The Top Community Rated Rums From Last Week

This rum is distilled from fermented grade A molasses, but on the second distillation, maple syrup is added. The maple syrup is also locally sourced (Cumberland, Wisconsin). Roaring Dan is named after Dan Seavey, a pirate in the Great Lakes who infamously stole a schooner named the Nellie Johnson back in 1908 which was loaded with lumber. He was able to board the ship and got the crew drunk before throwing them overboard. When finally caught, he claimed he won the ship in a poker game.

SelvaRey (translated from Spanish "king of the jungle," hence the gorilla on the label) is created by former Havana Club master blender and ex-Cuban Minister of Rum Francisco “Don Pancho” Fernandez. The rum is a selection of 5 year old rums from copper column-stills, aged in ex-bourbon casks with an infusion of locally sourced chocolate instead of cocoa-flavored syrup.

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.

Don Papa Rum is distilled from sugarcane grown on the island of Negros, one of 7,500 islands in the Philippines. In the volcanic foothills of Mount Kanlaon, this rum matures for up to 7 years in barrels made from American oak before it is blended for bottling. Look closely on the label (thoughtfully designed in New York) and you'll find animals native to the country like the gecko and tarsier. Available in the US beginning May 2017.

Kirk and Sweeney Rum is named after a rum-running wooden schooner during the early days of Prohibition. With a cargo full of liquor, Kirk & Sweeney was seized off the New York coast. Kirk and Sweeney is fully-aged 23 Year Rum and is produced by the Bermúdez Rum distillery in the Dominican Republic and imported by 3 Badge in Sanoma, CA.

Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum is a blend of pot still and column still Bajan rums that are aged in bourbon casks for 3-4 years in the Caribbean. The blend is then finished in French oak casks at Maison Ferrand’s Château de Bonbonnet in the heart of the Grande Champagne district for 1-2 years more. Note: Formerly called Plantation Grande Reserve 5 Year.

The first-ever white rum from Plantation is named for three rum-producing “stars” of the Caribbean: Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad. The blend features unaged rums from Barbados and Jamaica, a 3-year-old rum from Trinidad and a 12-year Jamaican rum. Each rum brings their respective island’s distinctive flavors and characteristics to the blend, from the lighter, refined Trinidadian rum to the funkier, full-bodied Jamaican rums. Any color from the aging process has been removed via carbon filtration before bottling.

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.

Mount Gay Eclipse was named to honor the unique occurrence of both the passing of Halley's Comet and a solar eclipse occurring in the year of 1910. Eclipse is double-distilled from rich sugarcane molasses, fermented for 72 hours with proprietary house yeast, and is aged in ex-bourbon and used whiskey barrels for up to two years. Mount Gay Rum, produced in Barbados, is the oldest existing rum brand in the world dating back to 1703.

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.