More and more people are appreciating the wonder of rum. And in America, more and more people are making rum. Yes, there is something of a rum boom in the United States, hearkening back to the colonial period when the US was a hub of rummaking. While American rum still isn’t quite up to the level of the rums in the Caribbean (with some exceptions), the fact that rum production is surging is only a good thing for the spirit. In Rum Journal’s annual July 4 tradition, we celebrate the best rums made in America. (Note: this list always covers only the 50 US States, not the US’ Caribbean territories). Here is the fourth annual list of the Best Rums in America.
Siesta Key Rum
Troy Roberts’ Sarasota-based distillery is, simply, the best in America right now. His Siesta Key spiced and flavored rums regularly take home top honors in rum competitions, including Rum Journal’s Rum Awards, in which Siesta Key Spiced has won Spiced Rum of the Year every year since 2012. From the classic Spiced to the uber-popular Toasted Coconut, Siesta Key rums are astonishingly good.
Papa’s Pilar Rum
Produced in homage to Ernest Hemingway (and part-owned by the Hemingway Foundation) and his legendary fishing boat, Pilar, this is a world-class rum that includes rums from Central America, the Caribbean and the mainland United States that are then blended in a solera method using a combination of bourbon and port casks, with finishing in sherry casks. The results, for both the brand’s Blonde and Dark varieties, is a rum fit to honor Hemingway.
Richland Rum
This rum immediately announced itself on the rum landscape with its Single Estate Georgia Rum, a superb expression made, uniquely, using not molasses but pure cane syrup. Also uniquely, this is a single estate rum, meaning the cane is grown right on the Vennebroeck estate in Richland, Georgia — something you’d expect to see in Martinique, not the American South. But the result is something special indeed.
Miami Club Rum
It’s been great to see the rapid distribution growth of this Miami-based rum brand (and the city’s first rum distillery) in recent years led by founder Matt Malone, It’s a silky-smooth white rum built from the ground up that’s made Miami rummaking a real thing.
Dancing Pines
Rum from Colorado? You bet. Dancing Pines Distillery makes its self-styled “mountain rum” out of molasses with an artisan copper pot still. The result is a hearty but sweet product in its Cask Barrel-Aged Rum. The white and spiced rums are solid, too.
Bayou Rum
One of the biggest success stories in recent American rummaking, this rum is distilled from Louisiana sugarcane, using a combination of both cane sugar and molasses. And while Bayou began its growth with its eclectic Louisiana spiced rum, it’s continued to develop with its latest product: a Bayou Select Rum, a traditional dark rum.
St. George California Agricole
No, this isn’t made in Martinique either. But while this distillery in California makes a host of spirits beyond rum, it’s the California Agricole that’s the real story, with both white and aged expressions using California-grown sugarcane.
Koloa Rum
Green hills, beautiful beaches … it isn’t the Caribbean, but it sure looks like it. And it’s no surprise, then, that Hawai’i has become a fertile breeding ground for new rum companies in recent years. One of the biggest standouts/ The Koloa Rum Company, which produces a range of rums from a classic white rum to its lovely, chocolatey dark rum.
Fwaygo
Relatively new on the scene, South Florida Distillers Inc. has quickly made a name for itself and only added evidence to the proposition that Florida is the hub of American rummaking. The company’s distillery is in Fort Lauderdale, where it makes three expressions: Fwyago Hand Crafted Rum, Grilled Pineapple Fwaygo and Single Barrel Fwaygo. They’re all creative and interesting, and in an increasingly competitive American rum market, that’s really saying something.
Wicked Dolphin Rum
Another burgeoning rum from South Florida, the terrifically-named Wicked Dolphin makes an increasingly wide variety of rums from Florida sugarcane, from a classic silver to spiced to even a new blueberry-flavored “rum shine.” Here’s hoping to more.