The Best Sipping Rums

Aged rums are best enjoyed short, without mixers. These sipping rums are all blends of mature rums married together in oak barrels, heightening their flavor and harmonizing their characters. All of the rums listed are distilled in or around the Caribbean; Zacapa Centenario, for example, is produced in Guatemala, in mainland Central America.

  1. Cruzan Single Barrel

    • Cruzan Single Barrel is a blend of rums all aged for more than 12 years. The different rums are married together in new oak barrels, whereas many rums are kept in barrels that were previously used to store other spirits. It has a smooth unobtrusive flavor, making it perfect for drinking after dinner. The Cruzan distillery is based in St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    Mount Gay Extra Old

    • Mount Gay Extra Old is a dark rum made from a blend of aged rums. Aged in Kentucky oak, from which the rum picks up an earthy flavor, it has notes of banana and vanilla, as well as a complex, sweet flavor and a mellowness that comes with age. Mount Gay Rum is distilled in Barbados and is the world's oldest rum brand.

    Zacapa Centenario

    • Zacapa Centenario, distilled in Guatemala, is a mix of rums aged between six and 25 years. The rums are married together in barrels that were previously used to store French cognac; as such, it has delicate fruit and spice notes, including a series of deep flavors like cherry, caramel and nut. Zacapa Centenario is distilled at more than 7,500 feet above sea level.

    Pyrat XO Reserve

    • Pyrat is a rum distillery based in Anguilla, producing rum that is aged in French and American sweet-oak barrels, which is evident is some of the flavors that run through the result -- vanilla, cinnamon and brown sugar. It is a blend of rums all aged more than 15 years, and as such it has a very smooth, mellow finish.