Spiced Rum
You guessed it from the name… it’s spiced! And for every brand, the exact spices used are always kept secret. Caramel and vanilla flavourings are often added too. This rum is mostly gold in colour but can even be dark. Enjoy these rums neat or with a squeeze of lime and a soda of your choice.
Dark Rum
Dark in hue with a much stronger flavour than other rums, coming mostly from the abundance of added spices, they’re heavy in molasses and sometimes caramel tones. Kept in heavily charred barrels they’re aged for longer than most other rums.
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Navy Rum
A dark coloured blend of rums from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados, the heavy amounts of colouring can give these rums a bitter edge – they’re also very strong! Official Navy rum was always ‘over proof’, meaning its alcohol content was at least an eye watering 57.5% ABV. This was because during rough weather at sea, if the rum spilt on the gunpowder it would mean it would still catch fire when needed! Sailors would “prove” the spirits strength by pouring it on the gunpowder and then trying to ignite it. This type of rum is perfect in a Pusser’s Painkiller.
151 Proof
If the strength of the Navy rum didn’t make your eyes water then this one definitely will! The 151 proof equates to a whopping 75.5% alcohol volume, so go easy on this baby 😉
Used as a floater in several Tiki drinks, the right 151 rum can add a tasty layer to your drink, or, for the ones that taste like rocket fuel, what better way to use them than in a Volcano Bowl or a flaming Coconaut Re-entry? Just be super careful if you do use them this way as they’re of course highly flammable and if you expose the open bottle to a naked flame you could have an out of control fire on your hands in no time. Bacardi even discontinued their brand of this rum as consumers repeatedly ignored safety warnings and quite a few lawsuits ensued. You have been warned!
Gosling, Hamilton and Lemon Hart (to name a few) are all great brands that sell 151. Some of the cheaper brands can hit you like a throat punch from god, but if you get a reasonably priced one it can be surprisingly tasty and add a real depth to your drinks.
What difference does the region of origin make to the taste of your rum?
Why would you choose Sailor Jerry over Captain Morgan, or Bacardi over Cruzan? Let’s take a look at some of the unique qualities and the differences between rums from around the world.
Puerto Rican
This light bodied rum packs a little bit of a punch but isn’t very complex, it will build the alcohol base but not conflict with the other flavours in your favourite cocktail. If you have a Tiki rum drink that requires 2 or more rums, there is a good chance one of these is going to be a Puerto Rican.
These rums tend to start at a good price point and are great if you’re on a budget. There are both gold and light/white versions and either colour can also be aged.
Bacardi White Rum
Smooth and subtle with notes of vanilla and almond, this drink won’t dominate flavour wise so is great for classic rum cocktails such as daiquiri’s and mojito’s.
Caliche
An aged white rum, the name Caliche comes from a type of limestone that cements other materials together and is found in Puerto Rico. Their short fermentation cycle produces a cleaner alcohol and it’s distilled 5 times. The rum is then treated with a special charcoal blend to remove the colour built up during aging.
Don Q
A brand with a good range of light, gold, aged and flavoured rums. The gold version is a great classic rum with vanilla notes and enough flavour to punch up a rum cocktail. It uses a blend of rums aged 1½ to 5 years and is smooth and easy to drink.
Havana Club
White and aged versions are available – originally a Cuban rum but now made in Puerto Rico (see the infamous Bacardi / Havana Club war), the white version has notes of pineapple and banana with hints of vanilla and oak.
TOP TIP – If you don’t have a Puerto Rican rum you could use a Barbadian (Cockspur or Mount Gay) as they’re very similar, just a little sweeter – so maybe add slightly less syrup if your drink calls for it.
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Jamaican
Jamaican rum is ‘funky’ – a term used to describe the nutty, gamey, overripe banana/fruit flavour that comes from powerful ester notes in the rum. Experts even argue over what this ‘funk’ flavor tastes like, but although it’s a difficult flavor to understand, once tasted you’ll know what funk is!
Popular in Tiki drinks, Jamaican rums help to ‘amp’ up the flavour profile, but often a drink like this will also use a Puerto Rican rum to bring down the funk a little and help balance it out.
Coming in many colours, they range from very dark, to amber and even light. These colour differences can change the flavour somewhat so different cocktails may call for a variety of colour combinations.
Appleton Estate Signature Blend
A combination of several rums of different styles and ages. It’s vibrant, funky and pungent, complex, fruity and sweet with a hint of molasses and woody notes too. Appleton’s is a popular brand with many other blends to choose from.
Mezan
A robust flavour, carrying oaky, vanilla and even pepper notes, it’s a a very pure, natural rum that’s only lightly filtered and uses no added caramel colouring or sugars.
Smith and Cross
An aged navy strength rum, it’s medium bodied and intensely flavored, a popular rum within the bar world.
