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Worthy Park produces its rums in copper pot stills at its estate in Jamaica’s Lluidas Vale. This 16-year-old WPL rum brings together Tiki Kai and K&L in an exclusive collaboration, bottled at cask strength from a single cask.

A top pick for tiki and tropical drinks, this practically begs for lime juice. Scented with warm honey notes, the palate shows lots of brown sugar and spice, plus an enticingly untamed, funky finish (the fabled 'hogo'). Since it’s 'Navy Strength,' you might not want to sip it straight up—the producer wisely recommends exploring the profile first in a daiquiri—though it’s smooth and interesting enough if you want to try. (KN)

This delicious rum has a beautiful light color. In the mouth it was very soft and drinkable. It will go well in some cocktails but drinking it straight is an excellent option. It is pure and clean with layers of flavor. I did not pick up a lot of funk from the Hampden but nuance and expressive flavors . The rums from these two distilleries work well together.

The Probitas Rum brand is the single most interesting thing coming out of the Caribbean right now. The simple truth about the rum industry is that a huge amount of the apparatus involved in producing rum exists outside its primary region of origin. There are undoubtedly economic reasons for dispersing the production network, especially given the cost of importing raw materials and equipment to islands far from the markets where these products are most popular. Still, there is something deeply unusual about the fact that spirits distilled in the Caribbean, but aged and bottled in Europe, can continue to be considered Caribbean rum. The Scots would certainly never allow something so ridiculous. Yet the decentralized nature of the industry is also a huge part of its success, and there seems to be little hope of changing the broader systemic issues surrounding rum production. The best we can hope for is that great producers, like the wonderful Foursquare Distillery in Barbados, create products that reshape the marketplace and challenge the status quo. Richard Seale, already an iconoclastic force in the industry, seems poised to do just that. I have always said that the rum industry follows the leader, and without a leader willing to challenge accepted norms, we will never see rum break out in the way it should. While the category may still be led in volume and dollars by the large multinational brands, its spiritual and intellectual leader is clearly Mr. Seale. His powerful vision for what rum, and Bajan rum in particular, should be offers a model for every quality producer to follow. It gives us hope that a better industry and better rum can take center stage in a true renaissance for the category. This product represents one huge step in that direction. Challenging the dogmatic anti-additive brigade to do a little soul-searching, Richard has created a blended dark rum using traditional methods that simply outperforms nearly everything in the category at an absolutely stupendous price. By carefully curating every element, they have created the new king of dark rum. From the selection of barrels and the precision of the blending to the coloring performed in-house, every detail feels perfectly proportioned. Here we go! The color is a stunning burnt umber (1.7). The nose begins with a beautiful combination of sweet woody caramel, dense baking spice, and tense rum funk, although at a considerably lower intensity than the Probitas White. Further aeration brings out burnt butter, raisiny dark fruit, and old leather. On the palate, it is powerful and rich, balanced by a lip-smacking juiciness that gives it a profoundly moreish quality. The funk takes a back seat to beautifully developed sweet fruit and honeyed character. Sipping it neat is perfectly enjoyable and makes its obvious quality immediately apparent, but there is no question that this rum was intended to be mixed. It succeeds everywhere the Probitas White occasionally fell slightly flat. I love that product in a funky Daiquiri, but it can sometimes feel muddled in a Mai Tai. This absolutely demolishes the competition as a base for that kind of drink. If you are ever considering mixing a rum-based cocktail and have not already grabbed one of these, you are clearly not maximizing your bar game. It is okay. You still have time!

A medium-complex bouquet that demands focus and time; offers scents of grass, textile, peanut, beeswax with an underlying honeyed sweetness. The palate is mellow and marshmallow sweet, then features luscious and delicate flavors of honey, cola nut and cream. Elegant, poised and succulent. (PP)

This rich, silky sipper entices with caramel and vanilla aromas. The palate opens with deep toffee and caramel and a drying dose of oak, then the finish dazzles with spice: cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, black pepper. (KN)

Alambique Serrano is produced by the Krassel family in the mountains of Oaxaca, a region better known internationally for mezcal. Their work highlights another strand of Oaxacan distilling: rum. This “Vida Nativa – Zacua” release comes from a single barrel, designated #6, and is presented in a 700ml bottle.

