Vinepair: The 30 Best Rums for 2025

Rum continues to win hearts and fill jiggers and glasses by virtue of being one of the world’s most versatile and diverse spirits. Distilled from sugar cane juice, molasses, and other derivatives, it is crafted in column and pot stills, and matured in climates ranging from the humid Caribbean to cooler, continental warehouses. The result is a category that stretches from grassy agricoles and funky, high-ester bottlings to ultra-aged expressions that rival any whiskey.

That breadth is just as evident at the bar: Rum is vital to classics like the Daiquiri, Mojito, and Mai Tai, and central to modern creations like the Kingston Negroni. Of course, there are dedicated, top-shelf sippers, as well as spiced shooters, which accounted for more than half of the rum sold in the U.S. last year.

With all due respect to the latter style, we did not consider flavored selections for our annual rum roundup. Instead, we focused on the diverse range of examples outlined above, tasting roughly 100 bottles from almost two dozen nations to compile this list of the 30 best rums to drink right now.

The 30 Best Rums to Drink in 2025

The Best Rum for Cocktails

Transcontinental Rum Line High Seas

As the old line goes, “what one rum can’t do, three rums can,” and that’s exactly the proposition with this blend of Panamanian, Jamaican, and Martinique distillates. Bottled at 45 percent ABV, High Seas delivers savory, vegetal, and lightly sweet notes, alongside bursts of tropical fruit, spice, and coffee. Expressive but never overwhelming, it offers plenty of personality without threatening to steal the show — making it equally at home in a Daiquiri, Mai Tai, or more modern creations. At $35 per bottle, it’s a top-tier option that’ll basically run you the same amount as two drinks at a bar.

Average price: $35
Rating: 93

The Best Rums Under $100

The Spirit of Haiti Clairin Vaval

Bottled at a precise 53.5 percent ABV, this Clairin is produced by Distillerie Arawaks — owned and operated by Fritz Vaval, whose family has been in the farm distillery business for close to 80 years. Fermented using ambient yeasts and distilled on a proprietary still, the nose juxtaposes papaya and mango with salty umami aromas. The palate commits to more fruity and vegetal notes, with an enjoyably abrasive finish that speaks to the hands-on, traditional practices that led to its creation.

Average price: $50
Rating: 94

Shakara 12 Year Thai Rum

Launched in early 2024, this Thai rum is made from local molasses and runs through a column still before spending 12 years in ex-bourbon casks. Spice leads the profile, with bright accents of lemongrass and lime leaf building over a classic molasses core. Expressive and vibrant, it’s a great example of quality Southeast Asian spirits increasingly making their way to our market.

Average price: $59
Rating: 93

Alambique Serrano 3 Años Oaxacan Rum

Distilled from Java varietal cane juice and aged just over three years in new French oak, this blend of pot and Krassel column distillates arrives at 46.1 percent ABV. The profile is distinctly spiced, with ginger, nutmeg, and raisin notes evoking winter desserts and holiday delights — a vivid reminder that Oaxacan spirits extend well beyond mezcal.

Average price: $64
Rating: 93

Papalin Jamaica 5 Year High Ester Rum

Blended from Worthy Park, Long Pond, and Hampden distillates, this 5-year-old Jamaican rum is pot-distilled, aged in ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at 57 percent ABV. Aromas of overripe fruit and warm spice lead the way, with pepper, banana skin, and assertive heat defining the palate. While not the most intense rum Jamaica has to offer, it’s a complex, lively pour and a great intro to high-ester rum.

Average price: $67
Rating: 93

Privateer Rum The Queen’s Share

This Massachusetts rum revives the old Cognac tradition of collecting the “seconds” — the transitional cut between hearts and tails — and distilling everything a second time for added depth. Aged at least four years in a mix of new and used American oak, the barrels are then blended and re-casked for additional maturation. Bottled at cask strength, it delivers burnt sugar, coconut, and vanilla with remarkable balance. Approachable yet simultaneously complex, it stands as a benchmark American rum.

Average price: $70
Rating: 93

The Best Rums Over $100

Hampden Estate Pagos Jamaican Rum Batch 3

Aged entirely in former oloroso sherry casks from Bodegas Fundador, the third batch of Pagos builds on Hampden’s signature high-ester intensity with oxidative depth and dried fruit character. Bottled at 52 percent ABV, it delivers walnut, clove, and brandied cherry, alongside cocoa, honey, and citrus. The palate is nuanced, with savory depth meeting flashes of freshness.

