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

PUNCH: The Best High-End Spirits for Cocktails

This year, we polled more than 25 bartenders across the country for their favorite high-end spirits to use in cocktails. While several of last year’s top-shelf picks are still highly favored, some exciting newcomers have emerged, along with a few trends: spirits that blur the line between categories (like Scotch aged in ex-rum barrels) seem to be on the rise, in addition to well-made flavored spirits (like a mezcal distilled with mango).

After sifting through the responses, we compiled the most popular choices in each category, plus some standout, impassioned recommendations. Here’s what surveyed bartenders had to say.

White Rum / Cane Spirit

Most popular: Clairins from The Spirit of Haiti

Recent years have seen a great white rum expansion, in which interesting, boldly flavored options have become more variable and more available stateside than ever before. Clairins from The Spirit of Haiti were most commonly mentioned here, particularly the Vaval, a floral and herbaceous bottling, and the Le Rocher, which Adler says is “similar to agricole-style rums, but with an increased funkiness and grassiness. The distillery also uses a percentage of dunder, the residual backwash in each batch, which makes it heavier on the palate with a light smokiness.” Also, these bottlings are still fairly affordable. “Like a lot of rums, some might not call these ‘top-shelf,’” notes David E. Yee, bar manager at Cobra in Columbus, Ohio, but that’s “because they’re radically underpriced.”

Aged Rum

Most popular: Hampden Estate

Tulloch sums it up: “Hampden Estate is high-octane, intense and makes a damn good Daiquiri.” While many surveyed bartenders recommend serving this spirit neat to fully appreciate it, Hampden Estate also shines in cocktails where it plays the starring role, like a rum Old-Fashioned. “I love a good high-ester Jamaican rum and this one ranks high on my list,” says Flowers. “Give me overripe banana, tropical fruit, terroir goodness!”

Overproof Rum

Most popular: Rivers Royale Grenadian Rum

Dennison and Flowers recommend this rum, especially in Daiquiris. “Rum, lime and sugar may sound simple, but with Rivers Royale Grenadian Rum, it is complex,” says Flowers. “It has the grassy, briny flavor of sugarcane juice rum that I love, but it also has herbaceous, tropical fruit notes that play exceptionally well in cocktails.” 

Gear Patrol: The Buffalo Trace of Rum Is Still Cheap and Easy to Find. For Now

A bourbon lover’s guide to the best spirit you’re not drinking yet.

Early adopters have long prophesied rum’s rise. Surely, it would only be a matter of time until bourbon drinkers would be drawn in by the two drinks’ similarities.

They were right in one sense but wrong in another. Bourbon whiskey shares much with rum but whiskey fanatics will only convert if given a pressing reason to. And ironically, it’s bourbon’s own swelling popularity that’s provided one.

There are other, perhaps even better, reasons the modern bourbon-whiskey drinker might be tempted by the rum world’s easy-going nature. However, the simplest argument comes down to numbers: if you could buy Pappy van Winkle for $130 right now, would you?

Bourbon whiskey’s popularity has reached the point where many coveted bottles — including Pappy, not to mention most of the Buffalo Trace lineup — are effectively unobtainable.

By contrast, rum offers more: varieties, flavors, eccentricities and, critically, availability. Step back and compare the breadth of flavor profiles in the rum world to that of bourbon — or even whiskey, bourbon’s parent category — and rum is the clear winner.

This is mostly due to one of rum’s unique traits: decentralization. Where bourbon, Scotch and spirits like tequila and cognac are, to different degrees, bound by regulation, geography and strict definitions, rum is a loose cannon.

Make it with molasses, you’ve got rum. Make it with fresh sugarcane, and you still have rum. Age it (or don’t), blend it with spices (or not), filter out the color (or add it) … it’s all rum.

With that in mind, here are the best rums for an ex-bourbon drinker to start with — from the true Pappy of rum to the Bacardi you should be drinking.

The Buffalo Trace of Rum

The Real McCoy Barbados Rum 12 Year

• Origin: Barbados

• ABV: 40%

• Price: $61+

Reliably excellent, well-made and expertly matured, The Real McCoy 12-year-old rum is named after a famous Prohibition-era rum smuggler whose product became known as “the real McCoy” due to the number of fakes at the time.

Today, it’s sourced from the Barbados-based Foursquare Distillery, the rum producer closest to capturing the enormous pull of Buffalo Trace Distillery in the bourbon world.

The Pappy of Rum

Great House Distillery Edition Single Jamaican Rum

• Origin: Jamaica

• ABV: 57% (2024)

• Price: $135+

Hampden Estate has been making rum on a near-continuous basis since 1779, and its Great House blend (released every year since 2019) has quickly earned a reputation for intense, rich flavor and a healthy dose of rum funk.

For longtime rum drinkers, it represents rum’s mighty potential. For former bourbon lovers, it offers a glimpse into a category not yet destroyed by hype magnets.

The “Made in USA” Rum

Privateer Rum Distiller’s Drawer

• Origin: USA

• ABV: Varies

• Price: $70+

This top-notch rum comes from an odd place: America. By most accounts, Privateer is the best in the country — and it’s not made anywhere near the tropics, either.

Based in Massachusetts, Privateer’s Distiller’s Drawer series offers rum from barrels hand-selected by its master distiller, and they’re some of the most whiskey-like bottles in the category. Expect oak, vanilla, burnt sugar and more classic bourbon notes.

The White Dog of Rum

Clairin Casimir

• Origin: Haiti

• ABV: Varies

• Price: ~$50

If you want to go straight to the bottom of the rabbit hole, Clairin is a good way to do it. It’s usually unaged, so it has more in common with white whiskey than bourbon proper. It’s also made with wild sugarcane and dunder, which is a bit like the sour mash of the rum world (but used far less frequently than its whiskey counterpart).

