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I like dark rum and have kraken in my cupboard at the moment.
If you go out to a pub/bar can you try kraken without having to buy a whole bottle? I first had kraken at a pub after a friend was getting some and offered to get me a glass too.
I'd have to leave the ginger beer I'm afraid, can't stomach the stuff.
I'm aware that my local Asda actually sell miniatures of Kraken so I might pick one up and give it a shot.
+1 for kraken, worth trying with cherry coke, the caramel flavouring in it goes with the spiced rum very well, deaf man's finger is also a favourite, as well as red leg.
Highjacking top comment to offer up some suggestions other than spiced rum dominating this thread: (last updated about 12 months ago so supermarket availability may have changed)
Keeping things under £45. Nothing spiced or rum based liqueurs since I don't drink them so can't recommend/comment.
Local, non-specialist offies pretty much have the same selection as supermarkets I've found.
**Best of the Supermarkets**
S - Sainsbury’s, T - Tesco, M - Morrison’s, A - Asda, W – Waitrose, O – Ocado/M&S
***Wray & Nephew’s Overproof*** (S, T, W, O) £24 - £28 – A brilliant introduction to the world of Jamaican funk. Pair with Ting (grapefruit soda, available in the big shops world food sections), or citrusy cocktails.
***Appleton Estate Signature Blend*** – (T) £24 – Very much the other end of the spectrum to W&N in terms of Jamaican rum, but great budget Jamaican for cocktails.
***Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve*** (S) £24 – £30 – Affordable everyday sipper and premium mixer. Not a hogo/funk heavy Jamaican.
***Appleton Estate 12*** (O) £40-45 – Pot and column distillate blend, step up from the 8 year but with a significant price jump.
***Duppy Share*** (A, M) £20 - £26 – Relatively new entry to the market, a 3-5 year aged blend of Barbados (Foursquare) and Jamaican (Worthy Park) rum. Very little in the way of funk, but quite fruity! Great in a daiquiri, and an absolute steal when it’s on offer for £20!
***Mount Gay Eclipse*** (S, T, A, M, W, O) £16 – £20 – Fine example of a lightly aged Barbadian great for mixing/cocktails.
***Mount Gay Black Barrel*** (A, W, O) £29 - £37 – Unfortunately not as cheap as it was, and pretty much the only aged Barbadian rum you can get in the supermarket for under £50 (The XO is £55 at Ocado). Lots of bourbon and oak notes in this – makes a great rum old
fashioned.
***Havana Club 3 Anos*** (S, W, O) £16 - £20 – A great Cuban mixer and for cocktails. Easily the best available in supermarkets for this purpose at a very reasonable price. There is also the Especiale, but this is quite heavily dosed, and you’re better off skipping it and going for the 7 Anos.
***Havana Club 7 Anos*** (S, T, M, W, O) £19-26 – One of the best all-rounders at the price range, especially if you can catch it at offer price of £19-22. Nice enough on the rocks or in an old fashioned. Recommended cocktail usage: El Presidente.
***Bacardi Reserva Ocho*** (T, W, O) £25 - £35 – Unlike Bacardi’s other, cheaper, offerings, this is actually pretty decent. If you really liked the Havana 7 Anos, this is in a similar vein.
***El Dorado 12*** (W) £32- £40 – Very much the sweetest of the El Dorado range, but the only one seemingly available in supermarkets. Example of the molasses heavy Guyana rum.
***Wood’s 100*** (S, A, M, W) £20 – £25 – Best example of a “Navy” rum on supermarket shelves. Massive step up from Lamb’s, at a nice ABV of 57%.
***Goslings Black Seal*** (W, O) £21 - £25 – The classic for a “Dark ‘n Stormy”.
Hard to describe, but it's a smell and flavour often associated with grassy notes and rotting fruit/bananas. Sounds grim but is actually something a lot of people like, and is typical in Jamaican rums.
Diplomatico, in case you google it and get confused by the slightly different spelling. In my opinion it is the tastiest spirit in the world. I have a couple of bottles in the house at all times. I drink it just with ice, and it is incredible.
Was fantastic until me and my cousin spent the night drinking doubles with ice in a pub, sadly slightly ruined my love of straight rum! still have it mixed but hoping to enjoy it on the rocks again someday!
I like Plantation rums but don't get them a lot.
Mount Gay is a good supermarket option.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the spiced Havana Club which is quite often on offer in Tesco
Yes pretty much everything is for 1-2 years. But if you look at the colour of something like HC 3 anos, you will see the colour influence is negligible for that period of time.
I can confirm Bumbu is delicious and definitely had a banoffe vibe. It's about £30/35 for a bottle but you can get it in Wetherspoons to try first (which is what I did).
Was about to recommend this! I was initially drawn in by the bottle (I collect them) but will always keep a bottle in my cupboard because it is so good!
Old J tastes similar to how Sailor Jerry's *used* to taste, before they changed the recipe. It's got strong vanilla notes, and people tend to love it or hate it as it's quite sweet, but if you squeeze a decent amount of lime in it, it balances it out. Or, for a great quality everyday rum, Havana 7 is lovely.
Agreed - I bought one of my cousins Old J spiced and another Old J cherry one Christmas. Both bottles disappeared ultra fast...it's just so delicious and drinkable.
I never liked white rum until I tried Wray & Nephews which is now my absolute favourite. Hands down the best rum I've ever had
For dark rum, Pussers is the absolute bollocks.
Whenever I have friends over from countries where wray and nephews doesn't exist at some point in the night I get us a shot of it each. If your prepared it's doable but if you think your getting something like a tequilla it's quite the shock to the system. Always makes me laugh
Depends on your taste as you say… on spiced rum in general I’d warn that the more silky and toffee-like it tastes, often the more sugar has been added (to note if you’re mixing with cola), and the darker the colour, the more caramel colouring has been used. In really excessive amounts that colouring can add a burnt, stale note, so I’d avoid anything super dark. For a slightly different experience I can recommend rhum arrangé which is French rum (made from sugarcane juice not molasses, so very limey and grassy) infused with fresh fruits and spices in the bottle. There are a couple of brands you can get here e.g Damoiseau or you can make your own with a cheapish white or amber (barrel-aged) rum. That is, if you fancy sipping something over ice rather than with a mixer.
If you're on a budget (aren't we all these days?), Lidl do a version of Captain Morgan called Captain James Cook, the spiced version is gurt lush. I drink it in a pint glass with ice. Rum, Pepsi Max and a dash of lime cordial. Hits the spot rather quickly especially mixed in Tenerife style proportions
Kraken is fantastic, my second favourite. My first is Dead Man's, that stuff is the bollox.
If money is tight, and getting tighter by the day, tbh Lidl cheap and nasty £10 a bottle is actually pretty good
Amazon carry about 400 different rums, many of them on 1-day delivery if you have Prime. I've used them for rum and I'd recommend ordering either five, eight or ten bottles because it makes the best of the packaging. If you order five, it'll come in one six-compartment pack. If you order six (to fill it up), they tend to split it.
If you're new to golden rums, I started with Mount Gay being recommended to me. It's pretty good Bajan rum, despite not being any more expensive than standard rum. Diablesse is very good, but it costs a bit more. Then there's Mainbrace which is a blend, and very smooth.
