If you’re the kind of drinker who enjoys one type of aged spirit and doesn’t branch off into others very often, well… you’re missing out. Specifically, if you enjoy aged rum and you like to sip it neat, but you don’t give whisk(e)y a chance. Because in 2024, the alignment between Scotch whisky and rum is pretty dang fantastic.
The correlation between rum and Scotch whisky is more than just that both spirits are matured in oak barrels. Not only are there Scotch whiskies that share some of the notable flavors you love in your go-to Jamaican, Puerto Rican, or Dominican rums, but Scotch whisky distillers have begun aging or finishing expressions in barrels that formerly held rum. So the crossover is pretty overt.
Below are some of the best examples of Scotch whiskies for rum drinkers. Keep scrolling to see them all.
10. Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $29
The Whisky:
Dewar’s is a big name in the blended Scotch whisky game. You can’t go wrong with the well-known brand’s flagship Dewar’s White Label or one of its range of many award-winning expressions. But if you’re into rum-finished blended Scotch whiskies, you’ll try Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth. This blend of single malt and grain whiskies was matured for at least eight full years and gets extra flavor from being finished in ex-Caribbean rum barrels for six months.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: On the nose, you’ll find aromas of fresh vanilla beans, toasted coconut, toffee, dried fruits, and molasses.
Palate: The palate is a mix of charred oak, toasted coconut, sweet molasses, butterscotch, and gentle island spices.
Finish: The finish is long, warming, and filled with coconut, vanilla, and gentle spices.
Bottom Line:
Dewar’s is well-known for its high-quality, mixable whiskies. While you might not sip this neat every day, mixing with it adds tropical sweetness to your favorite drinks.
9. Smokehead Rum Cask Rebel
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $60
The Whisky:
The name ‘Smokehead’ is a reference to the peat-smoked whiskies of Islay. This single malt whisky comes from an undisclosed distillery on the sheep-filled Inner Hebrides island. Known for its smoky, sweet, memorable flavor profile, it’s matured in barrels that previously held Caribbean rum.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Before your first sip, you’ll be met with scents of ocean brine, dried fruits, vanilla beans, oak, and campfire smoke.
Palate: Sipping it brings forth notes of salted caramel, iodine, candied orange peels, tropical fruits, and robust peat smoke that swirls throughout.
Finish: The finish is a warming mix of candied orange peels, coconut, pineapple, and peat smoke.
Bottom Line:
If you’re a peat smoke fan, but you’d prefer to have it slightly mellowed with ex-rum barrels, this is the whisky for you.
8. The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $30
The Whisky:
The Glenlivet is one of the most well-known Scotch whisky distilleries of all time. It makes myriad well-known expressions, but if you want something with a hint of rum, you’ll enjoy its The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve. Finished in ex-rum barrels, it’s known for its balanced, complex, memorable flavor profile perfect for mixing and sipping.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: On the nose, you’ll find notes of bananas, orchard fruits, treacle, vanilla beans, and oak.
Palate: Drinking it reveals a palate of candied orange peels, toasted vanilla beans, coconut, sticky toffee, brown sugar, and cinnamon candy,
Finish: The last sip is warming, lingering, and loaded with caramelized pineapple and orange peel flavors.
Bottom Line:
The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve is a great choice for anyone looking to add a rum-finished bottle to their home bar cart for mixing and rainy-day sipping.
7. Springbank Rum Wood 15
ABV: 51%
Average Price: $200
The Whisky:
Springbank is the most well-known of the three remaining distilleries in Campbeltown. It’s known for its peated single malt whiskies. And while we can get behind a robust, campfire smoke-filled Scotch whisky, we’re also all about the rum barrel-finished expressions. Not only does this one tick that box, but it has also matured for a full fifteen years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Complex aromas of peat smoke, banana, pineapple, vanilla beans, coconut, and island spices greet you before your first sip.
Palate: The palate is a swirling mix of tropical fruit flavors, toffee, vanilla beans, wintry spices, oak, and rich peat smoke.
Finish: At the finish, you’ll find notes of ripe fruit, spices, and robust barbecue smoke.
Bottom Line:
This is already a nuanced, complex, smoky whisky that’s only heightened by the addition of finishing in ex-rum barrels.
6. Glenfiddich Fire and Cane
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $53
The Whisky:
This whisky’s name is pretty self-explanatory. Fire and Cane is a reference to peat smoke and rum barrels. This award-winning single malt whisky begins as a peated single malt whisky that’s then finished for three months in rum barrels from a handful of South American countries.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Peat smoke, sticky toffee, pineapple, vanilla, and island spices, this whisky begins with a very inviting nose.