The Rums of Mexico brings together small producers working in both traditional and contemporary styles, showcasing the diversity of Mexican cane spirits. Among its most experimental distillers are Pedro Andrés and Jorge Nájera, two first-generation producers who run the small Satvrnal distillery in Zapopan, on the outskirts of Guadalajara. There, they make gin, absinthe and other spirits alongside small batches of molasses rum on a custom hybrid pot and column still. Their Melaza con Muck drew inspiration from the high-ester rums of the Caribbean; Un Toquecito is its lightly aged successor. This three-barrel blend combines pot still rum made with dunder and young muck. Two barrels spent two years in ex-Bourbon casks, followed by 11 months resting in open-top demijohns. The third, distilled with young muck, spent five months in an American oak ex-rum cask. The name means “a little touch,” referring to the time in oak. Bottled at 51.1% ABV.

The bouquet offers integrated scents of roasted chestnut, dried tobacco leaf, maple, orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon and egg cream. The palate entry is curiously medicinal; the midpalate improves as the taste includes bittersweet flavors of old oak, wood resin, molasses and tree sap. Concludes intensely sap- and maple-like.

An incredible example of why the El Dorado Rum should be considered some of the world's finest. From a famous rum producing nation, Guyana, Demerara Distillers Ltd is the last functioning distillery in this Caribbean jungle nation. Using some of the world's oldest stills, DDL has been able to continue Guyana's legacy of producing the finest rums. Every offering from El Dorado is strikingly different, but the 12 year stands alone in terms of bang for your buck. This is a blend of 4 rums from 4 different types of still and represents the old style Guyana rum. Delicious!

Ed Hamilton, the self-appointed Minister of Rum, is bottling excellent and affordable rum from throughout the Caribbean under his namesake brand. This lovely Demarara is meant to compete with the El Dorado rums from the same distillery, but it doesn't have any sugar added! This should be a go to for any home bartender looking for a workhorse base for most rum drinks and stands up well neat or on the rocks as well.

Product details coming soon.

Alambique Serrano is rooted in the Krassel family’s rum-making tradition in Oaxaca’s mountainous Sierra Mazateca. In a state renowned for mezcal, its rums highlight a different distilling heritage built around sugarcane rather than agave. “Vida Nativa – Mariposa Vitral” Blend #2 carries that Oaxacan identity in a 700ml bottling.

El Dorado Rum is made by Demerara Distillers Limited in Guyana, South America. It is perhaps the single greatest rum producer on the planet. Having operated since the 1600s, it supplied the British Royal Navy with rum for more than 200 years. The Diamond Estate Distillery still churns out a variety of spirits today. DDL's historic stills were built in the 18th and 19th centuries and are still in operation, producing a number of amazing flavors. The complex and ethereal 21-year uses heavy-bodied rums from the EHP Coffey still (a wooden column built in the 1800s) and from two wooden pot stills, one of which (the Versailles single pot) was built in the 1700s. The result is a nose full of mocha and tobacco with a mineral note behind it all. The palate is like velvet with tropical fruit notes and a rich, leathery finish. It's one of the great rums in the world, and when compared to the price of 21-year single malt, it's one of the best deals as well.

Oaxaca’s long tradition of cane distillation frames this sixth-edition release from Alambique Serrano. Presented at still strength and identified as a single-origin aguardiente tradicional, “Cartier 30” offers a focused look at Mexican rum through a distinctly Oaxacan category and sense of place.

A combination of column and pot distillates Bounty Dark Rum packs a little more punch than it's golden brother. It's still an inexpensive option for all of your cocktailing needs, but it's a touch higher in proof and more robust. It also sees an extra few years of aging. The rum spends 3-5 years in cask before bottling.