All this lends Clairin a deep funkiness that blends with the base spirit to invoke whiskey, mezcal, natural wine and rum all at once.

Vinepair: The 30 Best Rums for 2024

As much as any other spirit, it’s safe to say there’s a style of rum for everyone. Nations across the globe have made it for centuries, with regions and producers offering different interpretations via distinct base ingredients — fresh cane juice, cane syrup, and molasses — as well as varied fermentation and distillation techniques.

Expressions arrive unaged and uncut; matured but with color later stripped away; or following decades in casks old and new. Some bottles are specifically produced for cocktails; others, owing to the price tags that accompany them, demand to be sipped, whether neat, on the rocks, or proofed down to the drinker’s preference. Then there are flavored or spiced releases, which accounted for over 50 percent of the rum sold in the U.S. in 2023.

With all due respect to the fictitious sailors that typically adorn such bottles, we did not consider flavored selections for our annual roundup of the best rums to drink right now. But we did dive deep into the diverse range of examples listed prior, tasting more than 120 bottles from over 20 nations across the globe.

Those samples were sent to VinePair (free of charge) by producers, importers, distributors, and PR firms. We tasted each one non-blind because we recognize that price plays one of the most important roles when you’re shopping at the liquor store or online, and should therefore be considered when evaluating a product.

The final list does not represent the 30 highest-scoring rums from the tasting, and instead aims to showcase the best offerings at every price point and across every interpretation of the category. We’re confident that the final selection offers a solid option for every occasion, budget, and palate. After all, there’s a style of rum for everyone.

The Best Rums Under $50

Transcontinental Rum Line High Seas

As the saying goes, “what one rum can’t do, three rums can.” Sure, you can craft your own blends, but why bother when the fine folks behind Transcontinental Rum have done it for you with this excellent mix of Panamanian, Jamaican, and Martinique distillates? Expressive and brimming with character, its savory, vegetal, slightly sweet profile offers a solid foundation for world-class cocktails.

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 of this spirit 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.

Privateer True American Bottled In Bond Rum

Magical things are happening in the rum realm up in Massachusetts, specifically at the premises of Ipswich-based Privateer Rum. Fusing American traditions with Caribbean-style spirits, this molasses-based bottled-in-bond release might seem initially shy on the nose, but that’s only a reflection of its refined, nuanced character. Where aromas of molasses, mocha, and caramel arrive softly, they explode on the palate, landing with a rich, borderline syrupy mouthfeel. Ideal for bourbon drinkers, this is a bona fide sipper.

Papalin 7 Years Old

A blend of two Jamaican pot still rums, this release features spirits distilled and aged at Worthy Park and Hampden Estate. The nose reveals classic Jamaican funk alongside hints of underripe stone fruit and grassy notes. The palate shifts to savory, umami character, with a Band-Aid note emerging on the finish that evokes a touch of peated Scotch. A complex rum that makes for a great sipping experience with or without ice, at 46 percent ABV, most drinkers won’t find the switch in temperature and dilution necessary, but it certainly isn’t unwelcome on a warm summer’s day.

Beenleigh Artisan Distillers 2013 Single Blended Rum

Beenleigh, Australia’s oldest operating distillery, was founded in 1884 in the sugar cane-rich northeastern state of Queensland. Those 140 or so years of experience have translated to a fruity and energetic spirit here, with oak and vanilla aromas raising the curtain, followed by more pronounced notes of tropical fruit and melon. At 10 years old, the palate is similarly lively, with ginger syrup and pomegranate molasses leading the charge. This is an elegant but easygoing sipper.

Hampden Estate HLCF Classic

A flagship expression from one of Jamaica’s most renowned producers, HLCF is shorthand for “Hampden Light Continental Flavoured.” Production features ambient yeasts, extended fermentation periods, 100 percent pot still distillation, and four years aging in tropical climates, which the brand notes is “equivalent” to 11 years in Europe. What does that translate to? Plenty of funk on the nose with added aromas of papaya, tart/savory tropical fruits, and molasses. A classically Jamaican profile on the palate, this rum certainly sips above its modest age statement.

The Best Rums Over $100

Isautier Traditional Rum 16 Year

Another stellar inclusion from the small island of Réunion, this rum was put into barrel in May 2006 and bottled in September 2022. Its producer, seven-generation family-run Maison Isautier, unusually makes both cane-juice- and molasses-based rums. This release falls into the latter camp, arriving at 57 percent ABV — not that you’d guess that from the nose or palate, though. Instead, aromas of dried stone fruits, vanilla, and used oak shine through, while the flavor profile leans mineral-rich, with accents of roasted coffee, dried licorice, and Dmerara syrup.

La Maison & Velier Flag Series 24 Year Old Guyana Rum 1998

La Maison & Velier’s “Flag Series” aims to showcase remarkable bottles from regions where extended aging periods are an option. Guyana rum aged for almost a quarter-century definitely fits that bill, and in this case, the lengthy maturation was only possible because the initially bourbon-barrel-aged spirit was transferred at 2 years old from its tropical home to Europe, where it was then transferred to Port casks. The profile of the final spirit is understandably dense and concentrated and we found that it benefitted from a few minutes to fully open up. At which point, a stunning array of tropical fruit (particularly pineapple husk), oaky sweetness (vanilla), and red berry compote emerge. The palate follows with cacao, salted caramel, and zesty citrus notes, as if to remind us that this fine sipping rum is still remarkably full of life and energy.