Rum
From the clear bottle behind the Mojito to a dark rum you drink neat: rum comes from everywhere sugar cane grows. What exactly it is, what types there are, how to drink it and which glass goes with it.
The best-known rum brands
Three brands found in almost every bar, each from a different corner of the shelf: white, aged and spiced.
Bacardi
The white rum from Cuba, since 1862 the staple base of the Mojito and the Daiquiri. Light and dry, and precisely for that reason so versatile.
About Bacardi →Havana Club
Cuban rum in the light ron ligero style, made from molasses and double-aged in ex-bourbon casks. Ranging from the young 3 Años to the 15 Años.
About Havana Club →Captain Morgan
Caribbean rum flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon and clove. The bottle behind the country's most-ordered rum and cola.
About Captain Morgan →Our drinks page lists all the brands we cover, from rum to whisky.
Every rum listed by brand
9 brands and 20 flavours, each with its own page covering flavour, cocktails and the right glass.
Sugarcane, a barrel and a warm climate
Rum is a distilled spirit made from sugarcane. This can be done in two ways: from molasses, the thick black syrup left over when sugarcane is processed into sugar, or from freshly pressed cane juice. Molasses is by far the most widely used and gives the rounded, sweet note that most people associate with rum. Fresh cane juice produces a rum that is grassier and earthier. The sugarcane is fermented and then distilled, usually in column stills for a light style and in pot stills for a heavier, fuller rum. The legal minimum is 37.5% alcohol; in practice, most falls between 37.5 and 45%.
Rum has hardly any strict rules about aging or origin, which explains why the bottles vary so widely. What always plays a role, however, is the climate. In the Caribbean, Venezuela or the Philippines, temperatures are high all year round, so rum reacts with the wood more quickly and much more evaporates each year than in Scotland. A seven-year-old rum from the tropics therefore tastes more mature than you might expect based on its age. When reading a label, also pay attention to sweetness: with spiced rum and rum liqueurs, sugar and flavoring are often added after distillation, and you can taste that immediately.
In short
Four styles you’ll find on every shelf
The color says something about aging, but not everything: dark rum is sometimes colored with caramel, and white rum may well have been aged. These are the styles used to organize the shelf.
White rum
Light and dry, often aged briefly and then filtered to remove the color. It lets the citrus and sugar in a cocktail shine instead of overwhelming them.
Golden rum
Aged for several years in oak, usually ex-bourbon barrels. That is where the amber color comes from, along with vanilla, coconut, and a light woody note. The middle ground: it works mixed or neat.
Dark rum
Aged longer and fuller-bodied, with dried fruit, toffee, and cacao. These are the bottles you drink neat, with at most one ice cube. The color is sometimes enhanced with caramel.
Spiced rum
Rum to which spices and usually sugar have been added after distillation: vanilla, cinnamon, clove, ginger. Sweet and approachable, and made for mixing.
Rhum agricole from the French Antilles is made from fresh cane juice, overproof rum is well above 50%, and rum cream is a liqueur.
Naturally sweet, warm from the cask
Vanilla & caramel
Almost always vanilla and caramel from the oak, along with ripe fruit: banana, pineapple, or dried apricot. Rhum agricole, by contrast, smells grassy and earthy.
Round and smooth
Rum tastes sweeter than other spirits, even without added sugar, because sugarcane naturally brings that note. Spiced rum adds cinnamon and clove on top.
Warm and long
Short and clean in a young white rum; long and warming in an aged rum, with oak, cacao, and sometimes a hint of orange peel.
Flavor profile of an average golden rum. White rum scores lower on sweetness and fruitiness; spiced rum scores around 4 on spiciness and close to 5 on sweetness.
Three ways to drink rum
Rum is the only spirit that can be both the basis of a summery highball and a bottle for beside the fireplace. It depends on the style you have in your hands.
In a Mojito
5 cl white rum, 3 cl lime juice, 2 cl sugar syrup and a handful of mint in a tall glass, topped up with crushed ice and a splash of sparkling water. Press the mint gently against the side of the glass; don't bruise it, or it will turn bitter.
Mojito recipe →Neat or on the rocks
Pour an aged rum at room temperature into a tumbler or tulip-shaped tasting glass, with at most one large ice cube. Give it some time: after a minute or two, the vanilla and dried fruit really begin to emerge.
More with rum →In a Daiquiri
6 cl white rum, 2.5 cl fresh lime juice and 1.5 cl sugar syrup, shaken hard with plenty of ice and strained into an ice-cold coupe. Three ingredients that must be perfectly balanced: this is where you immediately hear what a rum is worth.
Daiquiri recipe →The best-known rum cocktails
Rum is at the heart of almost every tropical classic, and a few that aren't tropical at all. These are the recipes to start with.
Mojito
White rum, lime, mint, sugar and sparkling water. Cuba's summer drink.
Daiquiri
Rum, lime and sugar. Nothing to hide behind, so choose well.
Cuba Libre
Rum with cola and a generous lime wedge. The lime makes all the difference.
Piña Colada
Rum, coconut and pineapple. Creamy, sweet and utterly unapologetic.The right glass for rum
For a Mojito, you want a tall glass with a sturdy base, while aged rum calls for a glass that brings the aromas together. These are the glasses we recommend ourselves.
Everything you still wanted to know about rum
Is your question not listed? Check out our cocktail recipes or get in touch.
To the cocktail recipes →