Wednesday, August 16, is National Rum Day. If you are a die-hard whiskey drinker, your first thought may be something along the lines of, “Who cares?” Well, maybe it’s time to give rum a chance, especially the dark, aged, complex rums that should appeal to lovers of brown spirits. Even esteemed whiskey writer Fred Minnick decided to give rum a chance with his latest book, Rum Curious.
Many, if not all, of these rums are aged in ex-bourbon barrels, which may be a selling point for whiskey snobs. Also, you can substitute aged rum into any classic whiskey cocktail – Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sazerac – and you will be pleasantly surprised at how the flavors play together, offering a refreshing and surprisingly good take on a standard. If you’re not in the mood for a cocktail, that’s okay – these rums are meant to be enjoyed neat, or maybe with an ice cube, in much the same way that a good whiskey is. While Latin America and the Caribbean are still the epicenter of rum distilling, these days you can also find decent rum produced in some unlikely areas around the country (Cape Cod’s South Hollow Spirits, for example) and countries like the Philippines.
Here are some worthy aged rums to sip on this National Rum Day.
Mount Gay XO
This limited edition rum is the first ever cask strength expression from Barbados’ Mount Gay distillery. Only 3,000 bottles were released last fall, in celebration of a half century of Barbadian independence. This is a strong, bold, sipping rum, clocking in at a hefty 63% ABV. It’s not cheap at $185 per bottle, but it’s definitely a nice entrance into rum for the dedicated whiskey drinker.
