July's Top Rated Rums

Although well-respected Scottish independent bottler A.D. Rattray is best known for their whisky lineup, they also dabble in rum. Having purchased a large supply of 1997 distilled rum from the now-defunct Caroni distillery in Trinidad, they’ve continued to age them and slowly release limited bottlings of ever increasing age statements--in this case, 16 years. They’re all effectively single-cask expressions, and there can be significant flavor differences across casks.

Bottled at 80 proof, this is a blend of aged Dominican Republic rums in a Jack-O-Lantern bottle.

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.

Bartlett Spirits of Maine distills their products in a German-made, copper pot still. Their rum is distilled from organic molasses and aged in French oak barrels for two years.

Registered as the first distillery licensed in New Jersey since Prohibition, Jersey Artisan Distilling was founded in 2010 by engineer Brant Braue and attorney Krista Haley with a desire to craft a truly exceptional rum in the heart of North New Jersey, and thus Busted Barrel was born. They create their dark rum from 100% Louisiana molasses the rum is aged 12-18 months in new American oak barrels.

Afrohead began as a rum blended by Toby Tyler for usage at The Landing Guest House in Harbour Island, Bahamas. Now, a cross-Caribbean collaboration has brought it to retail distribution, including landfall in the United States. The molasses comes from the Dominican Republic, the yeast, a proprietary strand from Angostura, where it's distilled, in Trinidad & Tobago. After distillation and blending, the rum is aged in used bourbon barrels, and is bottled in Barbados.

Cockspur rums are produced in Barbados at a distillery that has been operating since the late 1800s. Their spiced rum is a blend that is created using gold rum that was aged in ex-bourbon casks that is then mixed with "exotic spices."

Phraya (pronounced "prai-ah" and meaning "of higher rank") is a gold rum produced in the Thailand province of Nakhom Pathom. It's a blend of rums that have matured in charred oak barrels for 7 to 12 years.

Carta Vieja Ron Extra Claro is distilled from molasses before it is aged for 4 years in either American or Canadian oak barrels. After being aged it is filtered to remove all the color to produce to "extra claro."

This Mauritian rum has been around since the 1960's. This is a rum made from molasses and is column-distilled before aging between 3-5 years. It is charcoal-filtered to remove the color. The rum is available in the UK and other European markets.