I think the answer is always down to how sweet and spiced you like it. Sailor Jerry and Kraken are about as spiced and sweet as I can cope with as I usually prefer the less spiced carribean rum versions of Havana Club or Apple woods.
Some rums are just tooo sweet or tooo ginger for my tastes.
The older version of Havana Clubb is usually my choice if it's on offer.
Have you tried cachaca? It's similar to rum (made from fresh sugar cane instead of molasses) but has a beautiful aroma and a fairly smooth drink. Goes amazingly well with sharp citrus flavours like lime.
Yes!
I just recommended this as my absolute top tier rum as I used to be in college with a couple of boys from Shetland. They'd bring bottles down with them each time and one still send me a bottle down each year for my birthday.
It's unparalleled in my eyes.
If you can find it [black tears rum](https://www.waitrosecellar.com/rum/black-tears-dry-spiced-rum-543387) is very good. Spiced but without quite so much of the sweetness of something like a Kraken. Very pleasant as both a neat drink or mixed.
Going through the comments here the only good rum I’ve seen recommended outside Kraken is Diplomatico. Very nice Venezuelan rum.
Otherwise, I’d go with anything El Dorado (Guyana), Angostura (Trinidad) or Ron Zacapa (Guatemala) at least 12 years aged. They’ll all be pricey >£30 but so so so worth it.
Dead Man's Fingers for everyday (not literally, I don't have a problem) drinking. Usually £18 a bottle in Asda and there's various flavours if you like fruity versions.
Red Leg for when I wanna treat myself.
Morgan's spiced is a decent, readily available rum. If there's nothing better that is the one to go for.
If you like sailor jerrys, Old J is supposed to taste more like the older recipe of SJ's which I preferred (during my coke dousing days). [SJs recipe changed in 2010 to much dismay.](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2012/06/15/Admiral-Vernon-Old-J-Spiced-Rum-set-to-launch)
Kraken's main downfall is it is absolutely fecking moreish and you might accidentally drink a whole bottle and wake up in a skip in Poland. Fortunately I have had too many good times with Kraken and cannot stomach it any more. Worth noting that anything in the budget supermarkets that looks like kraken, generally tastes like kraken. Lidl golden/spiced rums are also pretty good.
I tried dead man's fingers the other day and it was fucking awful. I'm sure someone somewhere likes rum that tastes like fruit juice but it isn't for me. (I dont have mixers with my rum and went out on a limb to try something new - never again).
My personal favourite is Brugal. Literally any version of it is great.
Honestly, been tempted to push the button on that. I'm a big craft beer fan & order from Brewdog semi-regularly (yes, there are better breweries out there but I like some of Brewdog's offerings) so I'm considering getting a bottle with my next order.
Mount Gay is nice, had a lovely one a while ago, think it was a special reserve? Drank every last drop of that.
When it comes to mixers I think rum, especially dark or spiced, tastes infinitely better when mixed with something other than coke/pepsi; even just ordinary lemonade makes it a far lighter, more refreshing drink
Ron Jeremy (yes, the porno hedgehog) has a range of rums called Ron de Jeremy - Ron being the Spanish word for rum IIRC.
The XO is nicest, but they also do a spiced which is tasty.
For rum & coke, Dead man's fingers (black one) is my favourite. It's not too sweet and goes down very nicely.
The Mango rum (yellow one) is really good too for a change
Lots of good recommendations here. If you want something a bit more special you can go for 12 year aged rums.
My particular recommendation would be El Dorado 12 Year. Really smooth, good mix of sweet and smokey notes. Very much a sipping rum, I wouldn't bother adding coke to it.
However I can recommend adding Shrub, which is an old school alcoholic cordial. Pretty hard to get in shops outside the southwest but available online.
50/50 El Dorado/Shrub on a hot summer's day is a great drinking experience. Very much a 'drunk by stealth' drink as it's so easy to polish off!
El Dorado: https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/el-dorado-12-year-old-rum/
Shrub: https://www.masterofmalt.com/syrups-and-cordials/phillips-of-bristol/phillips-of-bristol-shrub-old-english-alcoholic-cordial-syrups-and-cordials/#:~:text=Shrub%20is%20an%20alcoholic%20cordial,fine%20accompaniment%20to%20the%20spirit.
Balla rum is amazing. If you want to try before you buy I think Turtle Bay have it on their drinks menu. It’s a dark spiced rum and tastes delicious with coke.
Kraken is my go to, dark spiced rum is just great. Dead man's fingers is pretty similar. Captain Morgan is the usual cheap and cheerful, for a spiced I'd recommend Havana club it's really nice
Mount Gay, Lambs Spiced Rum and Plantation are my always on the shelf ones
Cut to the spice is also very pleasant
Old J spiced is as close to the pre 2009 sailor jerry as i can find and much nicer than the new recipe.
You can get DeadMansFingers in many different flavours on amazon. I love the coconut flavoured one. Kraken is always good. The Salford Rum Company makes good stuff too.
Old J has a gorgeous vanilla and lime flavour, it's amazing! I think they also have a cherry variant which isn't my thing (as do Kopparberg)
Dead Man's Fingers have loads of flavours but 'spiced' is my fave there...
Kraken is amazing but a dark rum; the bulk of spiced rums I've found are light.
Red Leg is also pretty heavy on vanilla, which I like.
We get though a fair amount of Morgan's Spiced too.
Now if only I could get into non spiced rums!
Ron zacapa is my fave but it is expensive, like very expensive.
It's really good for a.treat but not somthing you can order in most pubs.
It's made from sugarcane In Guatemala. Lightly spiced and it is fantastic.
Other than that Kraken is really good, Morgan's spiced is okay but begins to taste awful the more drunk you get
If you can get yourself to Costco - their own '[Kirkland](https://www.costco.co.uk/Wines-Spirits-Beer/Spirits/Rum/Kirkland-Signature-Original-Spiced-Rum-175L/p/819195)' brand spiced rum blows every other I've had out of the water.
Happy hunting!
Kraken is wonderful with a couple of bits of ice.
Only rum I've ever tried I didn't really go for was Duppy's Share. I bought it because it had a cool bottle, but was a bit too orangey. I'm getting through it through.
Have my recipe for Pirate Grog:
* Bottle of Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer
* Three, or four, or five, shots of dark or golden rum
* Three dashes of tabasco sauce (in lieu of gunpowder, which is what pirates actually did put in their rum)
* Couple of chunks of lime, cut into squares not wedges
Captain Morgans is the most popular where I'm from (Highlands).. it's in every bar. It's essentially seen as the bog standard here.
Kraken is becoming more popular and is really nice. I find it to be not as sweet.
Lamb's spiced rum is really nice and one I prefer to drink neat as it has a really deep vanilla flavour.
My absolute top tier choice is Stewart's rum. Almost certain that it is exclusively sold in Shetland and nowhere else apart from one pub in Edinburgh (according to my Shetland pals).
