The Best Whiskeys Aged In Rum Barrels

Angel’s Envy was founded in 2010 by master distiller Lincoln Henderson, creator of such brands as Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack during his time at Brown-Forman. Since his passing in 2013, his son Wes Henderson has been at the helm with his son Kyle working right alongside him. Following the success of its port barrel finished bourbon, the brand released a rye whiskey. This rum finished whiskey spends up to 18 months in Caribbean rum casks. It is bottled at 50% ABV. .

What's in a name? When this rum-finished expression was first released in 2002, it was called Havana Reserve. This posed a problem with the United States as they have an embargo on Cuban products, even second hand. The name was eventually changed to Gran Reserva. An updated packaging design in 2016 included (yet again) another name change to Reserva Rum Cask Finish. Aged for 21 years in used American barrels, this spends its final four months in hand selected rum barrels from the Caribbean.

Balcones Texas Single Malt Rum Cask Finished takes the brand's Texas Single Malt made with 100% malted barley and finishes it in its own Texas Rum casks. This is an annual release so batches and proofs will vary. Batch number and bottling dates will be listed on the back label along with the number of months spent in oak. It is bottled at cask strength without chill-filtration or added color.

This wide release follows the success of the distillery-only expression from 2019. For this expression, 5 and 6 year-old straight rye whiskies are placed some in ex-rum casks from South America, and the rest in barrels from Jamaica, aging both for an additional 10 months. Once maturation was complete, the whiskey from both barrels were then blended back together. It is bottled at 98 proof and available as of March, 2022.

This bottling is aged traditionally in used American barrels for 14 years and then finished in rum casks, but these casks were seasoned by The Balvenie themselves. They selected different rums from the West Indies and poured them into new American oak to season the wood. They then take their aged whisky and finish aging in the seasoned rum casks. Incidentally, this method actually further ages the rum which they can then sell back. Classic!

The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve is a no-age statement Scotch single malt which is finished in ex-Caribbean rum barrels sourced from Jamaica. It is bottled at 40% ABV and is available as of April 2020.

This blended whiskey is made with both grain and malt whisky in 3:1 grain to malt ratio. These whiskeys are matured initially in ex-bourbon barrels before they are married and placed into Central American rum casks for up to 12 months. This rum finished whiskey is bottled at 46% ABV without chill-filtration. (SRP $32.99)

Available beginning October 2017, this rum finished whiskey is a triple-distilled triple blend featuring single malt, single grain, and single pot still whiskeys in its makeup. These whiskeys were matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Then the whiskey finishes its maturation in first-fill Caribbean rum barrels which formerly held Demerara rum. It’s bottled at 43% ABV.

This whisky is a blend of up to 40 single malts which aged for at least 8 years. The blend was then finished in ex-Caribbean rum casks for a period of around six months. This release is the first in a series of double-aged cask finishes from Dewar's.

Smokehead is a Scotch whisky brand owned by Ian Macleod Distillers. It's a peated single malt from an undisclosed Islay distillery. Smokehead Rum Rebel is finished in Caribbean rum casks for a period of time before bottling at 46% ABV. Launched in August 2020.