Average price: $113
Rating: 94

Isautier Rhum Agricole 16 Year

Distilled in 2006 and aged 16 years in tropical conditions, this Reunion release was bottled at 59 percent ABV with just 3,790 bottles produced. The profile is bold yet refined, opening with dried fruits, warm spice, and citrus zest, then following with caramelized sugar and herbal accents. A singular agricole, it underscores Reunion’s credentials as one of the world’s most compelling — and still underappreciated — rum regions.

Average price: $144
Rating: 94

Bloomberg: The 15 Best New Bottles I Tried in 2024, From $26 to $26,000

Season’s greetings, spirits sippers! It’s Brad Japhe, the resident expert on the subject, reporting for duty. As is customary this time of year, I’m presenting my annual list of the absolute best bottles I encountered over the past 12 months. The stable of contenders was crowded in 2024: Of some 322 new expressions sampled, I counted no less than three dozen deserving of effusive praise. Sadly, some of those offerings are just so painfully pricey and/or excruciatingly allocated that I couldn’t, in good conscience, include them here.

Instead, my choices embody a wide variety of liquid across all categories and price points. Make no mistake, you will see bottles fetching four- or even five-figure sums—entries are organized in order of increasing cost—but it’s all relatively available for purchase. You won’t need an estate planner to broker acquisition.

But before we get to the big reveal, let’s recap the year’s major headlines. Beyond spotlighting the shape of the industry in 2024, these news items hint at where we’re headed in the months ahead.

For one thing, people aren’t paying as much for rare whiskey. A recent report from the financial advisory firm Noble & Co. indicated that the value of auctioned scotch cratered by 40% in 2024. But that hasn’t slowed the trend of formerly shuttered “ghost” distilleries rising from the grave across the Scottish landscape, as I reported this summer.

Tariffs proposed by the incoming administration mean your favorite tequila could effectively become 25% more expensive in the year ahead. And a separate trade war with the UK could persuade domestic scotch consumers to experiment with single malts from emerging markets such as India or New Zealand.

Or, perhaps they’ll start exploring American single malt, since the category is finally going to be recognized by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, after more than eight years of lobbying efforts.

But enough speculating about what’s coming. Here are my best bottles of 2024.

Alambique Serrano Rum Blend #5 — $70.Source: Vendor

Alambique Serrano Rum Blend #5

There’s more than just mezcal coming out of the highlands of Oaxaca. This artisanal brand from the steep hillsides of Santa María Tlalixtac specializes in world-class rum. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find sugarcane distillate anywhere drenched in as much complexity as this 65.9%-ABV spiced-banana bomb. It’s a 50-50 blend of column spirit, aged for 27 months in ex-bourbon casks, with pot still spirit aged for 19 months in new French oak. Cut it with a splash of water to extend a tobacco and toasted almond-toned finish. Or knock it back neat, if you dare. ($70)

Hampden Great House 2024 Jamaican Rum — $130.Source: Vendor

Jamaica’s holy house of funk never disappoints when it comes to full-bodied expressions, brimming with over-ripened fruit. Although the exact recipe of this annual limited release shifts each year, it invariably involves a blend of rums that epitomize the brand’s signature style. This time around it finds form in a 57%-ABV sipper that wows with an initial wave of marmalade and cranberry relish, revealing more tropical fruit undertones as it warms in the dram. ($130)

94 POINTS Navazos Palazzi Pedro Ximenez Single Cask Brandy

This is a brandy de Jerez aged in oloroso casks, then finished three years in very old sweet Pedro Ximenez casks. The end result is an extraordinarily complex sipper that almost reads like a cocktail. The deep brown hue and bold dried fig aromas signal richness. While the first sips mingle toffee, maple, dried fruit, the finish is surprisingly dry and brisk, showing walnut skin, a hint of grapefruit peel, and cinnamon and cayenne glow. Bottled at cask strength, plan to add water or ice to mellow the appropriately fiery edge. Limited edition: 720 bottles produced. - KARA NEWMAN 

The Ultimate Guide to Aperitifs

From bittersweet to botanical, there’s an appetite-stimulating aperitif out there for everyone in this growing category

by Tyler Zielinski Mar 10, 2022, 10:04am ESTPhotography by Michelle Min

HumansHumans are creatures of habit, and that’s especially true when it comes to our drinking rituals. We drink coffee for its ability to wake us up, herbal tea for relaxation, and wine to pair with food. But to stimulate the appetite before a meal, there’s one drink category most Americans tend to forget about: the aperitif.