The Clairin Casimir is truly one of my favorite spirits in the store of any kind. Understanding why these rums (the Clairins) are so special is as easy as pouring that first glass. But appreciating the incredible story behind these wonderful rums, true products of place, makes the sensory experience all that much more impressive. To compare the Clairins to single village mezcal is appropriate and even comparing the actual products to Agave isn't a big stretch. Instead of smoke we get a deep rancio funk in the background, but the structure and attitude of the spirit is similar. The nose on the Casimir is one of the most complex of any white spirit I've ever experienced. Deep tones of savory tomato puree, black olives, salted roasted herring and dense dried herbal characters are pointed by hints of ripe tropical fruit, citrus, sweet tea and grass. On the palate, the overwhelming savory quality takes a back seat and the gorgeous fruit aromas come through. Bright citrus peel, strong ginger and cassia notes. Not nearly as dark and brooding as the nose might imply. The whole thing stays wonderfully balanced and precise with salty citrus being the prominent quality to the end.

Long a secret of bartenders in the Caribbean, Hampden distillery's Rum Fire is now available at retail in the U.S. The high-ester, high proof is aptly named, as it will catch fire if opened around an open flame! Funky and fruity, this is the ultimate Tiki lover's delight!

Ed Hamilton now has his own series of rums from different Caribbean islands. This Jamaican Black Pot Still edition is fabulous for mixing and comes in at an excellent price. Now just grab some ginger beer and get going.

Distilled in Barbados, this ten-year-old rum spent eight years in bourbon casks followed by two years in vintage wheated bourbon casks. The blend was bottled by Starlight Distillery in Borden, Indiana, without chill filtration or additives.

Made in Oaxaca from sugar cane juice rather than molasses, Alambique Serrano’s “3 Años” highlights a distinctly agricultural route to rum. This second-edition, single-origin Mexican bottling carries a three-year age statement and comes in a 700ml format.

Roaming Road’s 18-year-old Barbados rum gets right to the heart of Mike Gilmore’s independent bottling project: find distinctive individual casks from serious producers and bottle them with enough transparency to let the selection stand on its own. Distilled at a renowned Barbados distillery from a blend of pot and column still rum, this 2025 release spent eighteen years maturing in a once-used ex-bourbon cask before being bottled at a formidable 59.8% ABV, or 119.6 proof. There are no additives, no cosmetic shortcuts and no attempt to sand down the character of the barrel. Barbados rum already carries a strong reputation with whiskey drinkers thanks to its balance of structure, ageworthiness and cask influence, and this bottling leans straight into that appeal. For anyone who has followed the rise of independent rum bottlers, Roaming Road is exactly the kind of project that keeps the category exciting: small releases, serious sourcing and casks chosen because they have something specific to say.

With their first distillation happening in 1749, Appleton has had some time to perfect the art of tropical maturation. For decades master blender and chief chemist Joy Spence has been crafting the style that sets todays standard for Jamaican rum. A blend of pot and column distillates, all of Appleton's rums reflect that special signature of Jamaican funk blended with soft and approachable characteristics.

ne of the very best unaged agricole rhums available. From the historic JM distillery on the far-flung northern coast of Martinque, this is easily on of the best values in this expensive and labor intensive style of rhum production. JM has long been considered one of the island's finest, and we're incredibly lucky to be able to offer it at this incredible price. 96 points Beverage Testing Institute: "Clear color. Aromas of underripe guava, grilled artichoke, water chestnuts, and marjoram with a round, lively, dry medium body and a peppery, complex, very long coconut flesh, lime spritz, white pepper, cinnamon, star anise, and teriyaki finish. Excellent body and length star in this Rhum Agricole that features a pop of tantalizing acidity and powerful flavors on the finish. Platinum Medal -- Superlative" (06/2019)

This full-throttle, 151-proof rum is a blend of 85% demerara and 15% Jamaican Pot Still comes from noted rum importer Ed Hamilton. It's his answer to one of his longtime portfolio staples, the Lemon Hart 151 overproof. Burnt amber in color with hugely intense nose (apart from the ethanol). The profile is heavily centered on molasses, maple, and treacle. This is a serious step up from the clear Puerto Rican 151s that most people are familiar with. It's ideal for Tiki cocktails for sure, but with a few drops of water it's well worth the experience of drinking it on its own. It will work equally well in spirit forward cocktails, too.

