Our Favorite South American Rums Under $50

Papagayo is a single-estate rum, craft-distilled in the Arroyo y Esteros region of Paraguay, an area famous for its cane sugar. The spirit is column-distilled to 94% ABV, then diluted and charcoal filtered. All Papagayo spirits are Certified Organic.

Colombian rum isn’t well known to the casual consumer, but there are several high quality expressions that originate there. Parce (slang for “good friend” in Colombia) is a relatively new U.S.-based private-label brand importing existing aged rum from Colombia, creating eight- and twelve-year versions. The Parce 8 is a blend of rums with a minimum of eight years in ex-bourbon casks.

This rum is distilled from what is referred to as “virgin sugar cane honey” or cane syrup instead of molasses like most sugar-based spirits. It is distilled in a combination of alembic and column stills and is aged in ex-American whiskey barrels for up to 12 years.

One of Brazil’s only female cachaça distillers, Katia Espírito Santo, oversees a sustainable distillation process that begins with the sugarcane that’s grown without pesticides and hand-harvested at her farm, Fazenda da Quinta in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The cane is crushed by a spring-fed water wheel and the fermented juice is distilled in copper pot stills. Avuá Cachaça Prata is rested in stainless steel tanks for six months before being hand-bottled.

Ron Cartavio was established in 1929 and naturalized by the Peruvian government in 1968. Ron Cartavio Solera 12 Años Rum is distilled in a combination of copper pot and column-stills and is blended solera style from rums aged 5-15 years in a combination of Slovenian and other oaks, including bourbon and sherry. The color is a brilliantly clear topaz.

Within the Tiki community, many recipes call for Lemon Hart 151, another rum from the same distillery. When the owners of Lemon Hart 151 ceased production (at least temporarily), demand for it spiked. Fortunately, rum importer Ed Hamilton, who was the U.S. importer of Lemon Hart, stepped in and contracted with DDL to create his own 151 blend. Ed believes this rum equals or exceeds the Lemon Hart 151 and includes older rums up to five years. No sugar or coloring is added. A lower proof version of this rum is available at 86 proof.

Santa Teresa’s flagship release is a blend of rums ranging from 4 to 35 years. The rum is further aged using the solera process, with four levels of oak barrels that had been traditionally reserved for Spanish sherry and brandy. The 1796 was first released in 1996 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the estate’s founding.

This Barrel-Aged Cachaça is made from certified organic sugarcane that is crushed within 24 hours of harvest at the Novo Fogo estate in Morretes, Paraná. It is fermented over 18 hours, distilled once in copper pot stills and aged for 2 - 3 years in Four Roses bourbon barrels that have been taken apart, sanded and lightly re-toasted. Fun fact: The distillery is built into a hill so that gravity naturally lets the cachaça travel from fermentation to distillation to barreling to bottling.

El Dorado has been produced at Demerara Distillers Limited since 1992 on Guyana. The 15 Year is a blend of aged demerara rums, some as old as 25 years, made in different styles of stills - Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills, Port Mourant double-wooden-pot-still and Versailles single-wooden-pot-still. The rums are blended and aged in ex-bourbon casks.

This is the Venezuelan distillery’s flagship rum, called “exclusiva” as a tribute to their 18th century founder Don Juancho Nieto Meléndez, who was always in search of exclusive flavors for his rums. It’s a blend of 12 year old copper pot-still rums made from both molasses and sugarcane honey, aged in ex-bourbon barrels.