Nobody wants to pay a seemingly large amount of cash for a bottle of rum to find that it’s not really worth the price. When it comes to rum (and every other spirit), value per dollar is often the most important aspect (for some). This is a means of figuring out the ratio of the quality of spirit and your pure enjoyment for each dollar spent to purchase it.
When it comes to “value” per dollar in the rum world, you first need to figure out the type of rum you’re looking to buy. Do you want a white rum for mixing into mojitos and daiquiris? Are you looking for an aged dark rum to sip like you would a quality whiskey? Or are you looking for a bargain-price spiced rum? That’s the great thing about rum in general — there’s something for everyone if you know where to look.
To help you on your value-finding rum journey, we asked a handful of our favorite bartenders, mixologists, and beverage specialists to tell us about their picks for the best value per dollar rums on the market. Keep scrolling below to see all of their choices.
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Hampden Estate Rum Fire
Sean Yeats, USBG bartender at Porco Lounge and Tiki Room in Cleveland
ABV: 63%
Average Price: $26
The Rum:
Everything Hampden Estate makes is fantastic. Every Jamaican distillery has an overproof unaged rum — the kind of stuff they drink on the island — and this is Hampden’s. All of them are great but this is my favorite because there’s so much flavor packed into this rum that it’ll shine even if you only use a little.
Tasting Notes:
Huge fruit flavors like overripe banana and charred pineapple mix in with flavors like the smell of an old forest with thick greenery and decaying logs. There’s so much to love about Rum Fire and it sings in cocktails. You always know when you’re drinking Rum Fire.
Appleton Estate Reserve Rum 8 Year
Bradley Stephens, USBG bartender at Cereus PDX in Portland, Oregon
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $35
The Rum:
Rum is a tough one due to its underappreciated diversity of styles and flavors. One of the cool things about rum and spirits made from sugar, molasses, or sugarcane is that almost every culture in the world has made one (and made it so differently from all the others). If my back was against the wall and you told me I had to decide right now, I’d likely choose Appleton Estate 8 Year. It’s fantastic Jamaican juice that works in cocktails and sipping and is made by the legend herself Joy Spence.
Tasting Notes:
Eight years of aging gives this memorable rum notes of sweet honey, vanilla, oaky wood, island spices, and candied orange peel.
Flor De Cana 18 Year Centenario
Jennifer Donegan, bar manager at Bar Pendry in Washington DC
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $65
The Rum:
I love a flavorful deep rum. If you can put it in an old fashioned, I’m game. Flor de Cana 18 Year has the body of a whiskey but doesn’t have the burn. You can enjoy this on a large rock — but in a classic old fashioned or daiquiri, it sings. To get all that in the sub $70 category? Unbeatable.
Tasting Notes:
It begins with a nose of candied nuts and vanilla beans and moves on to a palate of vanilla, oak, toffee, and gentle spices.
Rhum Barbancourt 5-Star
Anne Saunders, head bartender at The Kimpton Shane in Atlanta
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $25
The Rum:
Rhum Barbancourt 5 Star is my go-to recommendation. Made using sugarcane juice instead of molasses, it’s matured for eight years in charred oak barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Made in the heart of Haiti, their Agricole selection spans crisp, grassy, tart, vanilla, and rich notes.
Bacardi Carta Blanca Superior
Federico Doldi, food & beverage director at Gansevoort Meatpacking in New York City
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $14
The Rum:
The best value-per-dollar rum remains Bacardi Carta Blanca. It’s a world-famous award-winning unaged rum. The original light rum, its history can be traced back to 1862.
Tasting Notes:
Featuring citrus, spices, and pepper on the nose with notes of tropical fruit, this rum can be used for any rum-based drink or simply sipped with a nice ice block and a slice of your favorite fresh fruit.
Camazotz Oaxacan Rum
José Medina Camacho, co-owner and mixologist of Adiõs in Birmingham, Alabama
ABV: 48%
Average Price: $45
The Rum:
Camazotz rum out of the highlands of Oaxaca is a small batch, family-owned, and pressed by hand. That should give you enough of a reason to purchase and enjoy. I’m hoping to see more rums like this in the market in the coming years.
Tasting Notes:
Flavors of sugarcane, earthy grass, oak, and salted caramel make for a unique memorable base for your favorite cocktail.
Cruzan Aged Light Rum
Tracy Javier, lead mixologist at VUE Rooftop at Hotel Washington in Washington, DC
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $13
The Rum:
I love Cruzan Aged Light Rum. It’s a blend of rums matured between one and four years and then charcoal filtered. The price is awesome, and it stands up well in a cocktail like a daiquiri or mojito, especially a Hemingway daiquiri.
Tasting Notes:
The tasting notes of molasses and a bit of oak from the used bourbon barrels create a creamy subtle yet complex rum.
Hamilton Demerara River Rum
Bijan Ghiai, beverage manager-Sommelier at Urban Hill in Salt Lake City
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $24
The Rum:
Hamilton Demerara River Rum has a ridiculous quality-price ratio. For $23, you get more provenance and complex flavors than anything, hands down. It deserves a price tag twice as high. Ed Hamilton is a genius in this avenue, and for my palate, his rum expressions never disappoint.
Tasting Notes:
The depth of profiles includes dried tobacco, lumber yard, fresh figs, and gingerbread cookies. I feel like this is what good rum epitomizes.
Plantation 3 Stars
Nick Jackon, head bartender at The Rum House in New York City
ABV: 41.2%
Average Price: $20
The Rum:
Plantation 3 Stars is so versatile for a light rum with its blend of rums from Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad. It offers a bit more depth of flavor than a traditional white rum. The addition of Jamaican rum in the 3 Stars helps to give it some amazing depth of flavor without being overpowering.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of honey, brown sugar, and vanilla start everything off right. Drinking it reveals notes of grassy flavors, vanilla, oak, and toffee.
Ron del Barrilito Three Stars
Jose R Rodriguez, general manager at COA at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $39
The Rum:
The best value-per-dollar rum is made by Puerto Rico’s oldest rum producer, Ron del Barrilito Three Stars. It imbibes history and tradition alongside an exceptionally smooth palate.
Tasting Notes:
It has a full body with a strong wood backbone followed by aromas of plums, bananas, almonds, vanilla, and caramelized sugar cane.