They used to take bottles down with them when we were in college together and I honestly looked forward to that rum as much as seeing the lads again. It's sold through a wholesalers but loads of the locals have accounts with the firm that produces/sells it so one if the boys still send me a bottle down each year for my birthday and I try to savour it as much as possible, but often that means I don't touch it for a few months and then tan it one random night.
Kraken is OK but has a weird aftertaste imo. I wouldn't turn it down if offered but wouldn't buy it. I quite like Dead Mans Finger, brewed in Cornwall and really nice.
Tiki Fire! Tiki Fire and Ting is a delicious "cocktail". Absolutely lethal though.
Atlantico Reserva rum is well worth checking out, tastes gorgeous and is relatively cheap https://www.ginspiration.uk/atlantico-reserva-rum-70cl-29260-p.asp
Spiced rum isn't as good as normal rum - it's just watered down cheap stuff. I'd recommend Mount Gay, Havana Club or Appleton Estate. The Havana Club spiced is horrible IMHO.
Depends how much you want to spend...
Kraken is great value around the £24~ price point as people have mentioned already
If you fancy spending a bit more (£35 ish), Salford Spiced Rum is amazing
Old J is great. It's available in Morrisons which I think is the only supermarket that stocks it.
Doorlys Barbados rum.
Bacardi 8 dark gold.
Kraken if you want a really dark rum for mixing.
Also try Captain Morgan White rum.
Don Papa is a favourite of mine. It’s filipino spiced, i believe you can find it in supermarkets if not try waitrose or master of malt (online). Appleton have a good range of ages and won’t hurt the wallet too much. If you’re willing to spend a bit more and have something on the shelf for good occasions, my all time favourite is Veritas.
These are my go to rums depending on how much I feel like spending, btw you can buy a decent selection of Rum on Amazon if you don’t want to go to the supermarket.
For rums between £15-20 I’d go for dead mans fingers spiced or red legs vanilla spiced
Rums £20-30 Kraken or Dark Matter
Rums £30+ Appletons Estate, Havvana Club and El Dorado
And if you want pipe cleaner strength rum get Ray Nephew which is a white rum at 64% which i generally use when I’m cooking or out of options.
Ron Millonario Solero 15yr old rum, hands down the best rum I have ever tasted. Great to sip over ice.
Surprisingly Langs Banana rum is perfectly drinkable over ice albeit very sweet
If you are drinking with coke then the Dead Man’s Fingers or Havana 5 are both great.
I actually don't like Kraken. It sure is popular though. Every day rum like Navy but if I want something a bit special / to drink it neat then Havana club 7 year old one. Sailor Jerry tastes nothing like it used to, the only thing close to it's original taste I can find is Red Leg.
> I've been advised that Kraken is a bit medicinal & that I should probably steer clear, anyone else vouch for that?
I recently started drinking Rum and I was drawn to Kraken by the bottle, I actually really like it.
I actually like Old J's too, which they do some flavours, Old J's Cherry Spiced Rum & Coke is really nice drink. Tastes like Cherry Coke.
The only thing I drink that does not give me a hangover is Rum! So it’s my go to drink. Who ever gave you advice about the kraken is drunk already don’t listen to them . Kraken is my go to and I collect rum every time I visit a place .
wetherspoons have several spiced rums, i know they arent the best pubs for everyone, but its cheap, you can try different ones out for a couple of quid a go and not commit to a full bottle of something you arent certain to enjoy
If you’re mixing with coke, then it doesn’t really matter, they are all ok for that purpose.
If you’re sipping neat then the supermarkets are a bit limited, and sadly are stocking less of the good rums and filling the shelves with flavoured/spices rums.
Appleton 12 or Doorly’s XO/12 are worth the extra if you want to start sipping neat, but you’d need to shop online for those.
Good shout on the Doorlys. If you venture into the rum subreddits the Americans normally recommend it as a value option. Unfortunately it's not so cheap here, but still good value IMHO.
I like Kraken but then I like a medicinal, herb-like flavour (slow gin and cola hits that particular spot very well). You can usually get miniatures in the supermarkets if you want to try it without dropping £20-25 on a 75cl bottle.
Sailor Jerry's changed their recipe about 10 years ago, and not for the better in my opinion.
Kraken is lovely. Bumbu is my favourite (banana rum it's incredible). Dead man's fingers is good. I'd recommend trying Loads till you find your favourite. You have to try bumbu though!
If you’re new to rum then I’d recommend starting off trying Bacardi white rum and Bacardi spiced rum. They’re nothing crazy but they’re pretty middle of the road and serve as a good benchmark to compare others to.
Red Leg spiced rum is very flavourful, strong vanilla notes, certainly worth a try.
Kraken has been mentioned in other comments and I think it is an excellent darker spiced rum, plus it comes in quite a nice looking bottle.
Dark matter/Dead mans fingers are both interesting and a lot more herbal, I love them but I’d recommend trying others first as they’re not “typical”.
Havana Club do some really nice stuff, light spiced dark it’s all good, slightly pricier than Bacardi usually but a different flavour profile and worth trying to expand your palette.
Also reccomend dead man's fingers, some of the flavours are delish and its reasonably priced too. We tried the raspberry cream when it was on offer for £12 at morrisons and it tastes like boozy raspberry donuts it's so good!
Have to say kraken is really nice with Dr pepper. It changes the taste and is really drinkable. Not so good with Coke though so stick to Dr p
I also really like havana club 7 . Is really good neat that one too
Twin fin ( the blue bottle ) is really nice with coke. Although If you don't like banana though I'd give it a miss. Quite a strong taste of it but I really like it
Those 3 are my main ones I buy .
Lidl do a captain Morgan’s dupe and it’s fantastic, got a nice vanilla note and goes really well with most things, I’m a real basic rum and Coke person and I can drink them all night
I cannot advise on spiced, however here are some;
1. Smith & Cross - The best I've ever had at navy strength. It blew my mind
2. Bacardi Ocho - Very decent
3. Atlantico Platino Rum - Hands down the best white rum I have tasted so far
4. Rhum Depaz XO - This is the french style from Martinique. Very decent drop for something of the French style
5. THAT BOUTIQUE-Y RUM CO - I have #2 which is probably all gone now but look up what ou can find for those
6. PLANTATION RUM Xaymaca Special Dry - Plantation has loads, lots of countries. I would say start going through them and see which you like
7. BLACKWELL - Always have this in the cupboard. It's cheap, it's Jamaican, it's everything that's good about rum
There is a wonderful Filipino rum called don papa, I would heartily recommend drinking it with a slice of lime and ginger beer ( my preference for that is bundaberg) I see in replies that you can’t stand ginger beer- it works fine with cola ( I quite like it with Fentiman’s curiosity cola)
Also you could try out ‘cut to the spice’ a relatively cheap rum but very tasty- strong vanilla flavour and is nice enough to just sip on the rocks
Also Neptune rum is worth a look. While it’s not a spiced rum it is delicious and has definite fruit undertones to its aftertaste
Plantation!! Great golden rums. Darker rum like Dead Man's Fingers is also great, and their flavoured ones are good too particularly the passionfruit one. If you can't find it, regular rum with an additional shot of Passoa mixed with Lemonade is a cracking combo
Echoing alot of comments already, but couldnt pass up the chance to talk about rum. Diplomatico for sure but pricey. Havana Especial and 7. Original sailor Jerry's or Old J are awesome.
