Most aged spirits use ex bourbon barrels because they're that much cheaper and accessable. I would look out for sherry, madiera or cognac cask rums. Alternatively go for the sweeter rums with added sugar - they tend not to carry so much of the bourbon cask influence....

what didn't you like about the Hampden 8 year? I agree with a lot on your list but I truly love the Hampden. What didn't you like about the Mt Gay XO? I love their black barrel but haven't had the XO. ...

Then some navy rum, would go for a Black Tot Master Blender's Reserve 2022....

I would say, Chairman's Reserve (saint lucia)! With certainty! Their newest product is the modified spiced rum from the contest winner "Kyritsis", in limited availability. Their newly released "Legacy", a.k.a. "poor man's 1931", was quite decent! Their current 1931, this finalized and standardized version, is said to be the best of the series, compared against older releases! Their latest vintages...

The white version is 50%, aged in bourbon and virgin oak barrels. The black is 40% or 46% aged in heavy char bourbob barrels (there are two versions). Heavy char barrels offer more dark flavours like leather, chocolate. The 10y is 46% but like the white version. Virgin oak can remove bad flavours and make a young rum smoother but also at the cost of good flavors. I would prefer the black version w...

Kevin: Set up an account with TW. Then check to see where you can find Thomas Tew (which I heard is REALLY good). Once you find a store within driving distance, order it online for pickup. They will notify you when your order has been filled. This is a fool proof way of getting what you want....

Hello, if you like sweet rums, I can recommend: El Dorado 12 Diplomatico Reserva Exsclusiva (both excellent, at a good price) Spytail original Cognac cask finished. Haven't tried many yet, but these are ok at a good price....

Hi, If you have time, I would order a delivery from these guys: https://alkoholeswiata24.pl/ . They are an online shop based in Zielona Gora and have an excellent selection of all kinds of spirits. I assume you are looking for (comparatively) lower prices than the UK, as I am yet to hear anything about Polish rums XD...

So, I got another bottle of the 15yr and after a few bottles of the 12yr I'm no longer impressed! It seems thin to the point of being watered down. The 12yr is a solid rum compared side by side with the 15yr. Now there's some talk here about bad batches. My opinion is that there should never be a bad batch with a distillers premium product. Unless quality control cuts into the profit! With that be...

LOL Does Viagra make a rum now? I think there's a magic number 3-4 rums maybe diminishing returns on 6-8. ...

I like both a lot, so as to which is better, that's subjective.  If you like a sweeter style then Opthimus would be better.  I'm somewhere in the middle, I don't like too sweet, but don't like too dry either, so both Opthimus 25 and Zafra 21 are among my favorites, I typically have both in my bar at any given time. Where I live Opthimus 25 is about $90 and Zafra 21 is $62.  If you gave me my choi...

Santiago de Cuba 12 have strong plum note but it s only 40% ABV and is clean (no sugar added)...

  I was very busy with other things during the RumFest but saw that there was a Cachaca stand with some what I understood to be good Cachaca....

Is not unusual to find such an old bottle. I have already bought Pampero Aniversario from 1989 and 1991. They are all not worth much, unfortunately. The taste was not very good either. But it still had the profile known today....

vomi  I had master selection normal one.. I only just found out there is a few different ones so definitely going to buy one off the limited editions...

Personally, I like to taste the rum in a cocktail, and therefore I go for the white rums with loads of flavour, usually clairins, agricoles and Jamaican overproofs. I made Pina Colada's with a friend one afternoon. She liked them best with R L Seale 10YO, but for me Clairin Sonson blew it out of the park...

Rum is much cheaper than whisky. There are more whisky collectors than rum collectors. It would be even cheaper with cognac. You can get very old cognack bottles quite cheaply....

Hi everyone ! I am trying to find out, what rums are included in the Hall of Fame. Is only Zacapa included there? I can not find any official website or list of rums that are included in International Rum Festival's Hall of Fame. Wikipedia says:  "The rum won first place in the premium rums category 4 years in a row at the International Rum Festival 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. It was the first rum...

Rum lovers I'm glad to see others take this serious. So far over the last 25 years, Pusser's changed both blue label and orange label 15, Pyrat one of my old favorites changed everything after being bought by Patron now it might as well be triple sec, terrible. Last year or two Kirk and Sweeney switched from exact age statements to Reserva, Gran Rreserva, and Gran Reserva Superior. IMHO they dilut...

Les, Try a Smith & Cross which is a rather cheap funky, without being extreme, Jamaican. if you like it, you should go on with more extreme funky rum....

Most of the US rums I buy/own are from Louisiana. I'm a fan of Oxbow, Roulaison, Wildcat, and Porchjam....

I've bought so many rum books, but never seem to read them... maybe some day! I've never added tonic to rum - sounds good though will pick some up this weekend and give it a try....

Kevin: My ultimate best buy is Yolo Gold by the legendary Don Pancho. It is aged for a minimum of 10 years in Panama. At $30 per bottle, it is the ultimate bargain. I need look no further than this true Cuban style aged rum.  ...

Appleton 8 is in many ways different from Bumbu XO. Their flavor profiles have only small overlap. It's hard to come by with something very similar and cheaper, maybe it would be easier to give you a recommendation of you say what specifically you like about Bumbu XO....

Well I finally made it to a Total Wine, this one in Seattle. So nice to see a new selection of rums, and so funny to see the difference in price. I was under the impression liquor was cheaper in the states but in some cases, it was quite a bit more pricey. Funny how that works. Anyways, I got a Myers's Single Barrel & Zafra 21. Pumped to try them out! ...