Myers Dark Rum
Using a blend of up to nine different rums, this pot stilled rum is a good price point Jamaican with LOTS of ‘funk’. All helped by the molasses that are used earlier in the rum process being added back in after distillation.
Wray and Nephew
An overproof rum that’s light in colour, but don’t let that fool you, it has a potent flavour and a hefty ABV of 63%. It’s big in the rum scene and is the worlds top selling overproof white rum. Use this in your homemade Falernum for a great tasting tiki elixir.
Plantation Original Dark Rum
A mix of Trinidadian and Jamaican rums, it’s rich and intense with notes of plum, banana and vanilla. These flavours are enhanced by blending and further maturation in France, making it a double aged rum which ends up with notes of cinnamon, clove and a slightly smoky quality.
Coruba Dark
Inspired by the dark planters style rums, this blend of pot and column still rum boasts that it’s 100% natural and 100% Jamaican. Relatively inexpensive, assertive and funky it’s often used to provide a ‘bottom end’ in tiki drinks.
TOP TIP: Ideally you would have a Jamaican dark, gold and light in your bar but if you can only buy one then an Appleton Estate (this is gold coloured) is a good all rounder to start with.
Demerara
A rich, smoky but sweet rum, with heavy molasses and quite an intense flavour, it has an edge of the Jamaican ‘funk’ to it. Dark brown in colour, it’s lighter than the Jamaican varieties as the molasses are fermented for a shorter time.
Coming from the Guyana South American region (formerly a British colony), both the rum and the sugar are named after their place of origin – the Demerara river valley – not because they share the same ingredients.
Lemon Hart Original 1804
A classic British style rum with a rich bold flavor and a smooth finish. It has notes of brown sugar, vanilla, cocoa, island spices and dried fruit.
Lemon Hart Overproof Rum
We had to give this 151 a mention as it’s called for by name in many of Trader Vic’s and Don the Beachcomber’s classic Tiki drink recipes. We have to say it’s pretty darn good – a rich flavourful rum that still has the sweet Demerara note to it. You could easily sip this one (unlike some 151’s) but just keep in mind the strength of it!
Hamilton 86
A blend of aged Demerara rums, this 86% proof rum (43% ABV) is a great rum for drinks that call for a Demerara. Rich in flavours of dark stoned fruit, smoky wood, burnt cane, treacle and brown spice.
El Dorado 12 Year Old
This brand has many different ages of rums in their collection, we like the 12 year for our drinks as it’s a great mid range rum and has the smooth mellowness of Demerara combined with tropical fruits and spice with hints of honey and dark sugar.
Skipper Rum
A full bodied dark Demerara, molasses based rum, it’s blended from 7 different rums and aged in ex-bourbon casks. Sitting at the lower end of the price scale, it’s a characterful drink with notes of burnt fruitcake, woody liquorice, vanilla and pungent molasses.
Martinique (or Agricole)
This rum is spelt RHUM and when a rum is spelt this way it comes from a French speaking locale like Martinique. Instead of being made from fermented molasses these rums are made from fresh pressed sugar cane, grown on the island specifically for the production of Rhum Agricole.
Once the cane juice is extracted it’s then fermented with yeast and distilled to produce its own unique spirit, thick in vegetal funkiness along with earthy/grassy notes. The rhum comes in shades from white, gold and even dark. Trader Vic used the intense flavour of a Martinique rhum alongside the extra funkiness of a Jamaican rum in his original Mai Tai recipe.
TOP TIP – If you want to try and re-create an original tasting Mai Tai but only want to buy one bottle of rum, try Denizen Merchant Reserve, as it’s a mixture of both Jamaican and Martinique!
Clement Rhum Ambre
A simple, fragrant, grassy rhum aged in oak casks.
La Mauny White Rhum
Un-aged, lively and grassy in flavour, quite raw, it goes well in a Ti Punch.
St James Rhum Blanc
This clear rhum has aromas of cut sugar cane along with floral, fruity and slightly peppery, spice notes.
Depaz
Aged in oak vats, it has hints of spice, wood and a slightly citrus note.
Rhum J.M. Aged
Full of warm gingerbread and raw sugarcane flavours, softened by hints of vanilla and hazelnuts. Matured in charred bourbon barrels, it’s one of our favourites when an aged agricole is needed.
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Bermuda
You’ve heard of a Dark ’n Stormy? Goslings are the company that hold the trademark for this iconic drink. Family owned, they were originally started by James Gosling who arrived on the island in 1806 on a boat from Kent, England. Stopping in Bermuda only because he ran out of money on his charter and couldn’t afford to take his wares any further! With their rums aged and blended on the island (there’s no sugar cane grown there or any type of distillery) they’ve dominated the Bermudan rum market for over 200 years.
