A beginner's guide to sipping rums

In these austere times, which spirit delivers the best value? 

If you don’t want to overly worry your wallet, then there are some absurdly affordable ‘sipping rums’ out there. Most sipping rums are matured — and that’s where their value comes in. Compared with the ageing of Scottish whisky or French Cognac, the oak-ageing of rum in humid, tropical nations — located in the Caribbean and Central and South America — intensifies the process. The high humidity greatly accelerates the interaction between the oak and the spirit, meaning, in theory, that an eight-year-old rum is the equivalent of a 24-year-old Scotch matured in colder climes.

As the casks expand and contract in the heat, the rum soaks up the character from the barrels — extracting vanillin for vanilla, eugenol to keep things spicy and lactones to contribute coconut notes. Maturation in oak also naturally rounds off the spirit’s fiery edges, enhances the honeyed qualities and offers producers the opportunity to experiment with different types of wood and ‘finishes’.

Although spiced varieties are largely responsible for rum sales overtaking whisky in the UK, the popularity of premium or so-called ‘sipping rums’ rose by 85% over the 12 months to July 2022 (according to CGA by Nielsen IQ) and they currently represent a third of the market.

So, what constitutes a sipping rum? 

Erm, they’re rums that you sip… and savour. They’re certainly not rums you drown in coke. Of course, you can have them with mixers but, ultimately, they’re complex rums designed for quiet and considered contemplation — and maybe a leather wingback armchair of some description. Perhaps a fedora.

Capable of rivalling cognac and single-malt whisky in complexity, sipping rums are incredibly diverse in style and no other spirit captures the people, the place and the past that have shaped it more distinctively. Enjoyed neat, over ice or with a splash of water, sipping rums showcase the spirit’s rich variety of styles that have, over time, been forged by a cocktail of cultural influences — geography, terroir, commerce and a rich yet problematic and tumultuous past.

Aah. Or Arrrghhh. Is this when we talk about pirates?

(Sigh). No. No, it’s not. But when it comes to regulation and labelling, banditry and buccaneering abounds in the rum category, with many producers playing fast and loose with the rules — or the lack of them. Whereas there are clear definitions governing the various styles of, say, whisky, the numerous rum producing countries have struggled to agree on clear classifications, and there’s little sign of that changing. This may frustrate some, but it also broadens the breadth of rum styles and flavours and, in doing so, widens its appeal as the most chaotic and contentious denizen in one’s drinks cabinet.

Is there anything that unites rum? 

Sugar cane, or moreover molasses. Born of specific ‘cane terroir’, this key ingredient can differ hugely in character. But beyond this, rum producers are free to adopt different approaches to fermentation and distillation technique (pot still or column still). And then there’s filtering, sweetening and indeed colouring — all touchy topics of robust debate among rum connoisseurs.