Dark brown rum distilled from molasses. The dark rum from Wray & Nephew. Coruba is typical of the Jamaican dark rums used to make planters punches and cocktails.

A classic Dickensian dissembler, Reverend Stiggins is a Pickwick Papers character who sermonized about temperance while indulging in constant sips of pineapple rum. His name graces this new rum, a project that Maison Ferrand took on, sparked by a suggestion from spirits writer David Wondrich (the two have collaborated in recent years on a Curaçao). Using a base of Plantation Original Dark Rum that’s been macerated with Queen Victoria pineapple flesh and a portion of white rum that’s been distilled with the rinds, they’ve created a barrel-aged rum that’s addictive. The pineapple notes coexist subtly with the classic brown sugar and butterscotch flavors of dark rum, with nothing cloying or overt. It’s just sheer pleasure. (JM)

Panela begins with a familiar Mexican agricultural product and follows it somewhere far less familiar. Producer Orlando Vásquez presses freshly cut sugarcane, slowly boils the juice into syrup, and pours it into cone-shaped wooden molds to harden into unrefined whole cane sugar, known as panela or piloncillo. Those cones are subsequently rehydrated with spring water and fermented, creating the base for distillation in his wood-fired, four-plate continuous copper still. Orlando’s family has long specialized in panela production, and he began experimenting with distilling it more than a decade ago. This expression makes that history central to the process, offering a fascinating comparison with his fresh-cane-juice Caldo. It’s another compelling reminder that rum’s diversity begins well before the spirit reaches the still.

Rhum J.M. traces its history to 1845 at Habitation Bellevue in Macouba, on the volcanic slopes of Mount Pelée. “Terroir Volcanique” is a vieux agricole from Martinique, where rhum agricole is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses, linking the spirit directly to the island’s cane-growing tradition.

Dark brown rum distilled from molasses. The dark rum from Wray & Nephew. Coruba is typical of the Jamaican dark rums used to make planters punches and cocktails.

The very special Hampden Estate is one of the last of the truly old-style Jamaican rums available. The distillery, which long made ends meet selling to blenders and bottlers, has finally released their finest rums under their own label. With the full support of the fabulous Luca Gargano of Velier, Hampden has packaged this exceptional rum with absolutely no additives or adulterants of any kind. Hampden Estate produces rums inoculated with dunder, a process not totally dissimilar from sour mashing in Kentucky, which uses the spent lees of distillation to cultivate flavor-producing bacteria. The muck that's harvested from those pits is added to the fermentation to create one of the most biologically complex worts in the world of distillation, and the resulting spirit is packed full of complex esters. After years of aging in the Caribbean climate, the funky esters develop complexity and depth rarely seen in any rum or spirit of any kind. A truly authentic expression of the unique flavors of Jamaican rum and easily one of the most flavorful and complex products of any kind on the shelf today. This product is transitioning to an 8-year-old age statement, and bottles might have either 7 or 8 year indicated on the bottle, but the product is nearly identical.

