10 Great Rums to Start a Rum Journey for under £50
Introduction
Starting a Rum Journey can be quite daunting. The reason for this is simple – Rum is complicated.
Which is why I have created this list of 10 Great Rums to Start a Rum Journey for under £50. Which is both the best and worst thing about it.
For anyone standing in front of a supermarket/retailer shelf or browsing online stores trying to decide what bottle to buy next can seem very daunting.
There are White rums, Dark rums, Golden rums, Navy rums, Aged rums, Agricole rhums, Overproof rums, Spiced rums, Flavoured rums and everything in between.
Then you start looking into it properly and things get even more confusing.
One rum might be made from Molasses. Another might be made from Fresh Sugar Cane Juice. One might be distilled in a traditional Copper Pot Still. Another might come from a Modern Multi Column still.
The good news?
You don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds to discover the incredible variety rum has to offer.
In fact, for around £350 you can buy ten bottles that will take you on a journey through some of the world’s greatest rum producing nations and traditions.
This isn’t a list of the ten most expensive bottles. It isn’t a list of the rarest releases. It isn’t a list of the highest scoring rums I’ve reviewed.
Instead, this is a list of bottles that each represent something different.
Different countries, Different traditions and Different styles.
Buy these ten bottles and you’ll understand more about rum than someone who has simply collected random bottles because they liked the label or the marketing nonsense.
So let’s take a trip around the rum world.
If you aren’t based in the UK or Europe you might not easily find all these bottlings. This list represents ten bottles that I have bought on multiple occasions and offer excellent value for money.
They aren’t ranked in any order either, they are just ten very solid bottles I think you all should try. Especially if you want to explore the world of rum. There aren’t any Spiced or Flavoured rums on this list. It’s likely most of you will already have tried plenty of these. This is about genuine rum, not gimmicks. I’m not going to recommend anyone try a rum because it tastes like a snozberry dipped in Nutella.
Lets go……
Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve
Jamaica
Typical Price: £30–35
Jamaica has a reputation for big, bold and sometimes challenging rums. High esters, huge flavours and aromas that can remind you of tropical fruit left forgotten in the corner of a warm room.
Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve is the more welcoming side of Jamaican rum.
This is a bottle that shows exactly why Jamaican rum is so respected, without overwhelming newcomers. Expect orange peel, vanilla, oak, gentle spice and those unmistakable tropical fruit notes that make Jamaican rum unique.
Its versatile enough for someone buying their first proper sipping rum but interesting enough that experienced drinkers will appreciate it as well.
A superb introduction to Jamaica.
Read my full review: Appleton Estate 8 Reserve – thefatrumpirate.com
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Appleton Estate 8 Year Old Reserve : The Whisky Exchange
Doorly’s XO
Barbados
Typical Price: £35–45
Barbados is often hailed as the birthplace of Rum. Indeed the Mount Gay distillery is known as the oldest “legal” distillery in the world. I’ve no doubt you may have expected to see Mount Gay Eclipse feature on this list.
For a lot of people it would have been a sure fire certainty. Alas I’ve never quite got along with it. So I’m opting for another stalwart of the Barbados rum scene.
Foursquare Rum Distillery and their vociferous owner Richard Seale have helped push quality and transparency forward in recent years.
Doorly’s XO is a brilliant example of why Barbados and Foursquare deserves attention.
Its smooth, without being boring, complex without being intimidating and offers exceptional value. Expect vanilla, coconut, oak, dried fruit and gentle spice.
The sort of bottle that quietly sits on the shelf and keeps getting reached for.
A genuine rum bargain.
Read my full review: Doorly’s XO FIne Old Barbados Rum Review
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Doorly’s XO Rum : The Whisky Exchange
Chairman’s Reserve Original
Saint Lucia
Typical Price: £28–33
Saint Lucia is often overlooked when people talk about Caribbean rum, which is a shame because Saint Lucia distillers, the islands only distillery, produces some excellent examples.
Chairman’s Reserve Original combines different styles of distillation to create something full of character. There is fruit, spice, vanilla and a touch of funk, but it remains incredibly approachable and well balanced.
It is a great reminder that some of the most interesting rums aren’t necessarily from the biggest or most famous producers.
A seriously underrated bottle. The bottle which truly started my rum journey
Read my full review: Chairman’s Reserve Original Finest St Lucia Rum
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Chairman’s Reserve Original Rum : The Whisky Exchange
Flor de Caña 7 Gran Reserva
Nicaragua
Typical Price: £27–32
Not every great rum has to shout.
Flor de Caña represents a very different style from Jamaica or Barbados. This is a drier, more restrained style of rum. Its multi column distilled so it very much lets the barrel do the work. So you get a dry, pretty woody rum which will be comforting for a Bourbon or Scotch Whisky drinker.
Expect vanilla, toasted nuts, caramel and lots of oak
It proves that rum of this style doesn’t have to be sweetened to be enjoyable or accessible.
