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Top 10
Ten award-winning rums for National Rum Day
National Rum Day (16 August) is the easiest excuse ever to go and click purchase on a new bottle of rum, but the question is… which one?
Saying you’re going to buy a new bottle of rum is the easy part – the hard part is actually making the decision on what to pick. There’s the country of origin (rum is now made all around the world; from Fiji to Cuba), the profile, the colour… many different things to take into consideration. It’s tricky.
To weed out the best of the best, five panels of judges gathered together at London restaurant 42 Holborn earlier this year and tasted their way through a vast selection of rums that were entered into The Rum & Cachaça Masters 2024 blind tasting – from white to spiced and aged dark variants – and at the end of it, a number were picked out for their excellency, showcasing the current strength of the market.
From the top performers, we’ve whittled the number down to 10 to make the selection process that bit simpler when choosing your preferred bottle.
Whether for sipping or in a cocktail such as a mojito, with flavour notes ranging from chocolate to tropical, there should be something suitable here for your National Rum Day celebrations.
Star & Key VSOP Single Cask Rum
Price: US$44.99
A Masters debutant, Cobblestone Brands’ Star & Key VSOP was one of the big success stories to come from this year’s awards, nabbing not one but two Masters medals in its first appearance; in the Gold Rum – Aged up to Seven Years and super-premium categories. The latter, in fact, was the first Master awarded, setting the tone for the rest of the day.
The judges weren’t shy in showering it with praise. Evan Prousaefs (bar manager at Sexy Fish in London) said the expression “captures the essence of what a rum should be” and labelled it as a “great representative of the category with a plethora of complexity”. Dan Greifer (Black Parrot’s bar supervisor), meanwhile, was a big fan of the balance, calling it “exceptional” with its overripe fruits on the nose, beautiful banana notes and smoothness.
The rum is aged in ex-Cognac casks and distilled with fresh sugar cane grown from Nick Wiehe’s (Cobblestone co-owner) eighth-generation family estate, Labourdonnais. The estate is one of the oldest in Mauritius.
Cobblestone promises more rums with cask experimentation for the future, and considering the brand’s performance here – our eyes are firmly peeled.
Incognito Golden Rum
Price: £39 (US$50)
Despite its name, this rum’s appearance in this year’s Masters didn’t go unnoticed. It joined Cobblestone above for company as a Master medal winner in the Gold Rum – Aged up to Seven Years round.
Matt Chambers (spirits writer and co-founder of the Whisky For Everyone blog) was particularly vocal in his fondness for the expression, citing an “elegant sugary nose [with floral and citrussy aromas and a hint of caramel] and lovely mouthfeel with plenty of toffee and butterscotch [and a hint of orange fondant and a pinch of cocoa]”, as reasons for its placing.
A blend of aged and unaged Caribbean rums, the wide range of flavours Chambers identified also give it a lot of flexibility when used in cocktails, making it a shrewd addition to any home bar.
Barceló Imperial Premium Blend 40th Anniversary
Price: £120 (US$152)
Onto the darker hues, and in the highest price bracket for those (£41 and above), this bottling was introduced to mark the 40th anniversary of Dominican brand Barceló Imperial, which has been in production since 1980.
The liquid used came from private reserves that founder Miguel Barceló had stored away for an extra two years of ageing. And birthday aside, its flavours were a cause for celebration for the judges too, with judge David T Smith (co-founder of Craft Distilling Expo) commending it for a “rich thick texture, a touch of strawberry, coconut and stone fruit with good complexity and good alcohol integration”.
Following a re-taste of all 22 Masters medallists at the end of the session, Imperial Premium Blend was then singled out for one final honour – Taste Master, the competition’s highest accolade.
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2023
Price: £143 (US$181)
Since its inception in 2020, the annual release of Black Tot’s Master Blender’s Reserve has been a highlight on the rum calendar, filled with anticipation – and for good reason.
The fourth edition, the Master Blender’s Reserve 2023, blends rum from Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica, selected from what master blender Oliver Chilton considers the best distilleries in the world. He also married the spirit with Black Tot’s perpetual reserve, Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 and some original Navy Rum from 1970.