Palate: The palate is a symphony of butterscotch, sweet rum, charred oak, light spices, candied orange peels, and peaty smoke that envelopes every sip.
Finish: The last sip is a warming, lingering mix of sweetness and smoke.
Bottom Line:
Glenfiddich Fire and Cane is a great example of balancing smoke and sweetness. It’s a great sipping whisky for fans of smoke who would prefer a hint of rum sweetness.
5. Mossburn 12 Blended Malt Scotch Foursquare Rum Cask
ABV: 57.7%
Average Price: $119
The Whisky:
Mossburn’s first whisky from its Cask Collaboration Series is this 12-year-old Speyside blended malt whisky that got added aroma and flavor from being finished in ex-rum barrels from well-known Barbados distillery Foursquare. The result is a Scotch whisky featuring flavors you love with a tropical, island twist.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is a mix of candied nuts, caramelized bananas, toasted vanilla beans, orange peels, and oak.
Palate: Drinking it reveals notes of raisins, sweet rum, vanilla, toffee, pineapple, oak, and light island spices.
Finish: The finish is a warming mix of tropical fruit and island spice flavors.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t your average blended whisky. This blend of malts was finished in ex-rum barrels, creating a whisky that’s just as great as a neat sipper as it is a mixer for your favorite cocktails.
4. Glen Scotia Double Cask Rum Finish
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $80
The Whisky:
If you’ve never tried Glen Scotia and you enjoy rum-finished whiskies, we have the whisky for you. Glen Scotia Double Cask Rum Finish gets its name because this single malt Scotch whisky is matured in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in first-fill Guyanese Demerara rum barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: On the nose, you’ll find scents of sea salt, ocean brine, vanilla beans, caramelized pineapple, cinnamon, and oak.
Palate: The palate is a mix of banana bread, toasted vanilla beans, coconut, rum raisins, treacle, and island spices.
Finish: The finish is warming and loaded with salted caramel and island spices.
Bottom Line:
It’s popular to age single malt Scotch whisky in ex-bourbons barrels. This whisky not only has bourbon sweetness and barrel flavors, but it also has tropical fruit and molasses flavors from rum finishing.
3. Oban 11-Year-Old
ABV: 58%
Average Price: $135
The Whisky:
This limited-edition expression launched in 2023 as part of Diageo’s Special Releases. Also known as ‘The Soul of Calypso’, this 58% ABV single malt whisky was matured for a full eleven years in oak barrels before being finished in Caribbean pot still rum casks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A lot is going on with this whisky’s nose. There are hints of tropical fruits, island spices, orange peels, vanilla beans, toffee, and orchard fruits.
Palate: The palate is highlighted by flavors of toasted vanilla beans, cinnamon candy, caramelized pineapple, oak, and butterscotch.
Finish: There’s a ton of toffee, oak, and warming spices at the finish.
Bottom Line:
If you have a chance to try this special release, we suggest you snatch up a bottle. It’s balanced, complex, and perfect for sipping on a cool evening.
2. The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $80
The Whisky:
There’s no rum-centric single malt Scotch whisky more well-known than The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14. This 14-year-old whisky was first matured in traditional oak barrels before being finished in special rum barrels that previously held a blend of West Indian rums.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A nose of pineapple, vanilla, toffee, sweet treacle, and oak greets you before your first sip.
Palate: Sipping it brings forth notes of candied orange peels, caramel apples, sticky toffee pudding, vanilla beans, oak, and island spices.
Finish: The finish is warming, lingering, and filled with oak and vanilla beans.
Bottom Line:
There’s a reason The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 is by far the most well-known rum-finished single malt whisky. It’s well-balanced, and complex, and is guaranteed to be a permanent spot in your home bar.
1. Lagavulin Offerman Edition Caribbean Rum Cask Finish
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $90
The Whisky:
If you’ve never tried any yet, you might assume that the Lagavulin Offerman Edition expressions are more flash than substance. You’d be wrong. If you don’t believe us, try the Lagavulin Offerman Edition Caribbean Rum Cask Finish. This single malt whisky is matured for eleven years in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before being finished for eight months in Caribbean rum barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Aromas of candied orange peels, vanilla beans, brown sugar, sea salt, oak, and light peaty smoke are prevalent on the nose.
Palate: Swirls of peat smoke surround lemon peels, orange peels, toffee, treacle, vanilla, oak, and light spices.
Finish: The finish is warming, smoky, and filled with citrus and toffee sweetness.
Bottom Line:
If you only try one rum-centered whisky on this list, make it this one. The combination of bourbon, sherry, and rum barrels gives this a nuanced, complex, smoky flavor profile you won’t soon forget.
