Best white rums that will make cocktails truly delicious, taste tested

White rum? More similar ‘white YUM’!

I apologise, that was untoward. But was I wrong? White rum is simply a bright, wide and unmistakeably delicious spirit, which you’ve astir apt experienced arsenic the halfway constituent of a reasonably-priced rum and coke. But what if achromatic rum was much than a sweet-ish adjunct to a tasty late-week beverage?

‘White rum’ is an highly wide church, encompassing a immense assortment of rums and rum-distilling processes; this is, essentially, due to the fact that the word does perfectly thing for the classification of rum. White rums person 2 things successful common; that they’re derived from sugarcane (or sweetener beet), and that they’re somewhat clear. This does a disservice to the large breadth of products connected the marketplace that acceptable this superficial bill. 

Just arsenic bourbons and Scotch azygous malts are recognised for their differences and categorised accordingly, truthful excessively should rums beryllium considered successful presumption of their geography, past and distillatory processes. Concerning age, determination are cardinal differences; immoderate achromatic rums person ne'er seen the wrong of a barrel, portion others walk a just whack of clip resting connected oak earlier being filtered. 

From ageing conventions to fermentation practices, the flavour differences betwixt the chiseled forms rum tin instrumentality are palpable – whether the youthfully exuberant herb and vegetation of unaged rums and rhums agricoles, oregon the softened, sometimes woody-sweet quality of definite aged rums. Geography plays a immense portion successful this too, betwixt section fermenting traditions and the antithetic climatic properties of each region. 

Jamaican rums, for instance, are renowned for their funk – a near-ineffable flavour illustration made imaginable by the breakdown of analyzable fatty acids successful the fermenting process (themselves contiguous for the summation of ‘muck’ to the mash; for now, and if you’re caller to rum, the little you cognize astir this the better).

Meanwhile, Barbadian rums thin to transportation the darker, spicier flavour profiles commonly attributed to bourbon, connected relationship of reflecting much flavours imparted from the maturation process than from the fermentation process.

Regionality is treatment capable for a dissertation, but present we’re acrophobic with flavour. Our database is precise overmuch a beginner’s who’s-who of rums agleam and clear, with a sprinkling of intriguing bottles for those of a much inquiring palate. Santé, salud, and/or bless up!

East London Liquor Co.

Best: overall 

The East London Liquor Co. is kind-of-quietly bashing retired immoderate of the champion spirits you’ll find connected British soil, with coagulated gins and immoderate highly expressive English whiskies; they’ve besides got immoderate blending connected the go, arsenic evidenced by this superb achromatic rum that combines 3 distillates from 3 iconic Jamaican sources. It’s got a clean, balanced and rounded chemoreceptor that doesn’t frighten; it’s a uncommon achromatic rum that invites neat sipping truthful readily, and for which sipping neat pays disconnected truthful quickly.

The palate is simply a soft, wide but rounded thing, with a adust consciousness but a saccharine character. There’s an olive-in-brine prime to the body, which serves to adhd a interaction of intrigue down large nectar and banana-skin brightness. It’s got unthinkable flavour for its ABV, and volition bash astir thing you inquire it to – including adorn your solid alone.

Diplomatico

Best for: delicious jack-of-all-trades-i-ness

Diplomatico is thing of a leader marque for the hospitality industry’s corporate halfway backbar. Go into immoderate decent trade brew barroom and you’ll spot thing Diplomatico arsenic a location rum, outshining the different location spirits by an bid of magnitude. The Planas is Diplomatico’s achromatic rum offering, aged and filtered for a wide countenance and a characteristically smooth… character.

The Planas has an invitingly bright, brushed nose, carrying vanilla, rolled oats and a interaction of milkybar (perhaps an amalgam of cleanable sugar-sweetness and dairy-ish coconut hints) – with a modicum of nostril-tickling booze to punctual you this is bottled a small higher-proof than most. 

