The Top Community Rated Rums From Last Week

When pirates ruled the Seven Seas, they were known to partake of a spiced grog called Bumbu made from ingredients procured in their travels. The modern take of this concoction consists of spices and sugarcane selected from 8 countries - Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana and Honduras. It is distilled at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. The rum is aged in first-fill bourbon casks with the oldest spirit aged 15 years. It's bottled at 35% ABV.

Cuban rum distillers or “maestros” have been drinking their own extra-aged rums for years, but this release marks the beginning of this style of rum to the general public. At its core is Cuban sugarcane turned into molasses or "mieles." The entire production process for this rum takes at least 14 years, with the youngest drops having aged a minimum of 7 years. This is achieved by aging individual barrels instead of using the more popular solera method. Note: This is not currently available in the U.S.

Appleton Estate Signature Blend Rum is the entry level aged rum in its portfolio. Fifteen select aged rums, aged for an average of 4 years (from a variety of styles and ages) are blended and then rested together again in oak to allow the character, flavor and bouquet to fuse. Note: This was formerly known as Appleton Estate V/X

Made since 1954, Old Monk rum is India's favorite rum. Despite sharply declining sales in recent years, the brand sold nearly four million cases in 2014. While the rum carries an age statement of seven years, it should be placed firmly in the category of "dark rum" due to the addition of molasses and other flavoring agents.

Maison Ferrand is known for their Cognac, but to rum aficionados, they are better known for their Plantation rum line. The Plantation line includes rums from around the world finished in a variety of special casks, and the Kaniche is cast in the same mold. The XO is a Barbados rum aged in ex-bourbon barrels that is subsequently finished for an additional 18 months in Cognac casks in France.

El Dorado has been produced at Demerara Distillers Limited since 1992 on Guyana. The 15 Year is a blend of aged demerara rums, some as old as 25 years, made in different styles of stills - Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills, Port Mourant double-wooden-pot-still and Versailles single-wooden-pot-still. The rums are blended and aged in ex-bourbon casks.

This century old rum producer is based in the heart of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia and produces rum using the classic Spanish solera method where the oldest rum is 20 years of age. Pursuant of a rustic and more medium-bodied style, the Dictador Solera System Rum 20 is made from cane syrup and distilled in a combination of pot and column stills.

Ron Zacapa 23 Sistema Solera Rum was first produced in 1976 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Guatemalan town of Zacapa. It's a rum made from raw sugarcane honey grown on the Zacapa estate high in the hills of Guatemala, extracted from the first pressing of sugarcane juice. It is then fermented using a proprietary strain of pineapple yeast and distilled in a copper-lined column still. After distillation, the rum is aged in a Solera process from a series of casks which once held bourbon, oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximenez sherry. The rums in the blend vary between 6 and 23 years of age.

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.

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.