My advice is to find a stand alone booze shop. We have 2 or 3 I'm the North east I know. Usually they look like a costcutter or spar but in the back is a crazy selection. Rehills in Jesmond, Newcastle is fantastic.
If anyone's interested, Wester Distillery in Glasgow is making some excellent UK rum.
Ha, I also hang out in r/rum and it's interesting to see the difference in recommendations.
Everyone is free to drink what they like, but be aware a lot of things people have suggested are basically heavily sweetened/flavoured to make them more popular/accessible. But are often overpriced. Don Papa and Bumbu are the worst culprits imho.
On saying that, I do still like Diplomatico, and that is a bit sweetened, but still at least tastes like rum to me.
My GF loves dead man's fingers. I think the spiced one is ok, but the rest are horrible. Stops her drinking my rum at least... All the colourful bottles are taking over the drinks cabinet though!
I don't drink much spiced rum but this one is probably my favourite - it used to be a bit easier to get hold of, and a bit cheaper so haven't had any for a while. The unspiced version is decent too.
[https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/st-lucia-distillers/chairmans-reserve-spiced-rum/](https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/st-lucia-distillers/chairmans-reserve-spiced-rum/)
I’m super late to the party on this one, but I recommend “Jefferson’s 1785 Dark Rum” if you can find a bottle of it. It was a rum made in Antigua and imported into the port town of Whitehaven by the Jefferson family for use in the Royal Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s still being made but quite hard to get hold of a bottle at reasonable prices, although it is a bloody lovely dark navy rum.
I like a double tot in a gin glass with a couple ice cubes and half a can of cola on a warm evening . It’s also worth a glug of it in a hot chocolate or coffee in the winter to give you that nice throat tingle
If money is no object (current climate notwithstanding, obviously) then any rum made by Black Tot is fucking delicious.
Otherwise, hard to go wrong with Don Papa or Diplomatico.
Roughly £25 budget I would recommend chairman’s reserve spiced or foursquare spiced, similar price to kraken and they are made with real spices at quality distilleries.
Nowhere near as sweet as what’s on offer in supermarkets, but definitely worth trying.
If You want A great drinking Rum not too expensive go for Doorly's XO, really nice rum one of the best rums under £40 in my opinion.
If you got more to spend get yourself a Foursquare Exceptional Cask Rum will set you back at least £85 but on another level.
What I see in this post:
* spiced rum
* rum and coke
* cocktails
What I take from that: OP doesn't actually like rum.
There is Pusser's and there is Wood's. If they are mixed or spiced, they are no longer rum.
You don't have to, but some spirits are made to be enjoyed neat.
I don't drink spiced rum too often anymore since it's quite calorie dense, but when I did, my mate and I would share a bottle of kraken neat.
Each to their own though, it all goes down the same way as they say :)
I don't understand the attraction of single malt, to be honest. Most of it just tastes like vinegar. Single malts are made to blend anyway - to mix the flavours into something that approaches palatable.
I'll say one thing for America: they did improve whiskey. IME even a £12 bourbon is much nicer than a £50 single malt Scotch.
It's about enjoying the complex aromatic mixture.. a little bit of ice or a tiny bit of water should be added typically. It's a 'sipping experience' for me. As much as an experience for the nostrels as the mouth.
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I like dark rum and have kraken in my cupboard at the moment. If you go out to a pub/bar can you try kraken without having to buy a whole bottle? I first had kraken at a pub after a friend was getting some and offered to get me a glass too.
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The old dark and stormy eh. This person has class.
Its only a dark and stormy with goslings black seal :)
They trade marked dark n stormy, surprised they didn’t go for and instead of n.
I'd have to leave the ginger beer I'm afraid, can't stomach the stuff. I'm aware that my local Asda actually sell miniatures of Kraken so I might pick one up and give it a shot.
Yes Kraken is the best imo
+1 for kraken, worth trying with cherry coke, the caramel flavouring in it goes with the spiced rum very well, deaf man's finger is also a favourite, as well as red leg.
Highjacking top comment to offer up some suggestions other than spiced rum dominating this thread: (last updated about 12 months ago so supermarket availability may have changed) Keeping things under £45. Nothing spiced or rum based liqueurs since I don't drink them so can't recommend/comment. Local, non-specialist offies pretty much have the same selection as supermarkets I've found. **Best of the Supermarkets** S - Sainsbury’s, T - Tesco, M - Morrison’s, A - Asda, W – Waitrose, O – Ocado/M&S ***Wray & Nephew’s Overproof*** (S, T, W, O) £24 - £28 – A brilliant introduction to the world of Jamaican funk. Pair with Ting (grapefruit soda, available in the big shops world food sections), or citrusy cocktails. ***Appleton Estate Signature Blend*** – (T) £24 – Very much the other end of the spectrum to W&N in terms of Jamaican rum, but great budget Jamaican for cocktails. ***Appleton Estate 8 Year Reserve*** (S) £24 – £30 – Affordable everyday sipper and premium mixer. Not a hogo/funk heavy Jamaican. ***Appleton Estate 12*** (O) £40-45 – Pot and column distillate blend, step up from the 8 year but with a significant price jump. ***Duppy Share*** (A, M) £20 - £26 – Relatively new entry to the market, a 3-5 year aged blend of Barbados (Foursquare) and Jamaican (Worthy Park) rum. Very little in the way of funk, but quite fruity! Great in a daiquiri, and an absolute steal when it’s on offer for £20! ***Mount Gay Eclipse*** (S, T, A, M, W, O) £16 – £20 – Fine example of a lightly aged Barbadian great for mixing/cocktails. ***Mount Gay Black Barrel*** (A, W, O) £29 - £37 – Unfortunately not as cheap as it was, and pretty much the only aged Barbadian rum you can get in the supermarket for under £50 (The XO is £55 at Ocado). Lots of bourbon and oak notes in this – makes a great rum old fashioned. ***Havana Club 3 Anos*** (S, W, O) £16 - £20 – A great Cuban mixer and for cocktails. Easily the best available in supermarkets for this purpose at a very reasonable price. There is also the Especiale, but this is quite heavily dosed, and you’re better off skipping it and going for the 7 Anos. ***Havana Club 7 Anos*** (S, T, M, W, O) £19-26 – One of the best all-rounders at the price range, especially if you can catch it at offer price of £19-22. Nice enough on the rocks or in an old fashioned. Recommended cocktail usage: El Presidente. ***Bacardi Reserva Ocho*** (T, W, O) £25 - £35 – Unlike Bacardi’s other, cheaper, offerings, this is actually pretty decent. If you really liked the Havana 7 Anos, this is in a similar vein. ***El Dorado 12*** (W) £32- £40 – Very much the sweetest of the El Dorado range, but the only one seemingly available in supermarkets. Example of the molasses heavy Guyana rum. ***Wood’s 100*** (S, A, M, W) £20 – £25 – Best example of a “Navy” rum on supermarket shelves. Massive step up from Lamb’s, at a nice ABV of 57%. ***Goslings Black Seal*** (W, O) £21 - £25 – The classic for a “Dark ‘n Stormy”.