This luscious cachaça is aged up to two years in barrels made from a rare Brazilian wood called amburana, hence the name. That aging time yields a pale straw hue and distinct notes of banana and honey, with a spicy fillip of cayenne and cassia bark doused with brown sugar. (KN)

Rested for six months in stainless steel casks, this clear cachaça offers bold, sweet raspberry and plum aromas and flavors, overlaid with a bit of jalapeño heat and zesty vegetal notes on the finish. (KN)

Not to be confused with Lebanese Arak (an anise-flavored spirit similar to Ouzo) or Sri Lankan Arak (a distilled palm wine made from coconut milk), Batavia Arrack is a Javanese/Dutch distilled spirit made from sugarcane and fermented red rice. It's prized for its ability to highlight spices, citrus, and chocolate. This spirit, which was traded by the Dutch East India Company, was especially popular in the heyday of the "Punch", which was between the late 17th and 19th centuries. This is a quintessential ingredient in many of the Punch recipes included in famed New York bartender Jerry Thomas's book, "How to Mix Drinks", or the Bon Vivant's Companion. For a more contemporary take, buy a copy of David Wondrich's wonderful book, aptly called "Punch", a bottle of Batavia Arrack, and mix away!

Deep amber in the glass, this sipping rum offers tones of fudge, and hazelnut on the nose. The supersoft palate brings flavors of brown sugar and toffee accented with orange peel and clove, winding into an extraordinarily long exhale tinged with espresso, dusty cocoa and allspice. Aged for a minimum of 21 years. (KN)

Haiti's largest export is rhum. Barbancourt is essentially the ONLY rhum being exported from the troubled island nation. It is a testament to their commitment to quality. Made in a very similar style to the AOC rums of it's neighbors Martinique and Guadeloupe, Barbancourt 5 Star is one of my favorites. Fresh and light on its feet, you have all the intensity of a great Agricole rhum without the funky undertones. One of the best values in the store.

Opened in 2013 by Jeremy Johnson, the cocktail bar Meta was Louisville's crown jewel for late-night imbibing for over a decade. What launched Meta into the national spotlight was an act of pure, unorthodox provocation: Johnson created the Pappy Van Winkle Jello Shot, a stunt born of genuine frustration with bourbon elitism that earned him actual death threats, but also landed the bar in Esquire, Playboy, Imbibe, Food & Wine, and the Today Show. Irreverent to the end, Meta sadly closed its doors in March 2026, ending an era in the city's cocktail culture. K&L has acquired the very last remaining bottles of Meta's storied private barrel selections, including this private cask finished in Palo Cortado Sherry.

Aged at least 15 years, this limited release was originally only available in the Canadian market. Finally making it's way to CA in small quantities this combination of pot and column offers all the finesee and intensity Appleton is known for.

2025 San Francisco Spirits Competition Winner for Best Overproof Rum. A bold and robust blend of five different unaged rum marks, it delivers an explosion of flavors and an invigorating kick of 63% ABV. This exceptional Overproof embodies the essence of Jamaica, offering an authentic taste of the Caribbean like no other. This rum is distilled in a 100% copper pot still built in Scotland. In accordance with the Jamaican Rum Standard, no additives are used in the blending of this rum.

Clairin is so hard to pinpoint, but there's no question that these special spirits are the next level for real lovers of distilled spirits who crave complexity and depth. They fall squarely in a round hole. Or is that roundly in a square whole? The sum of the squares is great than the whole. Anyway, expect something in between Agave, Agricole and Islay. Sajous is a pretty different terroir than the other two Clairins and has a slightly different style type, but we're no less impressive. This one can use a bit of water just a tiny drop. Still tons of savory, but less black olive and more castelnuovo, fresh teatree bark, engine oil, sour dough, underbrush and endless bouquet of aromatics. The palate just explodes. It's so delineated and enjoyable I can't stop drinking it. Crushed rocks covered in lime juice. Sea water thrown on a smoldering fire. Mangos covered in Tajin. Just ridiculous. Unfair. Nothing else matters but this...

