You Can’t Go Wrong With These Taster’s Club Top 10 Rum Picks
Written by Emma C | Updated April 2024
Rum, once a quiet contender in the world of spirits, is stepping into the spotlight, and at Taster's Club, we couldn't be more thrilled! While some might pigeonhole this versatile spirit as simply a mixer for fruity cocktails, true rum enthusiasts and spirit aficionados know that a great rum can stand proudly on its own. Whether you're savoring it neat or crafting a classic cocktail, the right rum transforms any occasion into something special.
With distilleries across the globe producing unique expressions, selecting the best rum can feel like a daunting task. That's where we come in. Our team of experts, armed with decades of industry experience, has meticulously taste-tested countless bottles to bring you Taster's Club's top 10 rum recommendations. Each of these stellar selections is readily available in our bottle shop, so you can explore the captivating world of rum with confidence. Let's raise a glass to discovering the finest rums that deserve a place in your collection!
Taster’s Club’s Top 10 Rum Picks Available in Our Bottle Shop
1. El Dorado Rum Aged 12 Years
This 12-year aged rum offers a round, mellow, full-bodied, and incredibly balanced palate with powerful fruit, tobacco, orange peel, baking spice, molasses, leather, and toasty oak flavors. It finishes long, spicy, and heated with lingering oak and baking spice flavors.
Region: Guyana | Tasting Notes: Fruit, Tobacco, Baking Spice, Oak | ABV: 40%
2. Bacardí Reserva Ocho
Inspired by a family recipe from 1862, BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho is known as The Family Reserve. Amazing in cocktails, it delivers rich aromas of brown sugar, marshmallow, apricot, fig, vanilla, raisin, and spice. On the palate, you’ll get rich flavors of mostly vanilla, brown sugar, and marshmallow notes, followed by fig, apricot, and spice. The drink finishes with the sweeter notes.
Region: Puerto Rico | Tasting Notes: Brown Sugar, Marshmallow, Apricot | ABV: 40%
3. Brugal Añejo
Brugal Añejo is matured for 2-5 years in carefully selected American oak casks that are medium-toasted to provide a rich, smooth taste, with beautifully light, musty, complex aromas of wood, butterscotch, oak spice, chocolate, cinnamon, clove, orange, and raisin. The rum is dry in an overall sense and buttery in the mouth with a slight hint of caramel, oak spice, orange, and tannin, followed by marmalade, raisin, nut, and cinnamon. A medium copper or amber hue, Brugal Añejo is perfect over ice or in a rum cocktail.
Region: Dominican Republic | Tasting Notes: Wood, Butterscotch, Orange | ABV: 40%
4. Chairman's Reserve The Forgotten Casks
Chairman’s Reserve The Forgotten Casks is an extra-aged sipping rum crafted to mimic rum found in the original forgotten casks of Chairman’s Reserve, which were preserved from St. Lucia Distillers’ horrific fire on May 2, 2007. The cellar master was forced to find unusual storage space for his rum barrels during the rehabilitation of the distillery, and these casks were misplaced during this time of confusion.
These “forgotten casks” resulted in rum which was too old for the original Chairman’s Reserve blend, so it was decided that this rum would be released on its own and was received with worldwide acclaim. St. Lucia Distillers continues to hold back select Chairman’s Reserve for extra aging to offer a limited release of “The Forgotten Casks."
Region: St. Lucia | Tasting Notes: Tropical Fruit, Nut, Spice | ABV: 40%
5. Diplomático Rum Reserva Exclusiva
Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva is a blend of exclusive rum reserves aged for up to 12 years, carefully selected by the maker’s Master Blenders. Marrying a unique body with excellent balance has made this multi-award-winning rum a reference for connoisseurs and fine spirits lovers throughout the world. Opening up with aromas of orange peel, toffee, and licorice, it is smooth on the palate and follows on with notes of toffee fudge that offer a seductive, long-lasting finish.
Region: Venezuela | Tasting Notes: Toffee, Fudge, Orange | ABV: 40%
6. Rhum Clement VSOP
Medium-bodied Rhum Clément VSOP is matured in Habitation Clément’s cellars in new French oak barrels for one year, after which time it’s moved for three years to larger re-charred Bourbon barrels before being bottled at 40% ABV. This warm-amber spirit presents aromas of cedar, oak spice, butterscotch, maple, dried fruit, marmalade, and a bit of ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, raisin, and banana. The dry, complex flavor profile includes raisin, spicy oak, banana, coconut, and grape. Finally, the rum finishes medium and dry with spicy notes of ginger, oak, and cinnamon.
Region: France | Tasting Notes: Raisin, Oak, Spice, Fruit | ABV: 40%
7. Plantation Rum Isle of Fiji
From the pristine lagoons to the lush jungles, the Plantation Isle of Fiji is an ode to the beauty of the Fiji Islands. This delicious rum is made using traditional techniques and local Fijian sugar cane. First aged in this tropical climate in bourbon casks, the rum is then sailed to the southwest of France for a second maturation in French oak casks. This double-aging method paired with Fijian know-how creates a rum with warm notes of exotic fruits and raisins.
Region: Fiji | Tasting Notes: Fruit, Raisin, Vanilla, Honey | ABV: 40%
8. Zaya Rum Gran Reserva
Zaya is a premium dark-aged rum sourced from the islands of the Caribbean. The dark bronze rum is purposely crafted with a blend of aged rums to achieve a seductive nose of baked fruit, oak spice, tobacco, caramel, marzipan, and spiced vanilla, and a smooth palate of vanilla, caramel, nut, spice, dry fruit, and toasted oak. Deep amber in color, the finish is profound, long, and touched with just a hint of smoke.
Region: Trinidad and Tobago | Tasting Notes: Vanilla, Caramel, Nut, Spice | ABV: 40%
9.Don Papa 10 Year Old Rum
Produced on a Philippine island with one of the world’s largest “Angel’s Share” evaporation rates, Don Papa rums still come out strong. Inspired by Papa Isio of the late-19th century Philippine revolution, this flagship rum is aged for an additional 3 years from the maker’s 7-year version in re-charred ex-bourbon American oak barrels. The unhurried process results in a darker, softer, and bolder yet approachable rum with notes of tropical and dried fruit, caramel, cacao, dark chocolate, raisin, smoke, and a hint of oak.
Region: Philippines | Tasting Notes: Fruit, Caramel, Chocolate, Raisin | ABV: 43%
10. Flor de Caña Rum 18
Flor de Cana 18 Centenario is an ultra-premium full-bodied rum with no added sugar. This amber-colored rum with dark undertones has exquisite aromas of nuts, oak spice, butterscotch, caramel, tobacco, orange peel, vanilla, and brown sugar. Flavor notes include rich vanilla, butterscotch, tobacco, marzipan, and spices, and a long, dry, extremely clean and smooth finish.
Region: Nicaragua | Tasting Notes: Nut, Oak, Spice, Caramel | ABV: 40%
With these top 10 rum options, you’ll have plenty to choose from when the mood strikes. Just remember, if you can’t decide or would love a new bottle on the regular, go ahead and sign up for our rum club. We handle absolutely everything while you sit back, relax, and await a new bottle each month to sip, savor, and enjoy.
Looking for the best Curated Rum of the Month Subscription? Check out Taster’s Club Rum Club for different Types of Rum from today’s top producers delivered straight to your door.
Taster’s Club is the Premiere online shop for anyone looking for a curated Liquor of the Month Club or a one-off bottle purchase from our Bottle Shop.