Gift Worthy Rum Picks Under $250

Denizen Vatted Dark Rum is a blend of dark rum from Guyana (80% of of the blend) and unaged rhum agricole from Martinique (20% of the blend). The Guyana rum portion is made from three different rums: 25% was distilled in French Savalle and Wooden coffey stills then it aged in ex-bourbon barrels, 25% was unaged wooden pot still rum, and the remaining 50% was dark unaged wooden pot still rum. Denizen Vatted Dark Rum is bottled at 100 proof.

Goslings Papa Seal Single Barrel Bermuda Rum is a limited edition release available in the US beginning fall 2018. The rum is a blend of column and pot still rums distilled from molasses. This single barrel rum is aged for 15 years in once used bourbon barrels with a medium char. This Papa Seal release comes from 12 selected barrels which yielded 2592 bottles. Each bottle will display both the barrel and bottle number as well as the bottling date. Due to the nature of single barrel releases, slight variances in flavor are to be expected.

Announced in April 2019, Distillery Collection No. 3 Pot Still Rum is the third and final release in this limited edition series from Ron Diplomático. This collection is named for the various types of stills used by the brand to produce its rums. The copper pot still, a non-continuous or batch distillation vessel, was first brought to the distillery in 1959. This rum matured in American oak barrels which previously held bourbon and whisky. Each bottle is numbered with the date of distillation listed.

Appleton Estate, located in Nassau Valley in the parish of St. Elizabeth, has been producing rum on the 11,000 acre estate since 1749. The sugarcane varieties are estate-grown and the yeast used in fermentation is a proprietary strain. Both column and pot stills are used in its production. For this bottling, the rums are aged for at least 21 years in American oak. They are blended and bottled at 86 proof.

Released December 2018, Foursquare Empery is the ninth mark (release) in the brand's Exceptional Cask Series. It is a single blended rum, meaning it is made at one distillery (Foursquare) and is a blend of both column and pot still rums. In this case, Empery is a blend of two different 14 year-old rums. The first is aged for the full 14 years in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fill ex-bourbon. The second is aged for just 10 years in these aforementioned barrels with its final 4 years aged in ex-oloroso sherry. Bottled at 56% ABV with no added sugar or other additives.

Mount Gay Pot Still Rum is the second release from the brand's Master Blender Collection following 2018's XO Peat Smoke Expression. It is the first limited edition release from newly appointed master blender Trudiann Branker. She selected rums distilled in 2009 that were distilled exclusively in the distillery's double retort pot stills. The rums in this batch aged for 10 years in American oak. Then Branker finished the rum in first-fill ex-whiskey barrels. Bottled at cask strength of 48% ABV. Available beginning October 2019. Only 4920 bottles were produced with 1002 of them designated for the US market.

The number "7" on the Banks bottle does not signify this rum's age, rather it is the number of lands from which it is sourced. Twenty-three different rums from eight distilleries are sourced from 7 locations: Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Guatemala, Panama and Java. Bottled at 43% ABV.

Announced February 2019, this Pusser's 15 Year rum replaces the previous 15 Year iteration from the brand. That version used a column-still rum from Trinidad which is no longer available to Pusser's. As a result, this rum has been reformulated to use rums exclusively from Guyana. In addition, the bottle has been updated and repackaged to showcase its new formula.

Flor de Caña was founded in 1890 near the base of San Cristóbal Volcano, the highest and one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua. The brand's rums are produced from molasses from estate-grown sugarcane. American white oak barrels formerly used to age bourbon are used to age the rum. The 18 listed on the bottle isn't an age statement, but rather indicates an average of the rums used.

This is one of two bottlings released for Plantation's Extrême No. 3 Collection. Both bottlings were distilled in Jamaica at the famed Long Pond Distillery in 1996. The distillery offers different styles, or marques of rums which range from lightest to most intense. This ITP bottling offers an ester rate of 386g/hlap and is said to have "notes of very ripe tropical fruit." It aged for the first 21 years in Jamaica in former bourbon barrels then for its final year in France in Ferrand casks. Bottled at cask strength.