The Best Fruity 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.

Launched in 2011 by the team behind The Bitter Truth bitters and liqueurs, this overproof dark rum is made from a blend of various rums from the Caribbean. These include unaged pot still rums from Jamaica's Hampden Estate and aged rum from Barbados' Foursquare Distillery. In addition, aged Trinidadian rum is included as well as unaged column still rums from Trinidad and Guyana. It's bottled at 57% ABV.

The Denizen rum lineup (tagline: Free the Flavor) is offered by New York-based Citizen Spirits and custom-crafted in the Netherlands by highly regarded rum blenders E&A Scheer. Citizen Spirits founder Nick Pelis says that creating the perfect daiquiri rum was his inspiration for the Aged White flavor profile. It’s a blend of Caribbean rums: Eighty percent from Trinidad’s Angostura distillery, the remainder from several Jamaican distilleries. Although labeled a “three-year-old rum,” significantly older rums are found in the blend alongside unaged rum, so “three years” is more accurately an average age. Before bottling it’s lightly charcoal-filtered to remove coloring.

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.

Five Origin Select is an aged rum made from rums sourced from five Caribbean nations — Trinidad, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Guyana. Included in the blend is Guyanese rum aged 11-15 years which were distilled on the lauded Port Mourant Double Wooden Pot Still. Bottled at 92 proof, there is no added sugar, coloring or flavoring in its production. Released in February 2024, this is a permanent addition to the portfolio. (SRP $64.99)

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.

Portland, Oregon, is a hotbed of startup distilleries. Eastside Distilling, launched in 2008, was an early pioneer, making a wide variety of spirits, including traditional and flavored whiskies and rums, as well as seasonal liqueurs, e.g. Eggnog and Peppermint Bark. The spirit basis of their flavored rums (ginger, coffee, spiced) is their unaged Silver Rum, pot distilled to 130 proof before bottling at 80 proof. The minimalist packaging gives no hint that this isn't yet another taste-free, column-distilled white rum.

Two James Doctor Bird Jamaican Rum is a pot-still rum created and aged for 6+ years at the Worthy Park Distillery. It is then transported to the Two James Distillery in Detroit, Michigan. There, it finishes its maturation in Moscatel sherry casks before being blended and bottled at 50% ABV.

Siesta Key Toasted Coconut Rum is produced in small batches and flavored with real shredded coconut. It is bottled at 35% ABV.

Balcones Rumble is a spirit all its own. Made from Turbinado sugar, wildflower honey and Mission figs, this spirit continues the Balcones tradition of releasing forward-thinking products. Note: This technically does not qualify as a "rum" as it isn't made from sugarcane or its by-products alone.