The final result of the ‘perpetual blend’ comes in at a heady 54% ABV, so steady on when sipping this. Not to say our judges did, but judge Vicky Ilankovan (executive director at Equal Measures UK) in particular seemed spellbound by the range of notes discovered from her taster: from Lotus Biscoff doughnut to banana blossom, gingercake, melon, banana, cooked pineapple, plantain and baking spices.
She added: “Great texture and mouthfeel – both coating and with structural integrity, boosting salivation and bringing out heaps of flavour.”
Kraken 94 Proof Black Spiced Rum
Price: £36.90 (US$47)
Legend has it that Kraken Rum was created from barrels on a ship that was sunk by the mythical creature the brand was named after. Whether this fiction or not shouldn’t get in the way of the fact that this is a mighty good rum, and a Gold medal in the Dark Rum – Aged up to 7 Years section is proof of that.
At 47% ABV, its also upped the ante on the brand’s classic spiced expression and is equally-adept sipped neat or mixed with an ice-cold cola.
Owned by Proximo Spirits, Kraken also cracked the top 10 of the world’s biggest-selling rums for the first time in 2023 with 1.3 nine-litre cases sold last year.
El Supremo Rum 5 Years Old
Price: €30-€35 (US$33-US$38)
For transportive sips – the one’s drop you under the palms by the beach somewhere tropical and humid – look no further than El Supremo’s Gold medal-winning five-year-old rum. This expression was made with summer in mind, using a 500-year-old method.
It was aged in Incienso Marrón barrels and finished in French oak casks. At 38% ABV it has an accessible alcohol level for new drinkers to the category, and priced at €30-€35 (US$33-US$38), it’s also very affordable for a premium product.
Its ideal setting would be within a few bar-quality Chupito cocktails by the pool.
Eminente Gran Reserva
Price: £44.99 (US$57)
Eminente’s flagship expression, aged for seven years, was given a Gold medal for its pleasing profile of “warm wood and hardened toffee sauce with a touch of nutmeg and redcurrants”. Bonus points for its eye-catching packaging too, for which its bottle design has previously won a medal the 2021 Design & Packaging Masters.
Bottled at 41.3% ABV, the rum is a blend of aguardientes, which were aged in white oak barrels that once held whisky. The liquid was then blended and aged again with light Cuban rum distilled to 96% ABV. It is recommended neat, over ice or mixed in cocktails – and yes, preferably with a Cuban cigar.
Eminente’s Ámbar Claro (white rum, super-premium) and Gran Reserva Edition N°1 (dark rum, aged 7 to 12 years) expressions were also Gold medal winners in their respective categories, in what turned out to be a fruitful day for the Cuban brand.
Bacardí Reserva Ocho Rye Cask
Price: US$32.99
Although it was aged in American oak barrels for eight to 12 years, judge Ruchira Neotia (founder of Neo Margarita) was impressed by the delicate nature of Bacardi’s rye cask-finished rum and gave it further praise for its “fresh fruit” and “leafy character”.
The rest of the judges seemed to share the same opinion and the rum was given a Master medal. And at 45% ABV, it packs enough punch without being too aggressive, so it’s one to sip and savour.
Dillon VSOP and XO
Price: £28/US$36 (VSOP) and £42/US$54 (XO)
It was a Michael Phelps-esque performance in the agricole aged rhum section for La Martiniquaise-Bardinet as the French spirits group bagged Master medals for both its Dillon VSOP and XO expressions.
VSOP was loved for its “beautiful pepperiness, a light sweetness, and grassy tones”, while the judges had equally good things to say about XO, described as “really beautifully balanced, plenty of soft ripe fruit, cinnamon spice, spun sugar and characterful concentration”.
If you’re looking to get into the agricole-style – that is rums made from freshly-squeezed pure sugar cane juice – might we suggest starting with one of these. Or hey, perhaps both?
Cut Away Rum
Price: £36.95 (US$47)
Lastly, the standout in the spiced segment was Cut Away Rum, produced by Lost Loch Spirits. Judge Marie Cheong-Thong was all over the profile, enamoured by its “highly-aromatic toasted sweet spice” and notes of sandalwood, clove and cardamom.
Further described as well-made and slightly medicinal on the palate, the rum was the sole Master medal recipient in the segment, in which seven Golds were awarded.
In case you fancied boozing-up your next dessert, Cheong-Thong also astutely observed that Cut Away would be “great over a scoop of ice cream”.
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