The Planas’ vessel encourages you to effort it neat, and it is amazingly affable successful this respect – albeit a small crisp connected the booze front. That white-chocolate sweetness is precise overmuch present, alongside coconut shavings and immoderate caller plot herbs. A small woodiness from the ageing adds backbone, but doesn’t drawback astatine you. The decorativeness is saccharine and a small minty. By each means sip this, but don’t halt there; usage it for a smooth, bright, plussed-up mojito too.

El Dorado

Best for: a reliable basal cocktail spirit

El Dorado volition beryllium a acquainted marque to many, having much oregon little cornered the marketplace connected readily-available premium rums successful supermarkets and off-licences alike. This Guyanese scope hails from the past distillery successful Diamond, and 1 of the older rum distilleries successful the Caribbean – wherever rums are inactive produced utilizing old-school and long-surviving woody stills.

The El Dorado 3 Year Old whitethorn person immoderate of its distillate from these iconic stills, but its developed quality comes much from the three-plus years spent maturing successful oak. The chemoreceptor is, successful a word, easy. It’s sweet, momentarily fruity and different uncomplicated, small boozy wound to drawback you. Sipped neat, the booze makes a pronounced aboriginal entry, but lone implicit a bladed slick of saccharine coconut food – and lone to beryllium rapidly cleaved by cranberry tegument and mint coffee. It’s a cleanable achromatic rum, and the cleanable basal tone for practically thing shaken!

Wray & Nephew

Best for: makin’ Zombies

Wray and Nephew’s Overproof Rum is, potentially, 1 of the astir iconic achromatic rums connected the planet. That yellow-and-green statement is simply a salient fixture successful backbars internationally, and an immediately-recognisable arbiter of thing almighty this mode coming. For the unfamiliar, this overproof rum is simply a funk-heavy, high-ABV happening that showcases immoderate quintessential Jamaican flavours successful the process. The chemoreceptor is afloat of sweetener and meaty spice, with a streak of chromatic to propulsion you in. 

Neat, this is evidently a fulsome-tasting affair, and particularly large connected the booze – each the better, though, to bring a cavalcade of unthinkable notes done immoderate you’ve mixed it with. Treacle, banana, fuel, burnt orange, pome-fruit are each contiguous successful varying degrees, making this a existent travel of a rum. It’s a spot overmuch alone, but it’s cleanable successful tropical-flavoured mixed drinks, whether successful a multi-stage passionfruit-y cocktail oregon conscionable successful a solid with Ting.

Admiral's

Best for: entry-level drinks-mixing

We’re bending the rules a tad for the students astatine the backmost here, with a highly affordable coconut rum tone portion from Admiral’s Old J. This is 1 of those less-than-37.5% bottles, that can’t beryllium a spirit, but it doesn’t stock altogether overmuch successful communal with the often-bizarre saccharine-sweet grain-alcohol travesties you tin find successful definite fund supermarkets.

It smells, of course, supremely sweet. It’s hard to get past the gomme-iness astatine first, but erstwhile you do, you find candied lime, vanilla pod and milk-bottle sweets connected the nose. It’s herbier connected the tongue, with a amazingly crisp lick of boozy rum earlier bright, spicy sweetener leads you to different astonishment successful its dry, tingly, mint-and-basil finish. On the look of things, this is an breathtaking Malibu alternative; successful reality, it is simply a soft, sweet, spiced and flimsy sort-of grog-in-a-bottle, and thing you could easy portion implicit crystal – oregon commencement your rum-mixing travel with.

Two Drifters

Best for: molasses-sweet c negativity

This achromatic rum is simply a wide and cleanable British-made offering from the Devon distillery Two Drifters, and 1 with a ngo arsenic cleanable (so to speak) arsenic its flavour profile. Two Drifters is simply a c antagonistic rum distillery that pays adjacent attraction to the c it creates and does its champion to debar said instauration altogether. Labels are made with discarded sugarcane and hemp; bottles are UK-made and lightweight; unavoidable c instauration is more-than offset via a third-party c seizure programme. Good, then, that this rum is good! 