The aperitif — a word derived from the Latin verb “aperire,” meaning “to open” — is a category of low-ABV beverages defined by when they’re consumed rather than how they’re produced. An aperitif can be a liqueur, fortified or aromatized wine (e.g., sherry or vermouth, respectively), or an aperitivo bitter (e.g., Aperol or Campari), making the category diverse and approachable for both bon vivants and novice drinks alike.

While the mindful and ritualistic consumption of aperitifs is slowly catching on in the U.S., in Europe, especially Italy, France, and Spain, aperitifs have been at the center of late afternoon and evening drinking rituals for decades — and, in some cases, centuries.

In Italy, aperitifs are consumed during the pre-dinner aperitivo hour — a time when family and friends gather to enjoy low-ABV tipples along with small bites (cicchetti, in Italian) to unwind from the day. In France, they practice apéro (short for apéritif) with French tipples such as pastis and Pineau des Charentes. And in Spain, sherries and vermut (vermouth) whet the appetite during “el aperitivo,” with new vermuterias, or vermouth bars, experiencing a renaissance among millennial drinkers.

Although a culturally ingrained drinking occasion such as aperitivo hour has not yet gained a permanent foothold in the U.S., interest in low/no-ABV drinks is expanding. The segment grew by 30 percent in 2020, and became a nearly $10 billion industry in 2021. As a result, the Aperol spritz has become as ubiquitous as the vodka soda in most major cities around the country; new sober bars and bars that strictly serve low-ABV aperitif-style cocktails are popping up; and a new wave of aperitifs is flooding the market at an unprecedented pace.

To kickstart your personal aperitivo hour practice, I’ve scoured the world of aperitifs to put together a list of some of the hottest bottlings from both domestic and international producers, broken down by flavor characteristics. Whether you’re a hardcore spritzer looking for an alternative to Aperol, a G&T lover open to trying a low-ABV botanical spirit to replace the gin, or a bon vivant who is just looking for the next hot low-ABV product, there’s a must-try aperitif for everyone.

PM Spirits Oloroso Sherry 2021

PM Spirits is one of the most exciting U.S. importers and distributors of geeky spirits. The brand’s Project Sherries came to be after Nicolas Palazzi, owner of PM Spirits, and Eduardo Ojeda, co-owner of cult sherry bottlers Equipo Navazos and senior advisor to famed sherry producer Grupo Estévez, collaborated to release some of the finest sherries that Jerez has to offer.

The Oloroso sherry is aged for an average of 19 years, and is full-bodied and structured with notes of toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds and walnuts, brown butter, leather, toffee, candied orange peel, and cinnamon. The flavor profile is balanced with a delicate acidity and salinity that makes it perfect for contemplative sipping. While it would also shine in a simple sherry cocktail such as a highball or Sherry Cobbler, at its price point, you’ll want to be sure your bartending skills are quite sharp.

Tximista Vermouth

As far as vermouths go, the Basque-produced Tximista is truly one of a kind. It’s the world’s first and only vermouth made with 100 percent Getariako Txakolina wine from sustainably farmed hondarrabi zuri grapes. The brand has two styles, rojo and blanco, both aromatized with local herbs, roots, and botanicals. The high-acid, mineral-driven Txakoli base makes these vermouths incredibly drinkable while also standing up beautifully in a vermouth and tonic or martini. The product made its debut in Spain in 2018, and it’s currently only available in New York, California, and Florida, with more states being added for distribution in the near future.

Wine & Spirits Magazine 90 Points, PM Spirits - Palo Cortado

90pts | PM Spirits

Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Palo Cortado Saca de Junio de 2021

Nicolas Palazzi and the team at PM Spirits worked with Eduardo Ojeda– chief winemaker at Valdespino and a co-owner of Equipo Navazos—to blend their own propriety brand of Sherries. This one is a selection from several criaderas, the wines an average age of 15 years. It still holds a brisk, salty memory of its time as a Fino, even as the flavors broaden out into saturated richness of barrel age. Serve it with bolitas de bacalao.

