This story appears in the June 29, 2014 issue of ForbesLife. Subscribe
Since at least the 1650s, when the word "rumbullion" first surfaced, rum--a.k.a. grog, kill devil and Nelson's Blood--has enjoyed a certain raffish reputation. None of your "Yo, ho, ho and a snifter of 18-year-old Highland single malt." This may be a North/South thing, a down-the-nose perception that while whiskey, gin, even vodka are born complicated, distilling rum--a drink based on sugar oozing from sugarcane and molasses (on sugar itself, in other words)--seems as easy as the breezy equatorial latitudes. But rum, it turns out, has ambitions, too. In the hands of a master distiller, rum can become flamboyantly aromatic, imbued with brooding, tarry, deep-seated layers of fruit, smoke and herbs. Or, in the ultimate refinement, eased into a sensationally graceful old age, smooth-sipping but as packed with gaudy memories as a chest of treasures. --Richard Nalley
St. George California Agricole Rum ($50)
Distilled from fresh--uncooked--California sugarcane in small pot stills, this is a bold, dramatic, wild ride that exhibits what broader-audience rums suppress: the grassy, herby, liberated-moonshine essence of the cane itself, with background notes of black olive, earth and fruit syrup. Unforgettable in a mojito or Cuba Libre.
Renegade Rum, Black Rock Barbados Rum 2000 ($85)
This dazzling, vintage-dated rum was crafted by genius distiller Jim McEwan of Scotland's Bruichladdich from special lots of an unusual double-distilled rum with eight years' maturation in port barrels. The result is like a superconcentrated cherry cola shot with tobacco, olive and campfire smoke--empty your glass, put your nose in 30 minutes later and it's all still there.
Ron Abuelo Centuria ($130)
Aged in white oak barrels for up to 30 years, this Panamanian champion is more amped-up and cigar-ready than the Zacapa XO, and extraordinary in its own way. Almost supernaturally satiny, notes of cocoa powder, charred oak, vanilla icing and banana are all somehow seamlessly meshed. An instant wow factor.
Ron Zacapa XO, Solera Gran Reserva ($100)
Distilled from pure Guatemalan cane honey and aged "above the clouds" in the chill, thin air at 7,770 feet in a solera system that blends portions of young and old (up to 26 years) rums in a series of barrels, this is a slow-reveal sipping spirit. It's delicate but intensely flavored, with note after note (chocolate, mango, marzipan) teased out as you kick back with it.
Gosling's Black Seal Bermuda Rum ($23)
Made from the original 1863 recipe, this rum is seductive, palate-caressing and so black it all but absorbs light. Aged in charred bourbon casks, it emerges full of smoky toffee, with pancake-and-syrup on top and velvety as a summer night.
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