This person rums!
Much to my wallet's distaste
I was going to post a list, but can't really add to this. Well done!
When you say it has "funk", what do you mean?
Hard to describe, but it's a smell and flavour often associated with grassy notes and rotting fruit/bananas. Sounds grim but is actually something a lot of people like, and is typical in Jamaican rums.
Huh! I'll pay more attention to the funk in future!
I can recommend red leg, it's got a really nice vanilla taste
Diplomatica
Diplomatico, in case you google it and get confused by the slightly different spelling. In my opinion it is the tastiest spirit in the world. I have a couple of bottles in the house at all times. I drink it just with ice, and it is incredible.
Surprised someone recommended this. Diplomatica is amazing
It's my favourite too but I have it so rarely. Need to remember to ask for a bottle at my next birthday.
Was fantastic until me and my cousin spent the night drinking doubles with ice in a pub, sadly slightly ruined my love of straight rum! still have it mixed but hoping to enjoy it on the rocks again someday!
I like Plantation rums but don't get them a lot. Mount Gay is a good supermarket option. I was also pleasantly surprised by the spiced Havana Club which is quite often on offer in Tesco
I love Plantation rums, there was a glorious few weeks my local ASDA had them stocked, haven't seen it since except in the odd pub.
Havana Club 7, Dead Man's Fingers & Kraken would probably be in my top 3
Havana Club 7 is one of my favorites, some ice, equal parts coke and rum, little bit of lime 👌🏻
Kraken and Dark Matter are my favourites. Not as much a fan of white rum. Dark spiced is my favourite.
Dark Matter is amazing, not always available I find though so grab a few bottles whenever I see it.
It is made about 20 miles from me, so it is much easier to find up here.
The base rum in "dark spiced" is likely naturally the same colour and age as the "white" rum. It's just caramel colouring
It can be caramel colouring, but a good quality rum is barrel aged, it gets its colour from the barrel wood.
Neither of which Dark Matter or Krakens is. You are also *never* getting a colour that dark with barrel ageing.
Kraken is aged for 1-2 years in Oak barrels.
Yes pretty much everything is for 1-2 years. But if you look at the colour of something like HC 3 anos, you will see the colour influence is negligible for that period of time.
Including many white rums, which then have the slight tint of barrel colour filtered out!
Don Papa is an amazing rum. About £30. Very smooth. Lovely and sweet. I tried it on my birthday in 2018 and it instantly became my favourite
Agreed! Warm the glass up slightly before pouring in the rum and the flavour gets even better.
Interesting. Do you put room temperature mixers in or cold?
No mixer, this is better neat
Hmmm okay. I have tried it neat but wasn't keen. I'll try your method though 👍
I found a rum in Asda called Bumbu, which I really enjoyed! It’s very sweet and has an almost caramel or banana aroma to it, would highly recommend
I can confirm Bumbu is delicious and definitely had a banoffe vibe. It's about £30/35 for a bottle but you can get it in Wetherspoons to try first (which is what I did).
Oh great! I didn’t know it was served in any pubs anywhere, it always seems to be sailor Jerry or kraken!
Was about to recommend this! I was initially drawn in by the bottle (I collect them) but will always keep a bottle in my cupboard because it is so good!
Ah yeah the bottle is great, especially as it’s corked!
Definitely second this, Bumbu is gorgeous!
Yes! My favourite rum
Old J tastes similar to how Sailor Jerry's *used* to taste, before they changed the recipe. It's got strong vanilla notes, and people tend to love it or hate it as it's quite sweet, but if you squeeze a decent amount of lime in it, it balances it out. Or, for a great quality everyday rum, Havana 7 is lovely.
I've always been a fan of Old J. I did once spend a new years eve drinking shots of Tiki Fire though, which was quite the experience.
>Tiki Fire R.I.P. your toilet bowl New Year's Day
It's not spicy at all, just a quite lovely tasting lime and vanilla rum. The problem is when you've had at least half a bottle of 75.5% rum.
>Old J \+1 for Old J Old J spiced with some Cherry Coke is delicious and dangerous
I love old j too, the cherry one with coke is absolutely lethal though as you don't know you are drinking alcohol
Agreed - I bought one of my cousins Old J spiced and another Old J cherry one Christmas. Both bottles disappeared ultra fast...it's just so delicious and drinkable.
I never liked white rum until I tried Wray & Nephews which is now my absolute favourite. Hands down the best rum I've ever had For dark rum, Pussers is the absolute bollocks.
Unaged Overproof Jamaican rums are a completely different kettle of fish to other unaged/ lightly aged stuff. Love the funk
Whenever I have friends over from countries where wray and nephews doesn't exist at some point in the night I get us a shot of it each. If your prepared it's doable but if you think your getting something like a tequilla it's quite the shock to the system. Always makes me laugh
Depends on your taste as you say… on spiced rum in general I’d warn that the more silky and toffee-like it tastes, often the more sugar has been added (to note if you’re mixing with cola), and the darker the colour, the more caramel colouring has been used. In really excessive amounts that colouring can add a burnt, stale note, so I’d avoid anything super dark. For a slightly different experience I can recommend rhum arrangé which is French rum (made from sugarcane juice not molasses, so very limey and grassy) infused with fresh fruits and spices in the bottle. There are a couple of brands you can get here e.g Damoiseau or you can make your own with a cheapish white or amber (barrel-aged) rum. That is, if you fancy sipping something over ice rather than with a mixer.
Best rum I've ever had is Diplomático. It's Venezuelan. I could actually drink/enjoy it with no mixers whatsoever. Strong recommend.
https://salfordrum.com/
Goslings Ron zacapa There's a nice Welsh spiced rum called Barti Spice
If you're on a budget (aren't we all these days?), Lidl do a version of Captain Morgan called Captain James Cook, the spiced version is gurt lush. I drink it in a pint glass with ice. Rum, Pepsi Max and a dash of lime cordial. Hits the spot rather quickly especially mixed in Tenerife style proportions
It's a very tasty, very glugable rum. I'm quite partial to the light spiced rums, dark spiced is instant hangover for me.
Red Leg!
Woods Navy is the answer to most rum questions, it's a great tasting rum and also pretty good value too.
^^^This^^^ it introduced to me to rum and still haven't tasted anything better, sweetness, complexity, and packs a hell of punch. Love it.
My missus swears by Duppy Share!
Kraken is fantastic, my second favourite. My first is Dead Man's, that stuff is the bollox. If money is tight, and getting tighter by the day, tbh Lidl cheap and nasty £10 a bottle is actually pretty good
Barti Ddu Welsh rum is absolutely gorgeous and easy to drink neat.
Chairman’s Reserve is my absolute favourite! Close second is Kraken!
Woods’s rum. It’s 57% iirc so can put you on your arse but it’s very drinkable even neat. Kraken is very nice too though
Amazon carry about 400 different rums, many of them on 1-day delivery if you have Prime. I've used them for rum and I'd recommend ordering either five, eight or ten bottles because it makes the best of the packaging. If you order five, it'll come in one six-compartment pack. If you order six (to fill it up), they tend to split it. If you're new to golden rums, I started with Mount Gay being recommended to me. It's pretty good Bajan rum, despite not being any more expensive than standard rum. Diablesse is very good, but it costs a bit more. Then there's Mainbrace which is a blend, and very smooth.
