Luxurious Rums That Go Far Beyond Umbrella Drinks

All too often, rum gets the short end of the (swizzle) stick. While spirits like whiskey, brandy, and cognac all have a comfortable place in the solo sipping routine, rum is often exclusively thought of as a liquor for mixing. After all, plenty of classic cocktails owe their flavor profiles to the sugar cane-based spirit. But rum once enjoyed a station on par with (and in some cases, even greater than) its brown spirit brethren, and fortunately, recent years have found fans rediscovering the joys and complexities of the tropical tipple via decadent aged rums and herbaceous rhum agricoles.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council, rum accounted for $2.5 billion in sales in 2021 (the most recent year for which they have published data), with the super premium rum category growing almost 13% year over year. "[Rum is] going to be the next big spirit, following along the train of whiskey," says Kenneth McCoy of the Rum House in Manhattan.

So grab a few bottles from these rum brands, and see for yourself why rum is poised to become the next liquor to appeal to sippers worldwide.