The Best Gold Rums

Flor de Caña, Spanish for “sugarcane flower,” is the only mass-produced rum line from the Central American country of Nicaragua. Distillation is done in a three-column still, before aging in ex-bourbon, white oak barrels stored in a thermally insulated warehouse to reduce the angel’s share. A close look at the bottle reveals a raised outline of a sugar cane stalk. Although the bottle has a prominent “7” on it, the brand no longer claims a minimum seven years of aging.

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.

Matusalem is a brand originating in Cuba that moved to the Dominican Republic upon the Cuban revolution, and is now produced there by a third-part distiller. Made from molasses, it is aged solera-style in used whiskey and bourbon barrels for an average of 10 years.

Equiano Light consists of molasses rum distilled in copper pot stills at Foursquare Distillery in Barbados that is then blended and aged in ex-bourbon barrels for a minimum of 3 years. That rum is then blended with unaged rum made from fresh sugarcane juice from Africa. This "cane juice" rum is distilled in a single column still. The resulting rums are blended and bottled at 43% ABV and will be available as of May, 2021.

From Plantation Rums comes Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry, an amber 100% Jamaican Pot Still release meant to evoke rums made on the island in the 19th century. It is a blend of rums distilled at Long Pond and Clarendon distilleries using a variety of rum marques -- essentially, different "recipes" each distillery has to produce different styles of rums which range from very light to most intense. The rums are double aged, first in ex-bourbon from 1-3 years in a tropical setting before being sent to France to further age in ex-cognac casks for an additional year. There is zero dosage (no sugar added) before bottling. Xaymaca [za-may-kah] is the original name of Jamaica used by its first inhabitants, the Arawaks.

Santa Teresa holds the honor as being the world's first solera-style rum; a style that has grown in popularity especially among rums produced on former Spanish colonies. This is made with a blend of rums aged in American oak cask for up to five years.

Berkshire Mountain Distillers Ragged Mountain Rum is made in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at the Berkshire’s first legal distillery since Prohibition. Ragged Mountain Rum is a traditional pot-still style of rum, hand-crafted in small batches and aged in used bourbon barrels.

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.

Made from regional sugarcane syrup and molasses, St. Augustine is fermented, aged and pot-distilled on site in the eponymous city. It is bottled at 45% ABV. The resulting color is pale straw.

Produced at the first legal distillery on Cape Cod since prohibition, Twenty Boat Cape Cod Amber is handcrafted at the site of Truro Vineyards. It consists of American organic sugarcane and is aged in chardonnay barrels. The name Twenty Boat refers to a 1930 event in which the twenty boats kept watch in Provincetown in an effort to capture a rum runner.