Up until WW1, their black rum was only sold from the barrel, with locals bringing their own bottles for a ‘fill up’. Over the years they moved on to filling up old champagne bottles with it and sealing them with black wax, which later became their signature ‘Black Seal’. With their Black Seal Rum synonymous with the Dark ’n Stormy, they’re deeply ingrained with the island’s tradition and culture.
Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
Made from three different distillates aged independently and blended together, it’s rich, intricate and well balanced, with notes of butterscotch, vanilla and caramel. Deep and assertive it also comes in three proofs, 80, 140 and for the brave of heart 151 (which strangely, reminds us a little of Christmas puddings…)
Gosling’s Gold Rum
An amber rum offering, with a lighter color and flavor profile than Black Seal. Aged for around 5 years it’s robust and initially spicy, yet after a few sips it begins to soften.
Gosling’s Old Rum
Designed to be enjoyed on its own, it’s made from the same blend as their Black Seal and then aged for up to 16 years in premium bourbon barrels. The modern incarnation of their original Old Rum (the champagne bottles with wax seals) it’s also known as Gosling’s Family Reserve. Deep and dark, it’s a powerful spirit with an aroma of molasses, maple and caramel, with notes chocolate, bourbon and spice.
Haiti
A colony of France until only 1793, Haiti has nevertheless kept to the French rum making methods – the agricole way – directly from fresh cane sugar juice, never from molasses, harvested locally and quickly fermented to ensure its grassy aromas.
The rum that most people associate with Haiti is Barbancourt, who use a double-distillation method normally reserved for the finest cognacs, and claim to grow their sugar cane in soil the same proportion of lime and sediment as those of Cognac and Champagne in France.
However a quantity of the rum from the first distillation, drunk locally and known as Clairin, is now starting to be sold outside of Haiti for the first time. With over 500 artisan distilleries within the region (mostly small shacks dotted around the countryside), this strong, colourless liquor hails from an almost ancestral, unadulterated world of rum.
Rhum Barbancourt
Aged in French oak barrels from Limousin, they range from a sweet white 2 year old with a bouquet of mango, banana and honey flavours, through to golden 4 and 8 year olds, all the way up to to a 15 year aged Estate Réserve, often called the ‘Cognac of Rum’. Sip it neat.
Clairin
In terms of export there are two commercial options available outside of Haiti. The Spirit of Haiti has three distinct bottlings from three separate villages, each making the most of clairin’s powerful flavor, their differences accentuated by the type of sugar cane and wild yeast found in each region. And then there’s Boukman, who create a traditional herb and bark infused clairin trempè, designed to have a broader appeal it has a greater range of complexity and flavor.
TOP TIP – If you can’t get a Jamaican or a Martinique rum, you could use the Barbancourt 3 Star instead.
Barbados
Many believe that the origins of rum stem from Barbados during the 17th century, driven by the successful development of the sugar industry on the island. Plantation slaves discovered that a by-product of the refining process, molasses, could be fermented into a raw liquor known locally as ‘rumbullion’ (or kill-devil’!)
But it wasn’t until 1703 that Sir John Gay, an Englishman, set up the world’s first legitimately commercial rum business on the island, creating a brand that is now synonymous with Barbados itself. As well as Mount Gay, there are now three other main distilleries – West Indies Rum, Foursquare and St Nicholas Abbey (the oldest of Barbados’ plantation houses) – all contributing greatly to the melange of rums that come from this region.
Unlike many of the islands in the area, Bajans tend to favor drinking aged rums rather than their overproof cousins. With many owing their characteristic rich silkiness to the addition of plums to the mash. The best rum in Barbados? The one found in your glass.
Mount Gay Eclipse
Well rounded, golden in colour, with notes of fresh flowers, honey and tropical fruit. This rum was named for the ‘double phenomenon’ of a total solar eclipse and the passage of Halley’s comet in 1910.
Cockspur Five Star
A gently aged Bajan rum from the West Indies distillery, it’s buttery and uncomplicated, with a warm spicy oak taste. Ideal with a mixer, it’ll ease you into the world of rum.
Doorly’s XO
A dark, six year old blend of rums from Foursquare, finished in Oloroso sherry casks. With no added frills, sugar or spices, it’s an authentic rum that’s simultaneously smooth yet has a noticeable burn to it.
E.S.A. Fields White
One of Barbados’ most frequently requested rums it’s another that hails from Foursquare. Its smooth bouquet is apparently the result of a secret formula created in 1909 by Mr E.S.A Fields himself.
St. Nicholas Abbey 20 Year Old
The longest aged rum from this family run distillery in the north of Barbados. Rich and incredibly complex, with excellent balance between sweetness and spice. One of Barbados’s finest – make the most of it if you’re ever lucky enough to try it.