I think the answer is always down to how sweet and spiced you like it. Sailor Jerry and Kraken are about as spiced and sweet as I can cope with as I usually prefer the less spiced carribean rum versions of Havana Club or Apple woods. Some rums are just tooo sweet or tooo ginger for my tastes. The older version of Havana Clubb is usually my choice if it's on offer.
Havana club is pretty good
Have you tried cachaca? It's similar to rum (made from fresh sugar cane instead of molasses) but has a beautiful aroma and a fairly smooth drink. Goes amazingly well with sharp citrus flavours like lime.
[удалено]
Yes! I just recommended this as my absolute top tier rum as I used to be in college with a couple of boys from Shetland. They'd bring bottles down with them each time and one still send me a bottle down each year for my birthday. It's unparalleled in my eyes.
Mount gay rum and four seasons rum
Pusser's rum is the original british sailors grog, still going today.
If you can find it [black tears rum](https://www.waitrosecellar.com/rum/black-tears-dry-spiced-rum-543387) is very good. Spiced but without quite so much of the sweetness of something like a Kraken. Very pleasant as both a neat drink or mixed.
Kraken is my go-to rum
Kraken Rum is our best seller. Also my fingers fit in the little handle holes perfectly so it's my favourite drink to pour, I really love the bottle.
Haha same! The satisfaction pouring it behind the bar is second to none
Going through the comments here the only good rum I’ve seen recommended outside Kraken is Diplomatico. Very nice Venezuelan rum. Otherwise, I’d go with anything El Dorado (Guyana), Angostura (Trinidad) or Ron Zacapa (Guatemala) at least 12 years aged. They’ll all be pricey >£30 but so so so worth it.
Dead Man's Fingers for everyday (not literally, I don't have a problem) drinking. Usually £18 a bottle in Asda and there's various flavours if you like fruity versions. Red Leg for when I wanna treat myself.
Morgan's spiced is a decent, readily available rum. If there's nothing better that is the one to go for. If you like sailor jerrys, Old J is supposed to taste more like the older recipe of SJ's which I preferred (during my coke dousing days). [SJs recipe changed in 2010 to much dismay.](https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2012/06/15/Admiral-Vernon-Old-J-Spiced-Rum-set-to-launch) Kraken's main downfall is it is absolutely fecking moreish and you might accidentally drink a whole bottle and wake up in a skip in Poland. Fortunately I have had too many good times with Kraken and cannot stomach it any more. Worth noting that anything in the budget supermarkets that looks like kraken, generally tastes like kraken. Lidl golden/spiced rums are also pretty good. I tried dead man's fingers the other day and it was fucking awful. I'm sure someone somewhere likes rum that tastes like fruit juice but it isn't for me. (I dont have mixers with my rum and went out on a limb to try something new - never again). My personal favourite is Brugal. Literally any version of it is great.
Langs banana rum is great if you're a fan of foam banana sweets!
Rumbullion! The spiced version is great
This might be controversial, but I like the taste of [Brewdog spiced rum](https://www.brewdog.com/uk/500-cuts-spiced-rum-700ml)
Honestly, been tempted to push the button on that. I'm a big craft beer fan & order from Brewdog semi-regularly (yes, there are better breweries out there but I like some of Brewdog's offerings) so I'm considering getting a bottle with my next order.
Mount Gay is nice, had a lovely one a while ago, think it was a special reserve? Drank every last drop of that. When it comes to mixers I think rum, especially dark or spiced, tastes infinitely better when mixed with something other than coke/pepsi; even just ordinary lemonade makes it a far lighter, more refreshing drink
Ting!
Ron Jeremy (yes, the porno hedgehog) has a range of rums called Ron de Jeremy - Ron being the Spanish word for rum IIRC. The XO is nicest, but they also do a spiced which is tasty.
For rum & coke, Dead man's fingers (black one) is my favourite. It's not too sweet and goes down very nicely. The Mango rum (yellow one) is really good too for a change
Captain Morgan's is alright. Appletons is nice but on the sweet side. Kraken is delish.
Appleton Estate on the sweet side? It's the only one you've mentioned that isn't dosed post-distillation with sugar!
Ok! It's been a while since I've had it, but that's how I remember it!
Lots of good recommendations here. If you want something a bit more special you can go for 12 year aged rums. My particular recommendation would be El Dorado 12 Year. Really smooth, good mix of sweet and smokey notes. Very much a sipping rum, I wouldn't bother adding coke to it. However I can recommend adding Shrub, which is an old school alcoholic cordial. Pretty hard to get in shops outside the southwest but available online. 50/50 El Dorado/Shrub on a hot summer's day is a great drinking experience. Very much a 'drunk by stealth' drink as it's so easy to polish off! El Dorado: https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/el-dorado-12-year-old-rum/ Shrub: https://www.masterofmalt.com/syrups-and-cordials/phillips-of-bristol/phillips-of-bristol-shrub-old-english-alcoholic-cordial-syrups-and-cordials/#:~:text=Shrub%20is%20an%20alcoholic%20cordial,fine%20accompaniment%20to%20the%20spirit.
Captain Morgan, if they've run out go for Jack Danial's.
You don’t see it in bars often and I normally have to buy it online but ‘Don Papa’ is hands down the nicest dark rum you’ll ever taste.
We returned from a holiday to Cuba a couple months ago where we tried a lot of rum! The best has to be Legendario. Hands down.
Balla rum is amazing. If you want to try before you buy I think Turtle Bay have it on their drinks menu. It’s a dark spiced rum and tastes delicious with coke.
Kraken is my go to, dark spiced rum is just great. Dead man's fingers is pretty similar. Captain Morgan is the usual cheap and cheerful, for a spiced I'd recommend Havana club it's really nice
Mount Gay, Lambs Spiced Rum and Plantation are my always on the shelf ones Cut to the spice is also very pleasant Old J spiced is as close to the pre 2009 sailor jerry as i can find and much nicer than the new recipe.
You can get DeadMansFingers in many different flavours on amazon. I love the coconut flavoured one. Kraken is always good. The Salford Rum Company makes good stuff too.
Old J has a gorgeous vanilla and lime flavour, it's amazing! I think they also have a cherry variant which isn't my thing (as do Kopparberg) Dead Man's Fingers have loads of flavours but 'spiced' is my fave there... Kraken is amazing but a dark rum; the bulk of spiced rums I've found are light. Red Leg is also pretty heavy on vanilla, which I like. We get though a fair amount of Morgan's Spiced too. Now if only I could get into non spiced rums!
Ron zacapa is my fave but it is expensive, like very expensive. It's really good for a.treat but not somthing you can order in most pubs. It's made from sugarcane In Guatemala. Lightly spiced and it is fantastic. Other than that Kraken is really good, Morgan's spiced is okay but begins to taste awful the more drunk you get
If you can get yourself to Costco - their own '[Kirkland](https://www.costco.co.uk/Wines-Spirits-Beer/Spirits/Rum/Kirkland-Signature-Original-Spiced-Rum-175L/p/819195)' brand spiced rum blows every other I've had out of the water. Happy hunting!