Alambique Serrano is redefining what Mexican rum can be, and this latest release from Oaxaca shows why the project has become one of the most compelling new spirits programs anywhere. Blend #10, “El Estado Dorado,” is crafted from Java varietal cane grown high in the Sierra Norte around Santa María Talixtac at 2,500 to 3,800 feet above sea level. Fermented in stainless steel and pine tanks with ambient yeasts, the rum was distilled by Los Hermanos Krassel and assembled in an intricate marriage of styles. The blend combines four distinct components: 29% rum aged 28 months in new French oak and finished 10 months in ex–red wine casks, 28% rum aged 23 months in new French oak and likewise finished in red wine casks, 27% rum aged 38 months in ex–bourbon, and 16% pot still rum aged 22 months in new French oak, uniquely resting in a “Night on Earth” cask. The result is a deep, textured spirit that balances the richness of French oak spice with the structure of American bourbon barrels and the vinous lift of red wine cask finishing. With no water, sugar, or coloring added, this is pure cane expression, bottled at natural strength. Just 907 bottles were produced, blended by Maxwell Reis of Mírate in Los Angeles alongside Jason Paul Cox of Alambique Serrano exclusively for California. Bottled in June 2025, it stands as one of the most exciting limited editions of the year and a benchmark for single origin Oaxacan rum.

The Old Fashioned Traditional Dark rum from Planteray (formerly Plantation) is a recreation of the most traditional style of English rums, bottled at a full 20 points over proof. The big, rich pot still style that was popular in the age of the sail is all but lost to the modern age of light and flavored rums. Thankfully a group of cocktail historians and industry professionals have worked to bring it back to life. The salty band of misfits brought together by Maison Ferrand's Alexander Gabriel are famous in tiki circles and beyond: Jeff Berry, Martin Cate, Paul McFadyen, Paul McGee, Scott Schuder, and David Wondrich. They blended heavy, dark rums from Barbados, Guyana, and Jamaica and bottled it at a blistering 138 proof, which is perfect for punch grog and tiki alike.

The story from Mr. Ed Hamilton: "In the twenty years I lived on a yacht sailing the West Indies I really enjoyed drinking some great white rums. Back in the US, I missed that clean, fresh flavor of aged molasses-based rum that had been carbon-filtered to remove the color gained during a few years spent aging in oak barrels in the tropics. In addition to the fresh flavor of the rum there was also a slight coconut note generally attributed to the American oak barrels in which these rums were aged. Like so many things those rums that I enjoyed in the '90s are no longer made. In 2001, Trinidad stopped growing sugar cane commercially but continued to make rum from imported molasses, the end of an era that stretched more than two centuries. To capture those flavors and aroma that are as rare today as the elusive green flash that signaled the end of another day in paradise anchored in the lee of a West Indies island I had to blend several rums from different islands. The bulk of this rum is aged rum from Trinidad to which I blended sugar cane and molasses distillates from Guyana and Santo Domingo, as the windward half of Hispaniola is known in the islands. This high proof blend is carefully diluted with filtered, well water...once diluted to 87 proof, bartenders told me they really didn't want another 80 proof clear rum...if you're still reading this, I want you to know there is nothing in this bottle but rum and filtered, well water. No flavors, sugar, glycerine or anything else."

A marriage of two to six year old rums, 50% pot still and 50% column, the new Diplomatico Planas is then filtered of color and bottled as a blanco, albeit one with lovely richness and weight. Bottled at a higher 47% ABV, tiki fans should keep an eye out fof this one.

The opening aroma is marvelously beany and grassy; later, sweetish flavors of dark caramel, chimney soot, and dark, old honey make scrumptious inhaling. The palate entry is honeyed, warm, and cocoa-like; at midpalate the grassy, weedy, cane-like taste balances the honeyed sweetness. Concludes cocoa-like, intense yet smooth, and memorably sweet. *Best Buy*

From Oaxaca, Alambique Serrano’s Altos Esteres is a single-origin traditional aguardiente presented at still strength. Its high-ester designation and production-focused identity place the emphasis squarely on Mexican cane-spirit tradition, offering a distinctive perspective on rum from southern Mexico.

Founded in 1753 in Jamaica’s Trelawny parish, Hampden Estate is one of the island’s historic rum distilleries. HLCF stands for “Hampden Light Continental Flavoured,” a traditional Hampden marque. This pure single rum reflects the estate’s longstanding use of extended fermentation and copper double-retort pot still distillation.

Product details coming soon.