Read my full review: Flor De Cana 7 Gran Reserva
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Flor de Cana 7 Grand Reserva Rum : The Whisky Exchange
Ron Santiago de Cuba Extra Anejo 11 Años
Cuba
Typical Price: £40-45
Cuban rum very much has its own identity. No other country or region produces rum in the same way. Rather than the heavier, richer styles found elsewhere in the Caribbean, Cuban rum traditionally focuses on elegance, lightness and drinkability.
Santiago de Cuba Extra Anejo 11 Años delivers exactly that.
It is refined, smooth and approachable, with notes of caramel, oak, vanilla and gentle fruit.
A great choice for anyone moving beyond basic mixing rums and wanting to explore classic Cuban rum.
Read my full review: Ron Santiago de Cuba Ron Extra Anejo 11 Anos – thefatrumpirate.com
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Ron Santiago de Cuba 11 Year Old Extra Anejo : The Whisky Exchange
Black Tot Finest Caribbean
Caribbean Blend
Typical Price: £40–45
Blending rum properly is an art.
A good blend is not about hiding flaws. It is about bringing different components together to create something greater than the individual parts.
Black Tot Finest Caribbean does exactly that.
Bringing together different Caribbean traditions, it offers richness, complexity and plenty of character.
It is a reminder that blends deserve respect.
Read my full review: [INSERT LINK]
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: [INSERT LINK]
Woods Old Navy Rum
United Kingdom / Caribbean
Typical Price: £25–30
Some bottles are fashionable. Until fairly recently this rum was still styled in a bottle which looked like a 70’s throwback. That said the liquid inside the bottle is and always will be a classic
At 57% ABV this is not a shy rum. It’s the rum the old bloke in the pub was drinking with Blackcurrant cordial, not diluted with water or Pep (Peppermint Cordial). He warned you about iIts strength. You didn’t listen. It took you an hour to get home from your local that night………
Woods Old Navy Rum delivers bold flavours of molasses, spice, dark fruit and treacle.
This is a piece of rum history that remains affordable and accessible.
A proper old-school navy rum. Pusser’s used to have a slight edge on this. It doesn’t anymore.
Read my full review: Wood’s Old Navy Rum – thefatrumpirate.com
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Wood’s Old Navy Rum
Barbancourt 8 Year
Haiti
Typical Price: £40-45
Haiti has one of the most fascinating rum traditions in the world.
Barbancourt is made using fresh sugar cane juice rather than molasses, giving it a style that sits somewhere between traditional molasses based rum and agricole. It has even been queried whether molasses is used. This is something which has been widely debated and discussed. It may well be a mix of Sugar Cane Juice and Molasses.
Regardless…..this is a truly unique r(h)um and I cannot think of anything which tastes quite like this bottle. It’s excellent.
The 8 Year offers elegance, fruit, spice and a distinctive character that sets it apart from almost everything else on this list.
A bottle every rum drinker should experience. Sadly. this is the hardest bottling to find and its appearance in the UK tends to be rather sporadic.
I would look around for this.
Read my full review: Rhum Barbancourt 5 Star 8 Year Old Rum Review
Damoiseau Blanc 50%
Guadeloupe
Typical Price: £30–35
If you think white rum is just something to throw into a cocktail, Damoiseau Blanc may change your mind. Fresh sugar cane juice creates a completely different experience from molasses-based rum.
Expect grassy notes, cane sweetness, herbs, pepper and a distinctive freshness.
This is rum in a completely different form. Thats probably why they call it Rhum Agricole.
You might not like it at first but it grows on you in a way like a really good album.
Once you “get” Argicole especially punchy white agricole you’ll rarely bother with White Molasses rums.
Read my full review: Damoiseau Rhum Blanc 50%
Wray & Nephew White Overproof
Jamaica
Typical Price: £30-35
Few bottles are as important to Jamaican rum culture as Wray & Nephew. At 63% ABV, this is not designed to disappear quietly into the background. It ceetainly doesn’t do that you can smell if from the next room.
It is powerful, hugely fruity and unmistakably Jamaican.
For cocktails, it is legendary. For sipping, it requires a little respect. Either way, every rum enthusiast should experience it at least once.
In all honesty a true enthusiast should always have at least a small bottle to hand……..
Read my full review: Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Review
Buy from The Whisky Exchange: Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum
Final Thoughts
The best thing about rum is that there is no single “rum flavour”.
There is no one style that defines the category.
From the funky intensity of Jamaica to the elegance of Cuba, from the fresh cane character of Guadeloupe to the traditional navy style of Woods, rum offers more variety than most spirits.
The bottles above prove you don’t need to spend hundreds of pounds to explore that.
For roughly the price of a couple of Premium bottles, you can take a journey through some of the most fascinating rum-producing regions on earth.
Once you’ve done that?
You’ll probably never look at the rum shelf in quite the same way again.