A well-stocked liquor collection is great for relaxing, quiet evenings at home or fun-filled dinner parties with friends. Stock your liquor cabinet with the basics, and then build it further with unique and hard-to-find collections. Surprise guests by using our beginner’s guide to choosing high-end rum to acquire unique liquors, and enjoy an evening of tropical cocktails that will take you to the islands, if only in your mind.

Types of Rum

If you aren’t experienced in rum, you may find it difficult to simply run out and start a collection. Let’s look at the different types of rum so that you can begin to familiarize yourself with this well-loved classic.

• White Rum: Clear and mild-flavored, white rum is a common ingredient in cocktails.
• Dark Rum: This liquor is robust and aged in oak barrels. Use it in cocktails or sip it straight.
• Black Rum: With its deep, rich color and bold flavor, black rum is especially effective in baking and candy making.
• Premium Aged Rum: Complex and often a blend, premium aged rum is an excellent drink to sip slowly.
• Vintage Rum: A favorite of collectors and rum enthusiasts, vintage rum comes most often from the French Islands, bottled from specific vintage years.
• Rhum Agricole: This variation is distilled at a lesser degree of alcohol than most, allowing a rich molasses flavor to shine through.
• Spiced Rum: Distillers add spices, such as vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon, to the rum to create unique, warm flavors.

What Is a High-End Rum?

What makes a rum “high-end”? Experts say that the secret to a high-end rum is molasses or 100-percent pure sugar cane. Pure molasses comes from sugar cane, so both are correct. The consensus is that it contains no added sugar. Pure sugar cane only.

It’s not necessarily the age of a rum that matters or the process by which it’s distilled; its ingredients are what make it high-end. Pureness is a must.

High-End Rum Suggestions

We won’t leave you hanging, dreaming of high-end rum without any suggestions. Here’s a list of a few of the best rums you should consider adding to your collection:

• Cihuatan Nahual Legacy Blend Rum
• Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum
• Mount Gay Copper Stills Rum
• Mount Gay 1703
• Don Q Reserva De La Familia Serralles 20-Year-Old Rum

We love rum and could go on with quite a list, but these are an excellent start for a beginner’s guide to choosing high-end rum. As with any spirit, you should do some tastings to discover what you love, and always drink what you enjoy.

At VS Liquor, we carry hard-to-find rum, along with many other rare and hard-to-find liquors. Browse our online store, or contact us for all your liquor needs.