This achromatic rum is agleam without being over-sharp, affluent arsenic it is successful vanillic chromatic smoothness and orangish oil. There’s effect to beryllium recovered connected the palate, but molasses-sweetness from the ferment carries through; the decorativeness brings buzzy pepper, pome tegument and lime. This is simply a fantastically crisp tone successful all, and an fantabulous canvas for delicate concoctions.

Paranubes

Best for: sipping and thinking

This is simply a Mexican rum from the bully vessel Paranubes, a Oaxacan distillery with a tiny but highly awesome scope of bottles. The Caña Morada is truthful named for being a single-varietal rum, which uses lone the figurative fruits of the morada sweetener cane for its ferment. The effect is an astonishing (and somewhat rare) survey of nutrient and place.

The chemoreceptor has a tactile, vegetal quality, putting that morada cane close astatine the centre; you’ll find herb leaf, caller greenish olive and a interaction of plot herb, each dry-brined successful earthy sugar. The palate continues with the theme, this clip adding immoderate politely astonishing spice notes that incorporated pickled capsicum and cinnamon, and the lightly sweet-savoury decorativeness rounds things disconnected beautifully. Sip this connected ice, oregon usage it arsenic a master-flourish finisher for thing special.

Havana Club

Best for: bougie mojitos

Havana Club is different classical rum brand, and 1 which often shows up successful threes connected the adjacent support up down your fave bartender’s head. Invariably, you’ll find the Havana Club 3 Year Old connected the near – a airy rum that wears its years a small much prominently than the rest. 

This ‘white’ rum retains immoderate straw hues from its three-or-more years successful ex-Bourbon casks, which imbue immoderate quintessential oaky warmth to the palate. The chemoreceptor is brighter and adjacent a small pineapple-juicy, with a analyzable sweetness and immoderate herby intrigue. The sensation and decorativeness are rewardingly spicy, making this a fantastic connection tone for prime halfway rum cocktails.

That Boutique-y Rum Company

Best for: a unsocial tasting experience

That Boutique-y Rum Company is simply a blending cognition that seeks to propulsion the astir intriguing barrels from astir the satellite into their just information of limelight, whether tiny independent-distillery nutrient oregon forgotten distillates from famed places. This, the Signature Blend #1, is an anniversarian workout successful flavour, combining unaged Jamaican rums and Martinique rhums to make thing uniquely characterful.

The chemoreceptor holds fewer notes, but does a large woody with them. You’ll find immoderate classical coco-vanilla sugar-sweetness astatine the start, but structured with immoderate floral grassiness. The palate is rounder and thicker, with tropical- and aged-fruit extent ensconced successful succulent honey. The decorativeness brings herbiness forward, with a small zing to refresh the palate. A well-balanced blend that won’t lucifer overmuch other you’ve tried before!

Worthy Park

Best for: inexpensive funk-fun

The Rum-Bar scope is simply a young 1 by Jamaica’s standards, being the archetypal merchandise from a precocious (by distillery standards, astatine least) re-launched Worthy Park distillery – a caller Jamaican rum making instrumentality connected an historical estate. Though new, past and cognition inactive thrum successful Worthy Park’s astute single-estate offerings, including its astir innocuous bottle, the Rum-Bar Silver.

Rum-Bar Silver is simply a blend of 3 un-aged Worthy Park rums, each of which supply expanding quantities of funk. Put simply, it’s a acquisition that a achromatic rum this inexpensively-priced – and astatine this debased impervious – tin beryllium successful possession of truthful overmuch quintessential funk flavour. The chemoreceptor is simply a woozy fruit-bowl of overripe tropical notes, sweetened by creamy banana and blossom honey. The apical notes are crisp and excitingly noxious. It’s adjacent amended connected the palate, with a big, fatty banana-fritter opening and immoderate amusive herby, citric length. This one’s hard to bash justice, and a must-try for easy-access Jamaican rum funk.