Jamaican Rums We Love

From the entry level of Appleton Estate rums made in Nassau Valley, St. Elizabth, this is a blended rum comprised of both column-still and pot-still rums. It's aged for an unspecified amount of time, then filtered for clarity.

Appleton Estate is produced in the heart of Nassau Valley, St. Elizabeth, dating back to at least 1759. This release is a blend of column-still and pot-still rums which are aged for an undisclosed amount of time in former Jack Daniel's barrels.

Among the oddest of spirit names, Screech is Jamaican rum imported and bottled in Newfoundland, of all unexpected places. The northern Canadian province has a long tradition of sending boats loaded with salted cod to the Caribbean, returning full of bulk rum to be bottled and sold throughout Canada. The Screech name has a murky backstory involving the yelp an unsuspecting sailor made after consuming rum of very dubious quality. Thankfully, Screech is much less of a gamble these days.

Highly regarded U.K. independent rum bottler Mezan now exports some of their gems to the U.S. The first wave of releases includes the Jamaica XO, a blend of rums from several distilleries, and with no age statement other than an XO designation. It’s created in batches of 5000, and batches may vary in their source rum ratios. After blending, the Jamaica XO undergoes additional aging in used American oak barrels. There’s no sugar or coloring added to this rum, a hallmark of the Mezan lineup.

Monymusk Plantation is part of the National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) Group and now an official member of Authentic Caribbean Rum (ACR) authority. Special Reserve is a blend of rums produced at the Monymusk plantation in Jamaica. Before selection, they are individually aged in charred oak barrels.

Selected and imported by MinistryOfRum.com founder Ed Hamilton, this black rum is a blend of extra light, light and heavy pot-still rums. The molasses used is from sugar grown on the Worthy Park Estate where the rum is distilled. Located 1,200 feet above sea level, the distillery is situated in the Vale of Lluidas, and produces mostly bulk rum.

Coruba Dark is a staple in the field of tropical mixology. Inexpensive, assertive, and funky, it would be difficult to miss in most mixed drinks. Coruba is often used to provide a "bottom end" in tiki drinks, and manages to stand up to strong citrus flavors. It is a blend of pot and column still rum that's been aged at least two years in American oak barrels.

Blackwell Rum is the creation of Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and a pioneer in the music industry. Blackwell helped bring the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh to the international stage and has joined forces with Joy Spence (master blender for Appleton Estate) to revive an old family recipe. Incidentally, his mother's family previously owned Appleton Estate and J. Wray & Nephew. Pot and column distilled rums are aged in American oak barrels for 18-24 months.

J Wray & Nephew is a renowned overproof rum produced in Kingston, Jamaica weighing in at 126 proof. Wray & Nephew, as it's known behind bars, is not only a very popular spirit in its home country, but is also the top-selling high-strength rum in the world. It is produced from a combination of both pot and column distillations of a 30 hour fermentation of sugarcane molasses wash and proprietary house yeast.

Myers's Rum, named for founder Fred L. Myers, has been produced in Jamaica since 1879. This molasses-based dark rum is a blend of up to nine rums made in both continuous and pot stills. It's aged up to four years in ex-bourbon barrels.