RUM IS more than a drink. It is the spirit of the Caribbean. It represents the sweetness of the region; its history; its courage and its romance. And rum is a way to take the Caribbean with you, wherever you go next. We love rum, and we’re happy that the Noble Spirit continues to grow in popularity around the world. This is our third annual Rum Awards, and the booming rum category means the competition gets more and more difficult. All in all, Rum Journal tasted 180 rums this year, and these were the best of the best. Cheers!
Rum of the Year: Angostura No. 1
This was as difficult a choice as we’ve had to make. In 2012, we chose Bermuda’s Gosling’s Old Rum as our ROTY. Last year, it was the Bacardi Facundo Exquisito. So choosing a worthy successor wasn’t easy. The rum we chose, then, had to represent the best of rum — the romance, the vigor, the sweetness of cane. After a dogged competition with rums like Ron Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva, St Lucia Distillers 1931 and Pussers 15 Year Old Rum, we found a winner: the superb Angostura No. 1 from Trinidad. Part of a release of just 9,600 bottles, this is a Trinidadian rum finished exclusively in first-fill American bourbon casks. This rum first wowed us in a tasting earlier this year, and in the Rum of the Year tasting it was even better. This is simply a magnificent rum — floral, sweet, perfectly balanced with an exquisite finish. It somehow dances in the mouth. And, even more importantly, it rates exceedingly highly on the drinkability scale. Some (outside of Trinidad) don’t realize that Angostura isn’t just a maker of Bitters. Here’s hoping that changes. Cheers to our 2014 Rum of the Year, Angostura No. 1.
Rhum Agricole of the Year: Rhum Depaz Cuvee Prestige
A simply exquisite expression of rum. This bottle from the foothills of the Mont Pelee volcano at the north of Martinique is a world-beater, with an almost impossible balance of sweetness and boldness. The finish was out of this world. We like to say that with sugarcane-juice-based rums, you can actually taste Martinique. And that’s true here. But this rum is as much about what you can taste as what you can’t taste. It’s precise, elegant and, well, just about perfect. It beat out strong challenges from Martinique’s Rhum HSE Sherry Finish 2002 and Martinique’s St James Cuvee D’Excellence.
Best New Rum: Flor de Caña 25 Year
Our best new rum isn’t cheap. At around $140, it’s at the upper end of rums one can find in most shops around the world. But this bold, complex, beautifully-bottled Nicaraguan dark rum is also the best rum Flor de Caña has ever produced.
Best New Rum Agricole: HSE Black Sheriff
It’s hard to argue with the proposition that HSE is the most creative Rhum House in all of Martinique, and perhaps the Caribbean. This rum laboratory in the Gros-Morne region of Martinique is always turning industry convention on its head, and the latest offering is just as bold. Yes, it’s a rhum agricole, except, true to HSE form, it’s finished in non-traditional barrels — this time, in American bourbon barrels. The result is an adventure — a velvety rhum agricole with a bourbon-edged bite. And our best new rhum agricole of the year.
Best White Rum: Captain Morgan White
Ok, we were shocked, too. But the rum known more for its spiced variety and a glass of coke has produced an excellent white rum. Let’s be honest, it’s extremely rare to find a white rum you can drink on the rocks (although Bacardi and Brugal have managed to come close in recent years.) But this playful white rum has an extremely important character: an oh-so-smooth finish that manages to elude the vast majority of white rums.
Best White Rum Agricole: Clement Blue Cane Rhum
Unlike most of its molasses-based counterparts, white rhum agricole can be sipped neat, or with lime and sugar cane to make the classic French Caribbean cocktail, the Ti’ Punch. But there was one Rhum Agricole to top them all this year: Rhum Clement’s spectacular Clement Blue Cane Rhum, a rhum blanc made exclusively from the most expensive, hardest-to-grow variety of sugarcane. It’s a floral, fresh spirit full of the vibrance of the French West Indies.
Best Gold Rum: Papa’s Pilar Blonde
The bold new American distillery backed by the Hemingway Estate makes two varieties: the wonderful Dark variety that won our Best New Rum last year, and a three-years-aged Blonde variety. The latter is as good an amber/gold rum as you’ll find on the market today.
Best Spiced Rum: Siesta Key Distillers Reserve Spiced Rum
It’s getting to the point where we might have to change the name of this category to Siesta Key Rum of the Year. Three years, three wins by the boutique distillery in Sarasota, Fla. This year, distiller Troy Roberts unveiled an even smaller-batch rum, Distillers Reserve, a solera-aged rum that achieves something almost unheard of in the spiced category: it’s so good you can drink it neat.
Best Flavored Rum: Brinley Gold Shipwreck Vanilla Rum
It’s not often you find a flavored rum that doubles as a proper digestif. But the delightful Brinley Gold Shipwreck from St Kitts is precisely that — and so much more than a simple flavored rum. It’s rich, with notes of vanilla, chocolate, cacao and coffee and a velvety texture. A very drinkable flavored rum that just makes you happy — and our Best Flavored Rum of 2014.
Best Overproof Rum: Cockspur 130 Overproof Rum
We’ve celebrated some great overproof rums here in past Rum Awards. Jamaica’s Rum Fire. St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Sunset Very Strong Rum. This year, our Overproof of the Year goes to a playfully robust overproof, Barbados’ Cockspur 130 Overproof Rum. It’s a powerhouse, as any good overproof should be, but with an attendant sweetness and smoothness that makes for a different kind of high-proof experience.
Best Bottle Design: Caliche Rum
This year we wanted to honor what remains one of the most beautiful bottle designs on the market: Caliche Rum from Puerto Rico. It’s a white rum with a bottle with a handcrafted, artisan glass look, joined by clever rope netting around the stem.
Rum Bar of the Year: 101 Rums, Four Seasons Resort Nevis
The Rum Bar of the Year crown returns to the Caribbean in 2014 with the wonderful 101 Rums Bar at the Four Seasons Resort Nevis’ Mango restaurant. It’s called 101 rums because, well, there are 101 rums in stock, and it’s all under the masterful supervision of CJ’s Hotel Bartender of the Year, Kendie Williams. (And for rum lovers, there’s a regular tasting by one of the region’s leading rum experts, Mark Theron.)