The Best Aged Rums

This expression is made from sugar cane molasses and distilled on Scottish column stills. It is matured up to 20 years in American ex-bourbon oak.

Colombian rum likely isn’t well known to the casual consumer, but brands like Dicatador are highly regarded in the rum world. Chicago-based Parce (slang for “good friend” in Colombia) is a new U.S.-based private-label brand bottling of existing aged rum from Colombia to create eight- and twelve-year expressions. The Parce 12 is a blend of rums with a minimum of twelve years in ex-bourbon casks.

This rum replaces the previous 15 Year expression in the core range. It is named for the Black River in Jamaica’s Nassau Valley, the source of the limestone-filtered water used to proof Appleton Estate rum. It is a blend of pot and column still rums, aged a minimum of 15 years. It is bottled at 43% ABV and available as of June, 2021.

The Extra Old was released to mark Alexandre Gabriel’s 20th anniversary at the helm of Cognac Ferrand. The Extra Old showcases Plantation’s oldest Bajan rum reserves, aged for 12-20 years in bourbon casks. The selected rums are blended at Château de Bonbonnet in France and finished in small French oak casks for 12-18 months.

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.

Panamá-Pacific Rum is named for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal and the rebuilding of post-earthquake San Francisco. Distilled at the famed Ingenio San Carlos (“Las Cabras”) distillery, the rum is initially rested in Kentucky bourbon casks for three years. Rum selections that are approved for an extended maturation are transferred into exhausted Tennessee whiskey barrels for further aging. Panamá-Pacific notes that the age statement reflects the youngest rum in the blend, not just a portion of it.

There are a few things that make Ron Zacapa XO Rum unique. First, Ron Zacapa rums are produced using sugarcane honey (fresh sugarcane juice is condensed and filtered) instead of the traditional molasses. Second, the rums are distilled at sea-level but they are aged in the town of Quetzaltenango at an elevation of 7544 feet. Thirdly, this rum is aged in a solera system using a variety of barrels ranging in age from 6-23 years utilizing ex-bourbon, ex-oloroso sherry, and ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The rum is then finished in ex-cognac barrels for an additional year. Note, the term "XO" is meaningless in the rum world, but is a hint/reminder that cognac barrels were used.

This is a blend of three different rums aged for 21 years in oak casks. Each rum used is distilled with one of Demerara Distillers' unique and historic stills - a 19th century wooden column still named "Enmore" (the only known still of its kind in operation), an 18th century single wooden pot still named "Versailles" (also the only known still of its kind in operation), and 18th century French Savalle column still named "Albion."

This expression is produced by aging rums in ex-bourbon American rum casks using a solera method. Some of the oldest rums are aged a minimum of 25 years, and the youngest around 5 years. It is bottled at 40% ABV.

Created by Miguel Barceló this anniversary blend is aged for 10 years in used American bourbon barrels. The rum is then recasked in Chateau D’Yquem barrels for two years. Each year the company allocates a small amount of this product to the world market.