Most aged spirits use ex bourbon barrels because they're that much cheaper and accessable. I would look out for sherry, madiera or cognac cask rums. Alternatively go for the sweeter rums with added sugar - they tend not to carry so much of the bourbon cask influence....

what didn't you like about the Hampden 8 year? I agree with a lot on your list but I truly love the Hampden. What didn't you like about the Mt Gay XO? I love their black barrel but haven't had the XO. ...

Then some navy rum, would go for a Black Tot Master Blender's Reserve 2022....

I would say, Chairman's Reserve (saint lucia)! With certainty! Their newest product is the modified spiced rum from the contest winner "Kyritsis", in limited availability. Their newly released "Legacy", a.k.a. "poor man's 1931", was quite decent! Their current 1931, this finalized and standardized version, is said to be the best of the series, compared against older releases! Their latest vintages...

The white version is 50%, aged in bourbon and virgin oak barrels. The black is 40% or 46% aged in heavy char bourbob barrels (there are two versions). Heavy char barrels offer more dark flavours like leather, chocolate. The 10y is 46% but like the white version. Virgin oak can remove bad flavours and make a young rum smoother but also at the cost of good flavors. I would prefer the black version w...

Kevin: Set up an account with TW. Then check to see where you can find Thomas Tew (which I heard is REALLY good). Once you find a store within driving distance, order it online for pickup. They will notify you when your order has been filled. This is a fool proof way of getting what you want....

Hello, if you like sweet rums, I can recommend: El Dorado 12 Diplomatico Reserva Exsclusiva (both excellent, at a good price) Spytail original Cognac cask finished. Haven't tried many yet, but these are ok at a good price....

Hi, If you have time, I would order a delivery from these guys: https://alkoholeswiata24.pl/ . They are an online shop based in Zielona Gora and have an excellent selection of all kinds of spirits. I assume you are looking for (comparatively) lower prices than the UK, as I am yet to hear anything about Polish rums XD...

So, I got another bottle of the 15yr and after a few bottles of the 12yr I'm no longer impressed! It seems thin to the point of being watered down. The 12yr is a solid rum compared side by side with the 15yr. Now there's some talk here about bad batches. My opinion is that there should never be a bad batch with a distillers premium product. Unless quality control cuts into the profit! With that be...

LOL Does Viagra make a rum now? I think there's a magic number 3-4 rums maybe diminishing returns on 6-8. ...

I like both a lot, so as to which is better, that's subjective.  If you like a sweeter style then Opthimus would be better.  I'm somewhere in the middle, I don't like too sweet, but don't like too dry either, so both Opthimus 25 and Zafra 21 are among my favorites, I typically have both in my bar at any given time. Where I live Opthimus 25 is about $90 and Zafra 21 is $62.  If you gave me my choi...

Santiago de Cuba 12 have strong plum note but it s only 40% ABV and is clean (no sugar added)...

  I was very busy with other things during the RumFest but saw that there was a Cachaca stand with some what I understood to be good Cachaca....

Is not unusual to find such an old bottle. I have already bought Pampero Aniversario from 1989 and 1991. They are all not worth much, unfortunately. The taste was not very good either. But it still had the profile known today....

vomi  I had master selection normal one.. I only just found out there is a few different ones so definitely going to buy one off the limited editions...

Personally, I like to taste the rum in a cocktail, and therefore I go for the white rums with loads of flavour, usually clairins, agricoles and Jamaican overproofs. I made Pina Colada's with a friend one afternoon. She liked them best with R L Seale 10YO, but for me Clairin Sonson blew it out of the park...

Rum is much cheaper than whisky. There are more whisky collectors than rum collectors. It would be even cheaper with cognac. You can get very old cognack bottles quite cheaply....

Hi everyone ! I am trying to find out, what rums are included in the Hall of Fame. Is only Zacapa included there? I can not find any official website or list of rums that are included in International Rum Festival's Hall of Fame. Wikipedia says:  "The rum won first place in the premium rums category 4 years in a row at the International Rum Festival 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. It was the first rum...

Rum lovers I'm glad to see others take this serious. So far over the last 25 years, Pusser's changed both blue label and orange label 15, Pyrat one of my old favorites changed everything after being bought by Patron now it might as well be triple sec, terrible. Last year or two Kirk and Sweeney switched from exact age statements to Reserva, Gran Rreserva, and Gran Reserva Superior. IMHO they dilut...

Les, Try a Smith & Cross which is a rather cheap funky, without being extreme, Jamaican. if you like it, you should go on with more extreme funky rum....

Most of the US rums I buy/own are from Louisiana. I'm a fan of Oxbow, Roulaison, Wildcat, and Porchjam....

I've bought so many rum books, but never seem to read them... maybe some day! I've never added tonic to rum - sounds good though will pick some up this weekend and give it a try....

Kevin: My ultimate best buy is Yolo Gold by the legendary Don Pancho. It is aged for a minimum of 10 years in Panama. At $30 per bottle, it is the ultimate bargain. I need look no further than this true Cuban style aged rum.  ...

Appleton 8 is in many ways different from Bumbu XO. Their flavor profiles have only small overlap. It's hard to come by with something very similar and cheaper, maybe it would be easier to give you a recommendation of you say what specifically you like about Bumbu XO....

Well I finally made it to a Total Wine, this one in Seattle. So nice to see a new selection of rums, and so funny to see the difference in price. I was under the impression liquor was cheaper in the states but in some cases, it was quite a bit more pricey. Funny how that works. Anyways, I got a Myers's Single Barrel & Zafra 21. Pumped to try them out! ...