When it comes to winter sipping, dark rum is a great choice. Winter feels like a great time to be drinking nuanced sugarcane-based rum that spends years aging in wood, drawing out those winter spices and dark fruit flavors. There are some rums out there that lean so heavily toward those notes that they’re almost like winter in a glass. Let’s focus on those!
While white rum is fun to sip and mix with right now too, the darker stuff feels right thanks to the deep flavors of vanilla, caramel, oak, dried fruits, and spices. What could be better on a chilly winter eve?
To find some of the best dark rums, we turned to the professionals who spent their days and nights pouring drinks behind the stick. We asked some of our favorite bartenders from the US and all over the world to tell us about their picks for the best rums to drink neat. Keep scrolling to see all of their sweet, complex, sippable picks.
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Flor de Cana 18
Jennifer Donegan, bar manager at Bar Pendry in Washington DC
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $65
The Rum:
I have to stick to Flor de Cana 18 Year. As much as rum is meant to be mixed, this one can stand on its own. This Nicaraguan-made rum is known for its sustainable practices and its countless awards over the years. Their 18-year-old expression just might be its best.
Tasting Notes:
The palate is extremely complex with vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg taking center stage. What is there not to love?
Rhum J.M. XO Rum
Alex Barbatsis, bar director at The Whistler in Chicago
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $74
The Rum:
I love a good sipping rum, and one that most people might not reach for first is an aged rhum agricole. One of my favorites is Rhum J.M. XO Rum. It’s a blend of six-year minimum-aged rums.
Tasting Notes:
Agricole has great grassy notes that are mellowed with aging. A pour of this and a cigar would make any aficionado’s night.
Plantation Stiggins Fancy Pineapple Rum
Paul Morrison, lead bartender at L.A. Jackson in Nashville
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $30
The Rum:
My personal favorite from Plantation is their Stiggins Fancy Pineapple Rum. I prefer it on its own, but you could always use it in a daiquiri or get creative with an old-fashioned-style cocktail.
Tasting Notes:
This particular rum presents notes of rich pineapple but is accented by smokey clove flavors. It opens the palate with a structured presentation of ripe banana, fresh pineapple, and spices layered with that smokey finish.
Brugal Extra Viejo
Federico Doldi, food & beverage director at Gansevoort Meatpacking in New York City
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $28
The Rum:
My favorite rum to drink neat is Brugal Extra Viejo. It’s blended using the distillery’s older reserves from aged white American oak casks that previously held bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
It has notes of wood, spice, orange, and vanilla, offering a full flavor profile and balanced finish at the end of each sip, and can also be appreciated in a mixed drink.
Appleton Estate 12-Year Rare Casks
José Medina Camacho, co-owner and mixologist of Adiõs in Birmingham, Alabama
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $40
The Rum:
Appleton Estates 12-year-old Rare Casks is a great choice for drinking neat. This Jamaican rum is a blend of rare hand-picked column and pot still rums known for their mellow, sweet, and sippable flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Appleton Estate 12-Year Rare Cask features dried fruit, cacao, and coffee notes. It’s great for after dinner (with or without dessert).
Kirk and Sweeney Gran Reserva
Tracy Javier, lead mixologist at VUE Rooftop at Hotel Washington in Washington, DC
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $60
The Rum:
With the number of styles of rums out there, it is quite difficult to narrow down which would be the best. I’m a big fan of rum agricole for its grassy notes. Jamaican rum has this funk and earthiness that makes me salivate. But the one rum that comes to mind for my choice of drinking neat is a Dominican one called Kirk and Sweeney Gran Reserva.
Tasting Notes:
This full-bodied rum has a vast range of aromas from intensive vanilla to faint notes of sherry, dried fruit, and warming spices with a hint of roasted cane sugars. Where some people like an aged cognac or scotch at the end of their dinner, I prefer the smooth Kirk and Sweeney Gran Reserva.
Brugal 1888
Richie Barrow, general manager of food & beverage at Hero Bar at Tribe Hotels Group in Nairobi, Kenya
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $36
The Rum:
My current flavor is Brugal 1888 from the Dominican Republic. It is arguably one of the easiest drinking rums out there. The combination of bourbon and sherry casks used during aging is mellow and imparts all manner of flavors, but also round off the spirit fantastically.
Tasting Notes:
I taste vanilla, cacao, toffee, and peach. It has a well-rounded smoothness and a very interesting balance of recognizable flavors and works very well as an introductory sipping rum.
Santa Teresa 1796 Speyside Whisky Cask
Nick Jackon, head bartender at The Rum House in New York City
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $65
The Rum:
The best rum to drink neat is a tough one because there are so many great sipping rums. I’ve always been a big fan of Santa Teresa 1796 for sipping neat, or even shots. Recently, they released their first limited edition cask finish and the Santa Teresa 1796 Speyside Whisky Cask finish is amazing. Taking the flagship 1796 rum, which is triple-aged in the solera method, then adding another thirteen months in Speyside whisky casks.
Tasting Notes:
This makes for a deep rich rum with notable whisky influence, with notes of toffee, dried fruit, dark chocolate, woody spice, and light smoke on the nose.
Ron del Barrilito 3-Star
Jose R Rodriguez, general manager at COA at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $39
The Rum:
Ron del Barrilito 3 Star Rum is among the best rums because its versatility invites one to enjoy it neat, on the rocks, or even in a cocktail. It’s a great value bottle and one that belongs on your home bar.
Tasting Notes:
This famous Puerto Rican rum is excellent for its smooth and fruity sweetness and its lingering smoky finish.
Hampden Estate Great House
Sean Yeats, USBG bartender at Porco Lounge & Tiki Room in Cleveland
ABV: 55%
Average Price: $129
The Rum:
I have to go with Hampden Estate Great House. It’s essentially their best-of-the-year bottlings and they have to be my favorite rum of all time. The Great House isn’t shy about intensity. It keeps a lot of the character that I love about rum.
Tasting Notes:
A glass of this stuff can last you ages as you enjoy it because you only need a tiny sip to fill your mouth with flavors of fruits, industrial notes, and all kinds of other flavors. Even just the smell of it is so wonderful that it has converted some friends to rum lovers.