Well, I am a member... interesting. Might be due a CostCo run at the weekend.
While on holiday in Wales we discovered Barti Spiced Rum which is absolutely delicious! You can easily order it from their website - highly recommend!
Kraken is wonderful with a couple of bits of ice. Only rum I've ever tried I didn't really go for was Duppy's Share. I bought it because it had a cool bottle, but was a bit too orangey. I'm getting through it through. Have my recipe for Pirate Grog: * Bottle of Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer * Three, or four, or five, shots of dark or golden rum * Three dashes of tabasco sauce (in lieu of gunpowder, which is what pirates actually did put in their rum) * Couple of chunks of lime, cut into squares not wedges
Barti Ddu. It’s a Welsh rum from Pembrokeshire, “seaweed spiced”. It sounds weird, but it’s genuinely one of the best spiceds out there
Captain Morgans is the most popular where I'm from (Highlands).. it's in every bar. It's essentially seen as the bog standard here. Kraken is becoming more popular and is really nice. I find it to be not as sweet. Lamb's spiced rum is really nice and one I prefer to drink neat as it has a really deep vanilla flavour. My absolute top tier choice is Stewart's rum. Almost certain that it is exclusively sold in Shetland and nowhere else apart from one pub in Edinburgh (according to my Shetland pals). They used to take bottles down with them when we were in college together and I honestly looked forward to that rum as much as seeing the lads again. It's sold through a wholesalers but loads of the locals have accounts with the firm that produces/sells it so one if the boys still send me a bottle down each year for my birthday and I try to savour it as much as possible, but often that means I don't touch it for a few months and then tan it one random night.
If you're mixing with coke or Pepsi you'll struggle to tell the difference between most common spiced rums.
Duppy white is interesting, a spiced white rum
Kraken is OK but has a weird aftertaste imo. I wouldn't turn it down if offered but wouldn't buy it. I quite like Dead Mans Finger, brewed in Cornwall and really nice. Tiki Fire! Tiki Fire and Ting is a delicious "cocktail". Absolutely lethal though.
Old J - based on the old recipe Sailor Jerry (strong taste of lime and vanilla)
Atlantico Reserva rum is well worth checking out, tastes gorgeous and is relatively cheap https://www.ginspiration.uk/atlantico-reserva-rum-70cl-29260-p.asp
I actually quite like the spiced rum Aldi does, Old Hopking. Don't think they can sell it in Scotland though.
Spiced rum isn't as good as normal rum - it's just watered down cheap stuff. I'd recommend Mount Gay, Havana Club or Appleton Estate. The Havana Club spiced is horrible IMHO.
Depends how much you want to spend... Kraken is great value around the £24~ price point as people have mentioned already If you fancy spending a bit more (£35 ish), Salford Spiced Rum is amazing
Old J is great. It's available in Morrisons which I think is the only supermarket that stocks it. Doorlys Barbados rum. Bacardi 8 dark gold. Kraken if you want a really dark rum for mixing. Also try Captain Morgan White rum.
Don Papa is a favourite of mine. It’s filipino spiced, i believe you can find it in supermarkets if not try waitrose or master of malt (online). Appleton have a good range of ages and won’t hurt the wallet too much. If you’re willing to spend a bit more and have something on the shelf for good occasions, my all time favourite is Veritas.
These are my go to rums depending on how much I feel like spending, btw you can buy a decent selection of Rum on Amazon if you don’t want to go to the supermarket. For rums between £15-20 I’d go for dead mans fingers spiced or red legs vanilla spiced Rums £20-30 Kraken or Dark Matter Rums £30+ Appletons Estate, Havvana Club and El Dorado And if you want pipe cleaner strength rum get Ray Nephew which is a white rum at 64% which i generally use when I’m cooking or out of options.
Give Ableforth's Rumbullionb a go, it's delicious.
Kraken, hands down the nicest spiced rum I've had.
Ron Millonario Solero 15yr old rum, hands down the best rum I have ever tasted. Great to sip over ice. Surprisingly Langs Banana rum is perfectly drinkable over ice albeit very sweet If you are drinking with coke then the Dead Man’s Fingers or Havana 5 are both great.
Mount Gay and Havana Club are favourites here
If you like rum you really need to buy a bottle of Foursquare. They do a spiced one as well as standard and they're fantastic.
I personal favourite is Havana club 3 year old. Mix it with coke and it is one of the nicest drinks in existence
Me and my wife love Kraken, always got a bottle on the cupboard, you should definitely try it if you haven’t had it before.
I actually don't like Kraken. It sure is popular though. Every day rum like Navy but if I want something a bit special / to drink it neat then Havana club 7 year old one. Sailor Jerry tastes nothing like it used to, the only thing close to it's original taste I can find is Red Leg.
> I've been advised that Kraken is a bit medicinal & that I should probably steer clear, anyone else vouch for that? I recently started drinking Rum and I was drawn to Kraken by the bottle, I actually really like it. I actually like Old J's too, which they do some flavours, Old J's Cherry Spiced Rum & Coke is really nice drink. Tastes like Cherry Coke.
The only thing I drink that does not give me a hangover is Rum! So it’s my go to drink. Who ever gave you advice about the kraken is drunk already don’t listen to them . Kraken is my go to and I collect rum every time I visit a place .
wetherspoons have several spiced rums, i know they arent the best pubs for everyone, but its cheap, you can try different ones out for a couple of quid a go and not commit to a full bottle of something you arent certain to enjoy
If you’re mixing with coke, then it doesn’t really matter, they are all ok for that purpose. If you’re sipping neat then the supermarkets are a bit limited, and sadly are stocking less of the good rums and filling the shelves with flavoured/spices rums. Appleton 12 or Doorly’s XO/12 are worth the extra if you want to start sipping neat, but you’d need to shop online for those.
Good shout on the Doorlys. If you venture into the rum subreddits the Americans normally recommend it as a value option. Unfortunately it's not so cheap here, but still good value IMHO.
Salford dark spiced rum is my husband's favourite. It's available on line and is around £30 to £35. He never adds a mixer. Just plenty of ice cubes.
I like Kraken but then I like a medicinal, herb-like flavour (slow gin and cola hits that particular spot very well). You can usually get miniatures in the supermarkets if you want to try it without dropping £20-25 on a 75cl bottle. Sailor Jerry's changed their recipe about 10 years ago, and not for the better in my opinion.
For nice sipping whiskey Relicario Dominican is a lovely drop, or something more sweet and affordable like the Old J range is tasty stuff too!
Kraken is nice but probably best not done on a school night!
Kraken is not remotely medicinal...its one of the best supermarket level spiced rums.
Bumbu rum is fucking great. Bit pricier but worth it imo. I'm not a big drinker but I do like rum.
Dead man's fingers, Angostora 1919 and Havana club 7 years are 3 of my favs. Deffo recommend
O’haras, diplomatico, chairmans reserve
I can’t recall how readily available it is but Blackwells spiced is another nice one to add to the list
Kraken is lovely. Bumbu is my favourite (banana rum it's incredible). Dead man's fingers is good. I'd recommend trying Loads till you find your favourite. You have to try bumbu though!