TOP TIP – If you don’t want to use a Puerto Rican rum you could substitute with a Bajan rum as they’re quite similar, just a little sweeter.
Cuba
A similar profile to Puerto Rican rums, Cuban rums make a good base for a layered drink. Light and especially pure, they’re distilled from molasses laced with specially cultivated yeasts and filtered repeatedly through either sand or charcoal.
Coming in 3 types, the lightest white rum is carta blanca (popularised by many Cuban cocktails we know today), whilst carta oro is heavier, often coloured with caramel, it can still be considered dry. And then there’s añejo, the pride of most distilleries, aged an extra long time and far deeper flavoured than the others.
Ron Cubay 3 Year Old Carta Blanca
Made from sugar cane molasses, distilled in a column still and then aged for 3 years in charred, American white oak ex-bourbon barrels, this bright, light rum is perfect in a Daiquiri.
Ron Caney
Aged in barrels ‘the colour of the sun bottled’, this family of rums (blanco, oro and añejo) has been produced in the same manner for the past 150 years, entirely in Santiago. Deeply traditional, they owe their particular fruity qualities to a type of mango found only in the local area.
Santiago de Cuba Anejo
A deep amber rum, aged in white oak barrels for 5 years, it has a nose of mocha coffee and molasses, with a taste of fudge and butterscotch along with nuances of ripe banana and oak spice. Not a sipper, but a great mixer and a brand the locals drink.
TOP TIP – If a recipe calls for Cuban rum and you’ve none to hand, you can always use a Puerto Rican if available – after all, Bacardi used to be Cuban before they moved to Puerto Rico!
US Virgin Islands
Cruzan
Their name comes from the islanders, who are known locally as ‘Crucians’. They’re the oldest distiller in the US Virgin Islands, with a sugar mill started at the current site in St Croix in 1760, the Nelthropp family then managed the distillery from the 1800’s onwards. Since then they’ve been an integral part of the island’s rich rum heritage. Offering a wide variety of products they’re most famous for the light distinctive taste of their white and golden rums.
Captain Morgan
Also based in St Croix, they’re a newcomer to the scene, arriving in 2010 – no doubt making the most of the distinct tariff advantage these islands enjoy in as part of the US trading community. The most popular of their brands? Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum of course! They also offer a huge range of rums from all over the Caribbean, including a Black Spiced Rum that is similar to Kraken but a little thicker, with more cassia flavor and less menthol.
Bones
One of a number of local artisans distilling rum in small batches and then oak barrel ageing. Named after ‘Captain Billy Bones’ in Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, ‘Treasure Island’, they use a centuries old recipe and bottle a number of rums on St. Thomas. One of the most popular is their Gold – sweet, rich and aged 4 years – it’s a medium bodied rum that’s all about the butterscotch and toffee, with notes of coffee, bananas and nutmeg, and a hint of smoke that helps balance out the sweetness.
Blended (Mixed) Rums
Blended rums are great, the layering of flavours are similar to what many Tiki cocktails are trying to achieve with their mixture of different rum bases.
Banks 7 Golden Age Rum
Comprising of 23 rums from 7 difference countries, it has notes of tropical fruits with a hint of spice.
Denizen Merchant’s Reserve
A blend of rum from 4 Jamaican distilleries plus a rhum from Martinique. Aromatic and funky, with fruity caramel flavours balanced by earthy notes.
Plantation 3 Stars
A blend of light rums from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, so it’s floral, sweet, with a little bit of funk.
Plantation Original Dark
Trinidad and Jamaican rum, blended to a dark funk, with molasses, sweetness and floral notes. Use it when you need an amber or dark Trinidadian or Jamaican rum.
Top 5 Essential Tiki Rums
Hopefully you’ve now got a good handle on some of the unique qualities and the differences behind the array of rums that are out there. The question is, what ones should you buy for your home tiki bar?
We’ll be covering this in depth in a future article, but as some immediate advice, we recommend a bottle of each of the following:
- Puerto Rican– A great base rum for your drink and perfect at building the alcoholic content up without clashing flavours with another strong rum. If you can stretch to two then buy a light and a golden one.
- Jamaican – These rums feature HEAVILY in Tiki, there’s no other type that has the funkiness of a Jamaican. It’s so hard to try and pick just one, but if you’re on a bit of a budget then Appleton’s is a good all rounder. Ideally though, if you buy a dark, a golden and a light you’ll have it all covered.
- Martinique – Although you might not choose this rum for sipping, the unique flavour profile it gives means it featured in a lot of Tiki cocktails, usually layered with a least one other rum. Either an aged gold or white Rhum is fine.
- Demerara – Smoky and sweet, a must have for many Tiki classics.
- 151 – For floating and adding depth of flavour – or of course for setting on fire in Volcano bowls and lime shells!
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