—J.G.   PM Spirits, Wilmington, DE

Navazos Palazzi Malt Whiskey Cask Strength [Palo Cortado Single Cask] Review

The Whiskey Tribe review of Navazos Palazzi Malt Whiskey (Palo Cortado). Spanish malt finished in a unique and rare style of Sherry cask.

Sherry’s Indie Moment

A growing number of independent bottlers is aiming to showcase a more nuanced, variable side to fino, manzanilla and more.

There’s no single origin point for the modern sherry renaissance, but the aged cask of amontillado that Eduardo Ojeda and Jesús Barquín of Equipo Navazos bottled in December 2005 would be a solid place to start.

Like so many examples of its kind, the wine had been forgotten for decades in a dusty bodega, where it would have continued to slumber if not for the private club of investors, organized by Ojeda and Barquín, who pooled together the funds to rescue it from oblivion. Titled “La Bota de Amontillado” (after the Edgar Allen Poe story) and shared exclusively among club members, that initial release gave birth to a series of chronologically numbered editions. Hype quickly followed, and in April 2007 the project released its first commercial effort: La Bota de Palo Cortado No. 6.

It may come as a surprise that one of the driving forces behind the current sherry revival basically started off as a Kickstarter campaign. But according to Peter Liem, sherry expert and co-author (along with Barquín) of Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucía, few were interested in purchasing, let alone marketing, these wines. “The only reason that all these old wines still existed is that nobody wanted them,” he explains, citing the economic collapse and fall from relevance that decimated the sherry industry toward the end of the 20th century.

More than 100 “Botas” later (as of 2022, the library consists of 107), the project has redefined sherry for many U.S. drinkers. As Liem puts it, “They opened our eyes to the fact that something completely different existed in this region, which nobody was talking about.” That alone would have been enough to secure Equipo Navazos’ lasting place in the zeitgeist. But in recent years, their success has paved the way for a new set of independent bottlers who are following a similar playbook, sourcing minuscule quantities of wine from bodegas across the Sherry Triangle.

Some are Jerez natives, such as Antonio Barbadillo Mateos of the Sacristía AB project, and Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez, the duo behind the resurrected M. Antonio de la Riva label. Others, including Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits and Buelan Compañía de Sacas’ Nick Africano, operate out of the United States. They are united not only in their rejection of sherry as a standardized, industrial wine, but also in their desire to carve out a more intimate model for the region.

…

For Nicolas Palazzi, owner of rare spirits distributor PM Spirits, the collection of sherries he released late last year signaled a case study in sherry’s diversity. Since 2012, Palazzi has partnered with Equipo Navazos to bottle a series of highly-coveted single-cask Spanish brandy, whisky and rum under their Navazos Palazzi label. Even as someone who makes his living importing small-batch spirits, Palazzi was struck by the enormous variation between barrels in a single sherry solera system. “When you’re sampling different casks of spirits, a lot of the time you will find some small differences, but if it’s the same run, put in the same type of cask and aged in the same place for the same amount of time, the stuff you get is going to be pretty similar,” he explains. “But with sherry, it’s mind-bending. You can taste four different casks of the same exact wine and they’re all vastly different.”

“I saw a gap in the market for serious wines from this region, since everyone thought of manzanilla as something cheap, relatively young and accessible.”

In a typical bottling process, the solera would absorb and assimilate the individual profiles of these casks, rounding out their wayward edges into a smooth and seamless whole. At the scale that Palazzi describes, however, the goal is to capture the unique personality of a single barrel, or the distinctions that exist from one barrel to the next. “It sounds like a cliché, but these casks are living things,” Palazzi says.

New bottlers like Palazzi have arrived in Jerez at an inflection point. For all the recent talk of a renaissance, sherry remains a niche category. And while the cult model adopted by Equipo Navazos and its descendants has ushered in a new era of critical appreciation for the region’s finest wines, that’s not enough to sustain an entire wine industry. The question on everyone’s minds, then, is: What’s next?

INDIE SHERRIES TO TRY

PM Spirits Amontillado

“Selected with the expert help of Eduardo Ojeda,” as its label proudly declares, the PM Spirits amontillado drinks noticeably brighter and fresher than many examples of the genre, happily embracing its inner fino with a pronounced flor character. Although the packaging doesn’t mention where it was sourced, Palazzi notes that the wine came from several casks belonging to a prominent bodega with roots in the late 19th century. Light amber in the glass, it’s energetic and lively, especially for the style—as close to easy-drinking as amontillado gets.