Our Favorite Dark Rums

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.

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.

Bacardí Black rum is made from a blend of molasses-based, column still rums aged between one and three years in oak barrels that have been given a heavy char. The rum is then filtered through charcoal for additional flavor. The bottle depicts Emilio Bacardí, second generation owner of Bacardí who was a freedom fighter for Cuba and became the first freely-elected Mayor of Santiago de Cuba in 1899.

Kōloa’s dark rum offering is unaged and "enhanced" with additional caramelized sugars. Their rum, produced on the island of Kaua’i, is distilled in a copper pot still from crystallized sugar.

The Original Dark is a blend of Trinidad and Tobago rums selected by Alexandre Gabriel and aged in young American oak bourbon casks. The base rum is aged three to five years and is then blended with a more robust, fully-flavored eight year old rum. This blend is then aged 12 to 18 months in Cognac Ferrand French oak barrels.

Distilled in St. Croix, Cruzan's Aged Dark is a blend of rums made from imported molasses in a five-column still. It is aged in charred American oak for 2-4 years and is bottled at 80 proof.

The Diamond Dark Rum is a blend of rums from Cruzan that are aged from five to 12 years. It is made from imported molasses and aged in American oak. Hardy Nelthropp, Cruzan’s Master Distiller from 1959-2007 originally created this rum which was released to the market in 2013.

Mount Gay, located in Barbados, traces its roots back to 1703 and is known as the oldest rum distillery in the world. Black Barrel is the newest offering to the Mount Gay line of rums released in summer of 2013. Master blender Allen Smith marries double pot and column distillates that are first individually aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being blended and finished in heavily-charred oak barrels. It is bottled at 86 proof. Note: As of April 2020, this blend and label has been updated with the new version displaying master blender Trudiann Branker's signature.

This dark rum is blended and bottled at the Westerhall Estate in Grenada. It is aged for a minimum of 7 years and is bottled at 80 proof.

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.