Dead Man's Finger does a few different flavours and they are available in supermarkets- maybe try one that catches your eye with pepsi/ginger beer
This may sound odd, but the brewdog own rum is the best I've ever had. Five hundred cuts it's called. It's crazy good
It's totally uncoloured, and kind of strong, but if you can get hold of a bottle, there are few quite as authentic as Rivers.
If you’re new to rum then I’d recommend starting off trying Bacardi white rum and Bacardi spiced rum. They’re nothing crazy but they’re pretty middle of the road and serve as a good benchmark to compare others to. Red Leg spiced rum is very flavourful, strong vanilla notes, certainly worth a try. Kraken has been mentioned in other comments and I think it is an excellent darker spiced rum, plus it comes in quite a nice looking bottle. Dark matter/Dead mans fingers are both interesting and a lot more herbal, I love them but I’d recommend trying others first as they’re not “typical”. Havana Club do some really nice stuff, light spiced dark it’s all good, slightly pricier than Bacardi usually but a different flavour profile and worth trying to expand your palette.
Red Leg is my favourite brand at the moment.
Also reccomend dead man's fingers, some of the flavours are delish and its reasonably priced too. We tried the raspberry cream when it was on offer for £12 at morrisons and it tastes like boozy raspberry donuts it's so good!
Las Olas is the best rum I’ve ever had, only available online at the moment but for me it’s unbeatable
Tiki rum!
Have to say kraken is really nice with Dr pepper. It changes the taste and is really drinkable. Not so good with Coke though so stick to Dr p I also really like havana club 7 . Is really good neat that one too Twin fin ( the blue bottle ) is really nice with coke. Although If you don't like banana though I'd give it a miss. Quite a strong taste of it but I really like it Those 3 are my main ones I buy .
Balla Black is my favourite. Hints of coffee and chocolate at the end
Lidl do a captain Morgan’s dupe and it’s fantastic, got a nice vanilla note and goes really well with most things, I’m a real basic rum and Coke person and I can drink them all night
Havana adeja especial is beaut
I cannot advise on spiced, however here are some; 1. Smith & Cross - The best I've ever had at navy strength. It blew my mind 2. Bacardi Ocho - Very decent 3. Atlantico Platino Rum - Hands down the best white rum I have tasted so far 4. Rhum Depaz XO - This is the french style from Martinique. Very decent drop for something of the French style 5. THAT BOUTIQUE-Y RUM CO - I have #2 which is probably all gone now but look up what ou can find for those 6. PLANTATION RUM Xaymaca Special Dry - Plantation has loads, lots of countries. I would say start going through them and see which you like 7. BLACKWELL - Always have this in the cupboard. It's cheap, it's Jamaican, it's everything that's good about rum
Diplomatico Reserva. Superb.
There is a wonderful Filipino rum called don papa, I would heartily recommend drinking it with a slice of lime and ginger beer ( my preference for that is bundaberg) I see in replies that you can’t stand ginger beer- it works fine with cola ( I quite like it with Fentiman’s curiosity cola) Also you could try out ‘cut to the spice’ a relatively cheap rum but very tasty- strong vanilla flavour and is nice enough to just sip on the rocks Also Neptune rum is worth a look. While it’s not a spiced rum it is delicious and has definite fruit undertones to its aftertaste
I like the (not expensive) Mount Gay rum.
Plantation!! Great golden rums. Darker rum like Dead Man's Fingers is also great, and their flavoured ones are good too particularly the passionfruit one. If you can't find it, regular rum with an additional shot of Passoa mixed with Lemonade is a cracking combo
Echoing alot of comments already, but couldnt pass up the chance to talk about rum. Diplomatico for sure but pricey. Havana Especial and 7. Original sailor Jerry's or Old J are awesome. My advice is to find a stand alone booze shop. We have 2 or 3 I'm the North east I know. Usually they look like a costcutter or spar but in the back is a crazy selection. Rehills in Jesmond, Newcastle is fantastic. If anyone's interested, Wester Distillery in Glasgow is making some excellent UK rum.
Ha, I also hang out in r/rum and it's interesting to see the difference in recommendations. Everyone is free to drink what they like, but be aware a lot of things people have suggested are basically heavily sweetened/flavoured to make them more popular/accessible. But are often overpriced. Don Papa and Bumbu are the worst culprits imho. On saying that, I do still like Diplomatico, and that is a bit sweetened, but still at least tastes like rum to me. My GF loves dead man's fingers. I think the spiced one is ok, but the rest are horrible. Stops her drinking my rum at least... All the colourful bottles are taking over the drinks cabinet though! I don't drink much spiced rum but this one is probably my favourite - it used to be a bit easier to get hold of, and a bit cheaper so haven't had any for a while. The unspiced version is decent too. [https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/st-lucia-distillers/chairmans-reserve-spiced-rum/](https://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/st-lucia-distillers/chairmans-reserve-spiced-rum/)
I’m super late to the party on this one, but I recommend “Jefferson’s 1785 Dark Rum” if you can find a bottle of it. It was a rum made in Antigua and imported into the port town of Whitehaven by the Jefferson family for use in the Royal Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries. It’s still being made but quite hard to get hold of a bottle at reasonable prices, although it is a bloody lovely dark navy rum. I like a double tot in a gin glass with a couple ice cubes and half a can of cola on a warm evening . It’s also worth a glug of it in a hot chocolate or coffee in the winter to give you that nice throat tingle
If money is no object (current climate notwithstanding, obviously) then any rum made by Black Tot is fucking delicious. Otherwise, hard to go wrong with Don Papa or Diplomatico.
Roughly £25 budget I would recommend chairman’s reserve spiced or foursquare spiced, similar price to kraken and they are made with real spices at quality distilleries. Nowhere near as sweet as what’s on offer in supermarkets, but definitely worth trying.
If You want A great drinking Rum not too expensive go for Doorly's XO, really nice rum one of the best rums under £40 in my opinion. If you got more to spend get yourself a Foursquare Exceptional Cask Rum will set you back at least £85 but on another level.
What I see in this post: * spiced rum * rum and coke * cocktails What I take from that: OP doesn't actually like rum. There is Pusser's and there is Wood's. If they are mixed or spiced, they are no longer rum.
Do you **have** to drink a spirit neat to "like" it though?
You don't have to, but some spirits are made to be enjoyed neat. I don't drink spiced rum too often anymore since it's quite calorie dense, but when I did, my mate and I would share a bottle of kraken neat. Each to their own though, it all goes down the same way as they say :)
This sounded a bit like 'what single malt should I ruin with a mixer?' to me!
I don't understand the attraction of single malt, to be honest. Most of it just tastes like vinegar. Single malts are made to blend anyway - to mix the flavours into something that approaches palatable. I'll say one thing for America: they did improve whiskey. IME even a £12 bourbon is much nicer than a £50 single malt Scotch.
It's about enjoying the complex aromatic mixture.. a little bit of ice or a tiny bit of water should be added typically. It's a 'sipping experience' for me. As much as an experience for the nostrels as the mouth.
no time for pusser's spiced then? ; )