We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Rum is the rare spirit category where, for cocktail and punch making, you can use multiple types of rum to make a drink, and often make it better by doing so. With that in mind, we’d like to offer you some suggestions that for fantastic home bar rum. Grab one of each types mentioned, and you’ll have the booze tools to create a myriad of drinks. Let’s go shopping!
Light Rum
Also called white or silver rum, this rum category is often misunderstood. Many think that this category is unaged. However, most rums are aged for at least some time (in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic it is actually required). The color achieved after aging is filtered to present a clear product. Light rum runs the gamut from full-flavored to neutral; this all depends on HOW it is distilled.
If you are looking for something more neutral try these:
Bacardí Superior White
Havana Club Añejo Blanco
Don Q Cristal
For something with a little more oomph:
Banks 5 Island Rum
Denizen White Rum
Plantation 3 Star
Cocktails featuring light rum:
Daiquiri, Piña Colada, Mary Pickford, Mojito
If you have some brandy, you can also make a Scorpion
Overproof or 151 rum
Overproof rums come in handy by cutting through all of the fruit juices often found in tiki cocktails. This style of rum not only adds an added punch to your cocktail, but also (in some cases) allows you to incorporate fire to your presentation.
We recommend the following:
J. Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
Plantation O.F.T.D. Overproof Rum
Hamilton Guyana Overproof Rum
Cocktails featuring overproof rum:
151 Swizzle, Navy Grog, Zombie
Jamaican Rum
Rums from Jamaica tend to bring the funk to the party. These rums are fruity and very flavorful—some are dark, but not all. Far from shy, they are all about that bass—no treble.
Try one of the following:
Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
Coruba Dark Rum
Appleton Reserve Rum
Cocktails featuring Jamaican Rum:
Original Mai Tai, Planter’s Punch
Aged Rums
This style of rum often refers to rums worthy of sipping. While this is most certainly true, they also provide depth to cocktails. You can even use them as a replacement in some whiskey standards.
We recommend the following:
Doorly’s XO
Bacardí Reserva Ocho 8 Year
El Dorado 8 Year
Cocktails featuring aged rum:
Rum Old Fashioned, Old Cuban, Rum Swizzle
Rhum Agricole
Rhum Agricole is made from fresh sugarcane juice, not molasses (like the majority of rum brands). Sold either aged or unaged, it is grassy, vegetal and has a little funk to it.
Try the following in the cocktails below:
Clement VSOP Rhum Agricole
Damoiseau Rhum Agricole VSOP
Rhum J.M Agricole Blanc 40%
Cocktails featuring Rhum Agricole:
Mai Tais, Ti’ Punch
Rum Bar 2.0
Already have all of the above covered? Take your home bar to the next level with these variations:
Avuá Prata Cachaça for your caipirinhas.
Batavia Arrack Van Oosten for your rum punch.
Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum for your eggnogs.
Plantation Pineapple Stiggins’ Fancy Rum for your swizzles.
Ready to add some home bar rum options to your lineup?
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