Hot dogs, apple pie, baseball and the Best American Rums.
This is now the seventh annual edition of what has become one of our favorite traditions at Caribbean Journal: compiling the list of the best rums in America to celebrate July 4th.
Since we began highlighting rums made in America, there’s been a boom in American rum production, with distilleries popping up from Newport to Hawaii — and the quality has been rising, too.
So what are our favorite rums in America this year? Check out the list to see more, with some longtime Best Rums in America selections and some new faces, too. (And before you get worried, no we didn’t forget Puerto Rico and the USVI. We always consider rums from those territories as Caribbean rums first).
Papa’s Pilar The rum part-owned by the Hemingway Estate is in many ways the flagship “made in America” rum, with a quality that matches its Hemingway-inspired story. The brand that includes a blend of rums from across the United States, Central America and the Caribbean has become a favorite of rum aficionados, with a growing portfolio of expressions from sherry-finished to cask-strength Cuban-style “blonde” rums. It now calls a flagship distillery in the heart of Key West home.
Siesta Key Rum This is as good as spiced rums get, thanks to the rummaking genius of distiller Troy Roberts, who has turned this Bradenton, Fla.-based distillery into a cult favorite, with new releases seeing lines around the block around the distillery — and selling out instantly. It’s because this is high-quality, artisanal rum that passes the toughest test for any spiced rum: you can even drink it neat.
Koloa Hawaii has a full-fledged rum industry of its own, but no rum has been able to carve out a stronger position than Koloa, which produces a range of spiced, flavored and white and aged rums at its Kauai-based distillery. The quality is uniform, although we’re particular to the classic “dark” expression.
Bayou The growth of Bayou Rum in recent years has been perhaps the most impressive in the recent rise of American rum. This Louisiana rum, made from locally-grown sugarcane, is now one of the best known American rums in the market, with a broadening portfolio that includes everything from its signature spiced to a full-fledged “XO,” a six-year expression that shows just how far the company has come.
Richland Rum.
Richland Rum If you’re looking for a boutique, luxurious, high-quality American rum, this is for you. One of the few American rums that can hold up (and, partisans say, beat) its Caribbean colleagues, Richland is a true single-estate rum distillery, from cane to glass. This is a serious aged rum, from its “virgin” lightly aged juice to its outstanding cask strength expression and newer entries like the Chateau Elan port-cask finished rum.
Thomas Tew New England was once the hub of American rummaking, and for years the Newport Distilling Company has been celebrating that history with its flagship Thomas Tew Rum, now having taken things to the next level with the Limited Release Reserve Batch that’s a robust 50 degrees, with rums aged from 7 to 10 years. It’s a bold, powerful rum that is exactly what you’d expect for a rum named after a Rhode Island pirate.
Privateer Rum In keeping with a movement in the rum industry away from adding sugar, dosage and flavoring, Ipswich, Massachusetts-based Privateer Rum is making what it calls rum “of honesty and purity.” And the boutique distiller has managed to create an impressive lineup of expressions ranging from its “silver reserve” white rum to its lovely, single-barrel “Queen’s Share.”
Key West First Legal Rum Distillery It’s not just a tourist attraction. This Key West institution makes a hearty portfolio of rums, led by the rum that started it all, the “Key West First Legal Rum,” an exceptionally brash rum with a sweet edge. Now, KWFLRD even makes its own “cuban coffee” rum infused with coffee beans aged in rum barrels and a cask-strength “105 Simonton Rum.”
Montanya Rum A new entry to this list, Montanya is the latest example of great rummaking Colorado, a rum that’s distilled as high up as any other on earth (9,000 feet) in Crested Butte, Colorado. This copper pot-still rum is aged in ex-Colorado whiskey barrels, with four chief expressions including “platino,” “oro” “exclusiva” and the halo Aniversaria rum, with the latter undergoing multiple aging in american white oak and then ex-cabernet sauvignon barrels.
Wicked Dolphin Rum Florida has become arguably the epicenter of rummaking in America, and that’s in large part to the work of distilleries like Wicked Dolphin, which has now expanded upon its silver-gold-spiced bread-and-butter to add a wave of terrific new flavored rums, too. The gold reserve is still the best, though, a three-year expression aged in ex bourbon barrels.